Carenado M20J

[Guest wji]

Re: Reviewed by: Chris Khiel AVSIM Contributing Reviewer - January 19, 2008Nice bit of writing, Chris, and yes, Carenado has another winner here.I waited a while before buying mine as I wanted to see what others were saying and what I'm hearing is all good and I'm pleased with my purchase.As a former realworld Mooney M20E owner and pilot I wish the Carenado's performance -- particularly at cruise -- mirrored its realworld counterpart more closely.One has to remember, the Mooney got its 201 designation because that is the true airspeed in statute miles-per-hour the machine will cruise at; this translates into 174 nautical miles-per-hour, which -- as you note in your review -- is not achieved with Carenado's model.Also, as a repainter, I'm not thrilled with both wings using the same texture; this precludes one painting the registration numbers under the wing as in the realworld.Other than this, I'm happing with my new M20J. You, Chris, certainly did your job in writing a good review. Thank you.BillP.S. Let's not get into the TAS/KIAS issue here: The Carenado M20 under-performs my Mooney M20 -- that's all I'm saying.

[Guest Pike]

Good review.The Carenado's are indeed good values!One thing I noticed....you mentioned the all white livery. I'd imagine it's meant as a paint kit....

[Guest PilatusTurbo]

Thanks, Bill. I agree about the speed issues. I've always noticed that the aircraft in the sim seem a bit overpowered in the sense that they can climb far too fast; rates of climb seem higher than possible. However, as you said, horizontal/cruise performance, is a bit too slow for many sim craft.Anyway, Thanks again for the positive comments.

[Guest GarretSidzaka]

Good job my brotha! Very thorough, as usual :)

[757FO 143]

I agree that this is a well written review. However I need to point out that the flight dynamics are far from being close to the real thing. I am a M20J owner, as I stated in previous posts, the P-Factor and torque is poorly simulated. I took the default Cessna to compare, just try this:Lined up on the runway centerline, apply full power. The nose of the default cessna will point to the left as expected. This is totally missing with Carenado 201; Also try slow flights, the real thing will require almost full left rudder on slow flight (MCA)...Overall Carenado did a great job, but I would have liked to see better flight dynamics...Happy LandingsJohn.

[Guest PilatusTurbo]

I thought the same thing, Pike. However, I was a bit puzzled as to why a paint kit would be a choice in the aircraft selection window. I figured they actually wanted a blank flyable version.Thanks

[Guest JohnKhan]

I have had the pleasure of flying a real Mooney M20 and agree with all the above.My instructor and I took one for a fly to try it out, we had heared how fast they were.It was a lot quicker than the simulation, and as mentioned, the stall is not done well in FSim., - Just as well I think because I remember vividly the aircraft we flew had a very nast stall, it frightened us!!As the nose comes up the aircraft did the usual waffle and then - Bang - the nose dropped, and a wing dropped instantly and it tried to go into a spin.It took all the oposite rudder to correct. We tried it a few times (we were at about 7000 ft si had plenty of leeway) and it did it every time.I don't know if John the owner has tried this...if you do make sure you have plenty of air under you!!Other than this, it was great fun and I'm sure a good travelling aircraft.RegardsJohn

[757FO 143]

Hi John, yes stalling a mooney can be "interesting" :) the key is to keep the ball centered (as much as possible) but most likely a wing will drop. Definitely a good idea to have plenty of altitude when doing power on stalls... Fly safe!John