Well the jury seems to in on this comparison. The Mooney seems to be the choice of most viewers. No big surprise as I built my channel with Mooney content. Next up I'll forego the Mooney and look to compare a couple of 6 seat heavy haulers.

Talked to a retired ATC guy years ago. He said he could always spot a Mooney on his radar as there were two hits - the first one was the plane ,the second was the pilot 😂

Just discovered your channel and am LOVIN it!

I’ve owned both - hands down, my Mooney exceeded expectations in my ownership experience. Good comparison video.

Love this topic. Great overall video and sticking to the facts and inserting the opinions till the end lets the viewer make their own decisions, be as genuine as possible. Of course, we fly our aircraft and we'll always like our aircraft :D

Love how you composed the video. Two real world options for a certain budget (hell all prices are out on control at the moment), then a nice side by side comparison. Also really interesting to hear your thoughts on avionics etc. In the market for a 6 seater so can't wait to see that (and cry about the prices)

Love the new series content! Think I'd prefer the Mooney, although I do like the idea of the Arrow's gear coming down automatically. (incase I forget) ;)

Bought an Ovation. Fast. Strong. Stable. Modern avionics. Known icing. Very happy

I'd pick the Mooney all day everyday. Speed, efficiency, and great looks, what more can you ask for. Although, as a 1982 M20J owner I may be biased. Really enjoy this "Airplane Showdown" series, great content!

I actually was faced with this very decision, and which did I choose? The Arrow! And it was an easy decision too. I had $120k to spend, I had roughly 1000 hours in SEL aircraft, and was ready to buy something with more performance than the fixed gear 4 place 150 hp plane I owned at the time. My original plan was to buy a Mooney M20J. When you look at the M20J on paper (or in this video) it seems like the easy, logical choice...until you actually go fly one. I took two different Mooney's I was considering to purchase for test flights, and I decided then and there that if I never EVER sat in a Mooney again, I'd be better off. They handle like you are flying a 200 mph school bus...but unlike a roomy school bus when flying, its like your sitting in a coffin that is two sizes too small. Buy a Mooney? NO WAY NO HOW! I bought an arrrow, and I love it. BTW, my arrow has over 1000 lbs useful load, and I don't think 99% of the mooneys out there have a useful of even 900 lbs, let alone 1000+. Speed is important, but so is comfort.

The mission discussed makes this an easy choice for me, I take the speed if we are talking cross-country plans. Avionics are comparable, so those 30 extra knots with the same engine are tough to overlook. Thanks for starting a fun discussion!

Just wondering about the pre-flight on the T-tail. Do you need a step ladder to inspect?

My handle says it all. Although I question the cruise speed of the Mooney - even running 75% power, I 'only' get 162kts cruise from my M20J - and it has all the speed mods and no wing step. I've flown both, love both, and chose the Mooney.

I’ll pick the Mooney, repaint, replace avionics and add autopilot…then declare bankruptcy! But will be totally worth it 😀

I have a M20C. It takes a Turbo-Arrow lll, which I also had, to match performance. I kept the Mooney for two thirds the fuel burn and a fraction of the maintenance.

I just bought an Arrow. I am 6’6” with broad shoulders. I sat in a Mooney and had to lean over to not put too much pressure on the window then in the copilots seat I could not close the door. The seat behind me is useful in the Arrow, just slightly useful. The front seat did not go back far enough in the Mooney making the backseats just the stops for the front seat thus making the back seat useless. My Arrow needs all new radios and instruments, I did have a new ADS-B transponder installed at annual, a new interior is on the list along with 4 point seatbelts. My engine is less than 100 hours SMOH and lucky me my prop has a recurring AD I need an inspection every 100 hours. I also must have a visual inspection of my fuel injection fuel injection lines and spark plug wires every 100 or 500 hours. We just brought the Arrow home January 21,2022 after a very long annual. I wanted a Lance but could not find one in my price range and my dad had an Arrow long ago so I have a lot of time in the Arrow. My plane was built in 1972 sold as a 1973 but only has 4400 hours and only 3, 100 hour inspections. I vote ARROW.

How would you compare these two with the 177RG?

I'd pick the Mooney, hands down. The range statistic tells all you need to know. Both essentially have the same size engine. With ess fule the Mooney takes you the same distance and does it much quicker. Also, 70or 80 pounds of useful load in aircraft of this size is a LOT .. it's like a generous luggage allowance for a couple going on a long trip.

Objective. Just subscribed.

