Original Posted By: dralle(at)matronics.com (Matt Dralle)
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Mooney tailGroup, I wrote earlier somewhat of trying to put a Mooney type trim on a Pietand hope I conveyed it would really be a bag of worms, although certainlynot impossible. One thing I did not say was that although Mooney isundoubtly the strongest production light plane built (there has only beenone metal wing Mooney to have its wing fail - it was torn apart in athunderstorm and I've heard everything from 17 to 22 Gs), the mainconcern for structural integrity is the tail. Mooney has for the pastten years gone to bigger and bigger engines and the palnes which werealready fast are now faster. A TLS will fly circles around a Bonanza andare faster than all light twins except the very latest Aerostars and theBeech Duke. Rocket Engineering of Spokane, Washington installs evenbigger engines in Mooneys and these will easily fly past a TLS. Many TLSowners have told me that they can look back at the tail in flight and seenothing but a blurr as the tail shakes so much. The big question atMooney is just how much this tail will take. No one really knows. As slow as a Piet goes, this not a problem. But it is something tothink about.John LangstonPipe Creek, TXnle97(at)juno.com________________________________________________________________________________