LA to DC

triple7

triple7

Well-Known Member
A guy at the flight school whom I am going to sign off for the complex endorsement after our next flight if buying a mooney 20E. He wants me to come with him out to an airport near LA(dont know which though) to pick it up next week. We will fly it back to DC. 1) how hard is it to learn a mooney crash course style. I have over 1100 hours so I figure a couple hours and a good systems review should be ok, but anything in particular to look out for. And 2) any suggestions on the route? IT will be vfr if weather permits, otherwise itll be ifr with stops every 4 hours. I expect about a 15 hours trip. I havnt even began to look at charts but I can imagine this will take the cake as far as flight planning goes. Im pretty pumped to do a real x-c......
 
In addition to learning about the airplane, if you're not used to flying outside of your local area often, I'd get prepared to. Alot of accidents happen during ferry flights and result from lack of preparation in my opinion.
 
Yeah, try and do it VFR if possible. That will keep you from getting youself into any big time weather problems.
 
Mooney aircraft can be complicated. I'd definately spend some time reading the POH or maybe even talking to a Mooney A&P.

Routes? My opinion, stay away from the Rocky Mountains this time of year. Storms kick up quick and will pose a huge threat. Without O2 you may not even be able to maintain the MEAs especially over Utah, Wyoming, and/or Colorado. I'd kick it down through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and upward from there (thats what I did). The terrain is worth the extra time.
 
mooneys are fast airplanes..really cramped inside. Know the systems (of course). Also when you get there, make absolutely certain that the airplane is in good condition with the paperwork straight...especially since you'll be considered the PIC. There are quite a few different fuel quantity configurations over the years with the mooney, so make sure you know which one is on the airplane. ... oh ya, be on speed on approach, otherwise you'll float and float and float...and...

as far as the route...definitely south.....LA to PHX...el paso or albequerque..then wherever you want.....the M20E does very well with higher altitudes..and if you have O2, 12-15 thousand is an option (If I remember correctly)...VFR or IFR shouldn't make a difference, but in some of the more desolate areas in the Southwest, a pop-up IFR clearance may be difficult to get due to lack of radio/radar coverage, so check your weather real good.......bring a survival kit, a lady j, a couple magazines and a pillow...have fun...
 
I'd say that you should do it IFR.

The beautiful thing about IFR is that as long as you know the system like the back of your hand, and you're comfortable in it, you can fly anywhere in the country.

Anytime I go into an area that I'm not familiar with, regardless of the weather, I file IFR. There are very few surprises that way.
 
Timbuff10 said:
Yeah, try and do it VFR if possible. That will keep you from getting youself into any big time weather problems.
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Yeah let me change what I said to what I meant to say. File IFR but if you go over the Rockies, only do the flight if you think you can maintain VFR conditions.

There are people that bite the dust there all the time that are flying from CA/NV/UT to try and go eastbound and they never make it. Usually in some high performance equipment too which leads me to believe they are probably pretty good pilots but just get caught by one mistake.
 
I am going to get some time this week in a newer mooney with a different guy. That should give me a decent headstart, and combined with the "checkout" we will get in LA stick skills should be alright. I am more concerned with the second leg portion of the trip. I dont think trying to cross the rockies will be the smartest. I think the southern route over lower terrain will be more to my liking, and filing ifr will probably be what we end up doing. Shoudl get some good pics along the way that ill post. Thanks for humbling me with this advice. Ill be sure to be extra cautious.
 
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