Good points , Speeds from the POH are optimistic. The 20J is a 155 knot airplane.

I agree with the consensus of the efficiency and speed but I sat in a 1961 Mooney M20B last weekend and at 5'7" I felt way to short. I had the seat pulled all the way forward and I felt like I was sitting on the yoke. Also I little tight fit with a couple of bigger people in front.

I flew an Arrow II before I bought my M20J, and definitely think the Mooney is the better choice. That said, I did like the Arrow a lot, and if they were faster it'd be a much tougher choice between the two.

I'm a Mooney fan!!

Mooney all day - and a new panel !

I got my commercial rating in the Piper Arrow years ago and it was the Hersey Bar Wing and as for me seeing that the market will increase and now flying in a Mooney 201J model for the first time was very interesting on how fast the gear retracted and the airspeed continues to increase and the leg room I had so my pick of today is you guess the Mighty Mooney

Nice initiative. But I think you missed a very important aspect to compare: interior space! Confort in cross-country trips are really relevant.

I fly a Mooney M20J as a rental but have been considering an Arrow as a purchase. I love the Mooney. Fast, burns less fuel and looks stylish and retro. But parts are expensive and hard to get. So that’s why I’m leaning to Arrow. But I haven’t flown an Arrow. I’d like too compare that aspect.

Good rundown. OCR is a solid company (as is Skywagons)and all logs were available in the ad. I don’t think there is any concern over the amount of detail therein.

In this case I'd take the Mooney. Fits my mission better. Although one point you missed on the arrow is that the hydraulic system for the landing gear holds it up. So a manual gear deployment is just press a button the release the hydraulic pressure and the gear goes down. No cranking. That's a pretty cool feature.

I was toying between a piper arrow 2 and a Vtail Bonanza, I never gave a thought about a Mooney, but after watching this Vid, I would definitely consider the Mooney now, can you do a comparison between the Mooney and the Bonanza ??

at 3:36....you took a picture from my airplane??? LOL seriously it is my C172

I would easily pick the Mooney on performance specs alone. The money also wins in this comparison because of its autopilot. Mooney here also has better maintenance history with its more recent overhaul.

I would pick the mooney, I would only put a engine monitor and upgrade at a later time if possible.

My choice would be the Mooney. Because of the lower engine and prop time, faster Cruise & faster climb.

Oh yeah the few shots at lucky’s was good. Every pilot or prospective pilot should visit an airplane boneyard.

I’m checked out in both types and I like each one for what they are and both provide equal fun . For SPEED, I love the M20J. For comfort I like the PA-28R-201

I love the Arrow’s cabin but I also love the Mooney’s performance. Not sure which one I love more. If specific mission comes into play, I’d likely go for the Arrow. Most missions will be flown within a 120-200 NM distance, which minimizes the 201’s speed advantage. There will also be a need to go to short grass strips with uneven surfaces. This makes me leery about the Mooney’s short gear and lower prop clearance. Plus, the family (wife and daughter) will probably appreciate the Arrow’s more comfy cabin.

By far the Mooney! Best bank for your buck! Better performance and much safer airplane (one-wing design and stronger fuselage, the arrow has issues with corrosion on the wings- enormous cost if it doesn’t pass the inspection!). Also, the Mooney’s handling is better because it uses push-rods instead of cables for the controls. Thanks for the great video.

Hi from South African vloggers 🇿🇦 😀 ❤️ 🌍 ..

What's the name of the background music?

I am looking in exactly this mission profile. 4 seater, IFR capable, comfortable travel machine for 3+ grownups. I am looking at a Mooney, Piper Arrow and Beech Debonair.

I own a Piper Arrow 200 and have flown in Mooneys. I opted for Arrow mainly because it has more space for cargo. I am an avid cyclist and frequently fly with my mountain bike and associated gear. I also like to plane camp. No room for that in a Mooney, so that was a deal breaker.

Is this Mooney 20 for sale?

I fly with a friend in his arrow (1977). The front seats of my Mooney M20C (1964) are actually no different in comfort. They just sit lower in the Mooney. (Like a sportscar). I get far better fuel economy and actually fly a little faster than he does. I have speed mods and a scimitar prop. He has a standard 2 blade prop.

Mooney m20J is what a own, fast, efficient & comfortable. My vote is for the Mooney !!

I’ve flown both, however, the Arrow was not a “T” tail. I will say the Arrow is also easier to fly. It’s not as fast as the Mooney and it’s much easier to slow down. You have to really be on the ball with your decent and pattern planning with the Mooney. That being said, I’ll take the speed and efficiency of the Mooney.

