Originally posted by Kegger26
Well thanks Wolf...but I dont think I stated a fact. Just an opinion.
That being said if I were to go into fact's it could be pointed out that Mooneys have far higher fatality rate than that of the V-tail. I would also like to point out that the V-tails have been in production far longer than your M20 Mooneys. So the fact is...Mooneys do have a rep for being unsafe planes when it comes to crashing. Any plane can be unsafe if the pilot isnt safe himself/herself first. Doesnt matter what you fly As for my V-tail? It is fast, safe and sexy. Thats enough for me.
OK,
Kegger,
My experience with the Bonanza is as follows. 200 hours in the A-36, 100 in the V-tail doctor killer - 300 + in the Mooney 201 - Ovations. So, perhaps a few 'observations' only - instead of facts.
The Bonanza was designed 'post war' with very light controls - so a pilot transitioning from say a P-51 would feel right at home. Point the nose down, it picked up a lot of speed and had a phenominal rate of roll. Its docile to a fault - and now for the faults:
Faults -
The Fuel System:
The fuel system is completely ****ing retarded. You have a lot of time in type - I assume, so you have 3 settings. Off, High, Low - either of which can kill your engine if you don't know the intricies. I dunno about you, but the cockpit load is high enough when in hard IFR on departure, having to worry about the engine taking a massive **** because of too much fuel getting metered from the pump being in HIGH instead of LOW position - thats just a bad design that got grandfathered along with - what is otherwise a good 6 place aircraft.
The V-tail:
I cannot find a single reason for this being good engineering, aside from the fact they wanted to eliminate another vertical surface inorder to reduce the overall drag of the aircraft. The simple fact is if you lapse in attention, you find yrself diving - and a pilot new in type - or just scared ****less will overstress on pull out. The problem is as much the pilots fault as the aircraft design since the control forces remain fairly uniform from low - high speeds increasing the likelyhood of cracking pieces off in a high speed pullout.
The Mooney was built as a direct response to the Bonanza - and actually was built by the same designer of the V-tail in response the inflight crackup's. So, the anecdote that Mooney's were 'overbuilt' is as much an anecdote as it is fact. Like the ASF overview stated - VERY few inflight breakups. I am not at home in California and I have the full ASF packet with the statistics on both Bonanza and M20 as well as 210 accident statistics that I could rattle off - but the simple fact is they do not crack up midair.
Faults -
They do not like to slow down. The result is pilots by not planning try to force the aircraft to the runway if they do not fly the numbers. Landing over 70 knots IAS will almost certainly force you into a wheel barrow situation down the runway.
Stiff controls - A double edged sword. Your wrists get a workout and the fatigue level goes through the roof unless you are a 14 year old hopped up on viagra with the wack off muscles at full capacity. The plus side is a very stable IFR machine that won't wing over if you sneeze like the Bonanza.
Comparisons -
The Bonanza is a 6 place aircraft that is a heavy hauler. The M20 is a 4 place. The Bonanza can hum along at 150 at around 16-18 gph with a reasonable range of 400nm. The Mooney can cruise at 165 on 40 % less fuel and still book in at 400 nm.
Both aircraft are built for speed - but have drastic differences in missions they were designed for.
You like Bonanza's b/c it is what you are proficient in. I like Mooney's b/c my wing did not seperate when I hit a sea-gull while doing 200 around Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberity yesterday with my father riding in the right seat.
1 is designed like a tank. The other is a docile wannabe fighter that depends on constant vigilence and proficiency and risk management on the PIC.
2 different worlds - 2 completely different missions and capbilities.
