The hallmark of Mooney has always been to go fast on less horsepower. The club chose a Mooney M20E for its first aircraft because it is relatively simple for a complex airplane. A stock M20E has a 17,000 ft. ceiling, and with the Rajay turbo it can go well into the flight levels. This really helps when crossing the mountains or flying into places like Leadville. It can whip the pants off of a Cherokee or a 172 in climb and cruise, and it still only burns around 10 gph.
Cruise speeds on Mooneys range from the 160's for an older M20C to over 200 mph for the turbo 231. A myriad of speed mods are available to all Mooney's to improve performance.
| Mooney M20 Series History | ||
| Model Designation | Marketing Name | Description |
| M20A | These are the original M20's. They have wooden wing spars and are generally not recommended in the current market unless you have access to skilled mechanics that really know what they're doing. | |
| M20B | The first metal wing Mooney | |
| M20C | Ranger | 180HP carbureted, short fuselage |
| M20D | 180HP, very few built | |
| M20E | Super 21 | 200HP fuel injected, short fuselage |
| M20F | Executive | 200HP fuel injected, long fuselage (extra legroom in the back seats) |
| M20G | Statesman | 180HP carbureted, long fuselage |
| M20J | 201 | 200HP fuel injected, long fuselage - many speed improvements. The 201 designation comes from its 201 MPH top speed |
| M20K | 231/252 | 210HP fuel injected turbocharged - basically the same as the 201 but with the turbo |
| Encore | The "K" models were brought back during the late 90's as Encores | |
| The NEW Mooneys... | ||
| M20M | Bravo | The fastest new Mooney. 270HP can carry it along at 250MPH+ at altitude |
| M20R | Ovation | The fastest normally aspirated Mooney that cruises at 220MPH |
| M20S | Eagle | This 244HP normally aspirated "entry level" Mooney cruises at 210MPH |