Plan on 155 to 160 knots on the Mooney. Unless that modified engine gives you something else don't expect 170 ever. I put a Powerflow on my E and all I could tell was that it increased fuel flow. I wouldn't do it again.

I used to own an M20C (N7701M) with a bunch of speed mods. It had an STCd IO-360 200 HP and it would really move along. It had an aux tank in the back and you could stretch the legs on it for sure. Although the speed was awesome; the room and UL did not fit my mission and now I own a sweet Piper Dakota. I miss the speed sometimes but my wife is happy with the comfort.

One thing not spoken about here is cabin room. At 6'4" and 270#'s I don't fit very well in a Mooney. Also, dollar for dollar I would not even consider an Arrow. I would look at a Comanche. Very little (if any) more $ and a lot more airplane than both.

I’ll take the Mooney every time.

Arrow IV is probably my favorite Piper ever, but the Mooney made a clean sweep here. Does an Arrow have more rear seat space than a 201? If 201s still suffer from "Camaro back seat syndrome" then that's the only major thing that I can see steering some missions that way.

I pick mooney certainly

I think the one thing, though, that I would like to add, is that you can't just run out and land a mooney like you can like you can just kind of run out and land a Cherokee/arrow. You have to practice preferably with a experienced Mooney instructor to make sure that you're not coming in too fast. And to me that's the only thing that sticks in my mind as whether I would or would not prefer one of or the other, just that the mooney requires a little more skill perhaps. Other than that, I think it's a no-brainer.

Mooney, the J is a classic, but like a Porsche 911….has same seating position, which some don’t like it. In either case, join one of the type groups online.

Although I am a Piper (Comanche) man the Mooney shines in this comparison

I have about 100 hours in the Arrow and none in Mooney and I'll pick the Mooney hands down. It's disappointing the Arrow isn't quicker and even a Cutlass 172 RG with a 180 hp can out run it.

For slim people first choice is the mooney. What a great plane! But If you carry a well feeded belly, stay outside. Beside the fact that entering takes a pretty part of flight time, some to do you can´t. i.e. checking the second gear indicator between the seats, training pin and fuel switch is ardous. Although both types have a IMHO a todays inacceptable construction detail: one door for four people, all climbing over the wing.

I like arrows, but not a fan of the T-tail. As someone who is soon approaching their A&P, I would choose the Mooney. It is a more efficient airplane and easier to work on. Hard to properly pre-flight a T-tail without a ladder🤷‍♂️

I went thought this in real life. I went and bought the Mooney last summer.

An extra $5000 is a small price to pay for peace of mind knowing the Mooney wing wont fall off. I flew a T tail Arrow in school, very heavy feeling with the tail out of ground effect on takeoff/landing.

A MOONIAC TILL DEATH! Had three, never failed me once...every Piper I flew tried to kill me...landed them at nearest airport and flew home commercial, I hate commercial!!! 😂

Mooney M20J would stand as my prefered choice ! Even though the Arrow stays a reliable aircraft.

Mooney for sure

Is the Arrow for sale ?

I had a Piper Arrow PA28R-200 1969 this is the fastest ever mfg. 1969 to 1971 30ft wing span a foot shorter smaller stabilizer 65%power 150 mph 75% POWER 165MPH @10 GPH I had this aircraft 15 years with little repairs.

I think you're a bit off on your speeds for the Mooney, most us J owners are true around 150-160 depending LOP/ROP operation. If you're talking ground speed then thats a whole other issue I'm not sure this is really a great way to compare two make/models of aircraft, paint and avionics are not really the way to decide Mooney vs Arrow. Your performance section is really the objective way (with correct data) to make that call then paint, engine data and avionics are the way to determine the specific tail number.

Mooney all day long. Much higher speed at same gph. YES. What you sacrifice is interior cabin width and height room.

I’d pick the Mooney. It’s hard to beat the Mooney’s speed and efficiency.

I am in the Mooney camp

I pick the Mooney because of speed, efficiency and autopilot. I would like to see a comparison of two single engine planes that have higher useful loads and headroom. I'm 6'6" 280 pounds so with full fuel I couldn't bring my wife and dogs with me.

Mooney hands down. The 40 knot cruise difference with its fuel economy, and better useful load…

Mooney would be my choice .

How did my pictures of N6NN end up in your video?

