Monticello Flying Club Pilot Transition Manual: Mooney M20F
Page 28 of 42
cruise MP during the descent, with reductions to no less than 55% BHP. Gradually increase the
mixture as you descend to maintain rich of peak as the air density increases.
The easiest way to plan your descent is to look at the GPS ETA and allow 2 minutes/1000' of
altitude that you have to lose so that you get a 500'/min descent. So if you are at 9,500’ and the field
at destination is 500’, you will want to start your decent when your ETA is 18 minutes. As long as
you descend at an airspeed slower or equal to your cruise, you will arrive at the pattern altitude prior
to reaching the airport.
It is recommended to use a lower RPM with higher MP within the allowable
limits.
The lower RPM puts backpressure on the pistons, prevents piston ring float and keeps
temperatures up.
By maintaining a higher CHT, we prevent shock cooling, oil congealing, and spark
plug fouling.
L
ANDINGS
The gear warning horn is supposed to sound when the throttle is pulled back to around
12” MP if the gear is not down. Do not rely on this because these horns can fail and will not
work if there is an aircraft electrical failure. It is a good idea to test the gear horn during your
descent to landing by momentarily pulling the throttle to idle.
There are several particular risks during landing in a Mooney. The first is carrying excess
speed on approach. This will either result in touchdown on all three wheels and then screeching
of tires as heavy braking is initiated before sufficient weight has been transferred to the landing
gear or the plane is held off for a touchdown at the proper speed resulting in a lengthy float in
ground effect which can be disastrous in gusty winds or crosswinds. To avoid this, use the
airspeeds found in the checklist and do a go around if you find yourself too fast over the runway.
If you do find yourself floating or even ballooning, fight the temptation to shove the control
wheel forward. This action usually results in a prop strike or nose gear damage.
Either go around
or if there is sufficient runway, let it float and add power if necessary to prevent excessive sink
from the ballooning. Finally, the Mooney sits closer to the ground, so your flair will be closer to
the ground.
The second concern is porpoising.
The gear base is shorter so if excessive speed is carried
to a rapid landing with little float, the main gear may strike the runway forcing the nose gear to
rapidly follow, and thus porpoising.
To avoid this, maintain the appropriate approach speed for
the conditions without carrying too much speed.
Landing speed should be 1.3 Vso for normal landings and 1.2 Vso for short field. For
33°flaps, 0° bank, and max gross weight, Vso is 62MPH, so
normal landings should be
conducted at 80MPH at the threshold and short-field should be conducted at 75MPH
at the
threshold. These can be slightly decreased for lighter than max weight, but there is no chart for
this, so it is safer to just fly these speeds no matter the weight if field length allows. The standard
technique of controlling airspeed with aircraft pitch attitude, and rate of descent with power
should be used for Mooney approaches and go-arounds.
As in any complex aircraft, make sure you are ready for a go around while on final (prop
full forward, mixture rich (in most cases), and cowl flap open).
NOTE: Touch-and-go landing practice is not recommended for retractable gear aircraft.
Use full stop or stop-and go landings only.