The Arrow auto gear system parts are not available so they get disconnected. The gear system on the Piper can get expensive power pack overhauls are $1500 not including labor to replace. Hoses have to be replaced about every 8 to 10 years and the gear cylinders can leak usually new 0 rings. Pressure switch $1000. The Mooney gear is pretty simple overhauling the transmission can get pricey. The landing gear donuts need to be changed about $1000 for all three without labor. Never did like the T tail not in the prop wash.

I owned a 1974 Arrow for 6 years. NEVER had anyroblems with it. NOTHING! It had gap seals and a few other speed mods. I flight planned at 145 kts and was usually spot on. My Arrow had a useful load of almost 1000lbs and the cabin is bigger than a Mooney. For me, the Arrow 2 compares very well w/a Mooney. The T tails were not a good move. In fact a friend had a 231 and cruising at 6,000ft, his speed was an indicated 140kts. Both are nice.

I spent a lot of money on a prebuy inspection for that Mooney. It’s been severely neglected by the current owner and needs about $20k just to make it airworthy.

Mooney all the way!

Mooney. The wings don't fall off.

Is it even a contest?? Mooney any day of the week even on a Sunday fun day.

I’d pick the Mooney. Everything about it is superior to the Piper except maybe the pucks. I could deal with it.

Arrow all the way

Cant test fly a mooney without a moonry specific cfi recommended. And ins requires 20 hrs in a mooney, 5 hrs in a Arrow generally for retracts.

Piper arrow iii turbo

Mooney for me. It's so much faster and even has higher useful load.

I always loved mooney but I’m worried about parts availability 😢

Sorry, I am very biased. I am a piper lover. Albeit the mooney is faster but the piper is sexier by far in my opinion. I feel the lines of the mooney are outdated, especially the paint in this one. The mooney had lower time on the engine which would be a factor compared to the piper. Like you said, it comes down to the mission, cost, expenses, and your personal bank account and if your significant other is a supporter. Great topic.

How about a Bonanza versus a Comanche

Mooney based on performance

Comparing paint and interior of two specific airplanes is of little interest to us. Please focus on performance relative to mission, typical equipment of multiple aircraft at the price point and the distinctions between fixed and variable costs.

I think the Mooney is the clear winner, not much contest.

Let's see. max range trip takes an hour longer (5 versus 4 hours) and burns 8 more gallons of gas (about $50 these days) and with 70 pounds less baggage. If you really want to do places, the Mooney wins. But, I admit I am biased, as I did this exercise a year ago and bought a Mooney.

I rewatch this just now and have a few observations to make. I believe the Arrow was listed by a broker who has little to gain financially as the selling price of the Arrow does not compare to that of the jets that the company usually brokers. The broker washed and waxed the airplane took some good pictures and slapped what little information they could get about it from its logbooks on the Internet and and let it sit. The used airplane market is on fire and they don’t need to do much work to turn that airplane over. The Mooney has high compression cylinders, after having my Arrow home for 7 months now and reading the logbooks I too have high compression cylinders bored out giving me a few extra cubic inches and chrome lined cylinders. My plane always beats ForeFlight takeoff ground roll by 300-500 feet. I need to lean for best power in the heat in Ohio. I have all my flight experience in 2 other Arrow II’s and this one is by far the most spirited, it also has 30 cid more engine. I enjoyed re-watching this after 100 hours of flying my new 50-year-old Arrow. A fill up today is about $300, back in 1973 when my plane came off the production line, what new airplane toys could be had for $300?

I’ll take the speed and efficiency of the Mooney every time! But I have to say that wasn’t mentioned: the Piper might be more comfortable and roomy.

Of these two, I would pick the Mooney. However, I would never buy a PA-28 of any kind. The design of the spar structure on PA-28 is terrible. Where the outer wing attach bolts pass through the bottom spar cap is almost perfectly positioned to experience the maximum tensile force applied to the bottom spar cap. The holes for the wing attach bolts only serve to reduce the cross section area of the bottom spar cap and create a huge stress concentration. When these wings fail, they fail at exactly that spot. It's amazing to me that we haven't seen more wings fall off of these airplanes.

I’d take the Arrow

In 1969 a Mooney ranger cost 15000 dollars minus radios

I would take the Mooney over the arrow because for the same HP (200) the Mooney nets you a higher speed so more bang for the buck. But I love my Bellanca Super Viking though lol 😂

It was a pain in slow flight the gear would come out if you did not over ride the systems

I prefer the Arrow not T tail lance. I think the T arrow was rare.

The piper