Carenado Mooney 201 M20J
The M20J is part of the successful, sleek and fast high performance family produced by Mooney. At its debut in 1977 the medium sized Mooney was considered the ultimate balance of speed and efficiency.
The M20J was popular in the M20 line of aircraft due to its advanced aerodynamics, 200HP engine and 201MPH top speed (thus its 201 nickname).
Carenado are highly regarded by all stables in FS2004 development. They produce no nonsense general aviation aircraft using highly efficient quality modelling and photo textures to give Great performance and realism. Carenado have over and over again set the bar for immersion in the virtual cockpit and this latest product is no exception.
FS2004 (and FSX for that matter) have suffered from a lack of Mooney aircraft. Their highly desirable looks and performance mean they are a popular choice for any plane enthusiast. It was a shame therefore that Microsoft produced such a low quality default aircraft – it was either make do or leave it and I imagine most people gave it a look of disappointment and disgust then moved on.
Carenados good value price structure continues and the Mooney costs a little over £10. The great exchange rate of the US dollar for the pound or euro means anybody in Europe is getting a real bargain.
The download is a simple as you like 33MB auto-installer.
Documentation
The aircraft comes with printable PDF documentation accessible through the start menu or from the Carenado Mooney aircraft folder.
The main documentation covers everything an enthusiast needs with scans of the original pilot notes. Over 56 pages you can view all the performance charts, conditions information and system details you could desire – though for the casual simmer most of the information is unimportant and it is far from an interesting read for me.
Fortunately there is another PDF over only 15 pages covering standard and emergency checklists that are much more useful. There are also checklists and references included for use with the FS9 kneeboard if you do not desire printing or lack dual screens.
I was a little disappointed with no aircraft history or cockpit diagrams but at this price I can let it slide. Most simmers I imagine will be completely proficient in the pilot’s seat and a Mooney is a Mooney.
Exterior Inspection
Listed under Carenado in the aircraft selection menu you can choose three liveries over a single variant. As mentioned before the developer is no nonsense. The three included liveries are a retro looking brown stripe, modern looking red wine scheme and a popular blue stripe paint job. Also included is a plain white base livery for minimalist types or repainters.
Scouting around the outside I received a pleasant reflection from the environment map and I feel they got the shine just right. The aircraft looks squatted on its dumpy wheels and is a real looker.
Taking a close view of the nose reveals just how talented the modeller is. The cowling is perfectly formed with no dodgy polygons presenting themselves or jagged edges. It’s a real masterpiece of efficient modelling. The gear is detailed, the landing light housing round and subtle curves smooth like butter.
There isn’t much in the way of fancy animations; there are no chocks or remove before flight tags but the control surfaces and gear all move smoothly and evenly which is good enough for me.
The Mooney has been embraced by repainters. If you take a look at any FS2004 download website you’ll be sure to find loads of swish liveries. Serial repainter Sean Doran has produced a whole heap of top quality paints for your free download pleasure. The aircraft itself doesn’t lend itself too well to repainting, but once set up there are so many options to apply. If you’re not a fan of the included paint you won’t have a problem finding something to please you.
2D Panel
The Mooney was born in the seventies – an era not highly regarded by me for much for interior style I’m afraid. Here it holds true with a fantastic combination of brown and beige textured plastic. It looks like bakelite and it’s horrid yet is somehow has a retro appeal that’s hard not to love.
Cynics will also state many of the gauges are simply ported from other products by the team, but I would guess it is hard not to since it would appear many of the avionics did look similar at the time and this can be said for most Carenado products anyway but it doesn’t stop sales. Since this was my first Carenado product and the gauge quality is so high I don’t mind one bit.
The panel and pop-up window bitmaps all look great. They appear to be mostly made from photos and the overall effect is very convincing. The gauges are clear with click points spread far enough apart to be easy to use.
Many gauges can be clicked to enlarge or display a digital read out for those with a smaller screen and precise adjustment as there are few mouse over tool tips displaying values on many of the controls.
The main panel view is quite limiting, the panel sits high and fairly close so you cannot read engine instruments to the right or see much in front of you. When not flying IFR also included is a very low VFR panel ideal for checks on approach or cruising on autopilot.
A nice feature is the small icon cluster held in the top left by default. This allows access to many sub panels without getting in the way or being ugly. Other panels can also be accessed by click spots on the panel itself.
Virtual Cockpit
With the quality of the VC being a major selling point for this plane it’s hard to see the need for a 2D panel sometimes. It’s fully 3D and functional.
The virtual cockpit is highly immersive with most controls being usable whether important or not. Carenado have also done a stellar job again with the photo texturing inside, though I’m not sure about the blue upholstery with the beige and black panel, I may have to have a go at my own design.
The gauges are clear and move with reasonable fluidity at 6RPS, though this can be improved by removing the only downer to this great piece of work.
Whether realistic or not I highly dislike the GPS set into the panel in the virtual cockpit. For many users they won’t be able to use it as it is of course set on the right side. This is no fault of the developer but in flight sim this simply means a loss of some performance for no reason. Fortunately it seems Carenado have realised this and set the GPS on its own with its own VCockpit section in the panel.cfg. Removing this (even the most novice simmer can achieve this I’m sure – remember back up first!) takes only a few seconds and improves the experience a lot; at least for me.
The gauges are also laid in a standard format and I believe the panel would lend itself well to modification. With many simmers owning avionic add-ons I believe this plane would make a great candidate for your editing pleasure.
Sounds
The sound set is nothing exceptional though it is perfectly competent and convincing. There seems to be a few default sounds in there but the experience is satisfactory and there is a good sense of power. I’d love to have heard a real mighty roar or turbo whine but it wouldn’t suit the gentle appearance.
Flight
Starting up and taxiing around the ramp or is easy enough with no real difficulty in maintaining a constant speed and little risk of tipping with its squat position.
Ready for take off and pushing the throttle forward the aircraft gently accelerates, there is no rush of speed or leaping from the runway, it is perfectly civilised and easy to handle, even on crosswind approaches holding a little rudder is stable and left me feeling confident.
The elevator trim is smooth and precise with no large jumps or problems maintaining pitch. The aircraft is very stable in all areas of flight whether at low speed flaps down or keeping a steady rate of climb. The roll rate is calm and at no time does the aircraft feel as sporty as it looks.
The views from the cockpit are okay, the windows are fairly large and forward visibility is good. The low wing hides much of your view of the scenery below but never mind because you’ll be speeding past it anyway.
The rate of climb and cruise speed for a GA aircraft is very impressive. It’s not brash, just a constant push from the engine. The response is also fairly fast so going around or recovering from a stall is easy.
The low wing does not provide a long float on landing as expected but the landing speed is still low and the flare is more than usually graceful and right on the centre line.
Overall
Carenado have produced another quality product. Creating such a sorely missed plane in the FS world was a great move and the development team have done it real justice. The plane has a lot of character, a faithful following and its forgiving dynamics and good turn of speed mean it should appeal to a broad range of users.
If you’re after something slick, classy, retro or for a tour the Carenado Mooney M20J is a great option and you won’t regret purchasing it.
If you’re not a fan of Mooney’s or want more of a handful then William Ortis’ (Lionheart Creations) Turbo and Super Viking package covers many of the same bases and is equally great value.
Summary
+ Great modelling and textures
+ Immersive virtual cockpit
+ Good value for money
+ It’s a Mooney!- Including the GPS in the VC was annoying for me
Animations include: [shift][E] toggles the door, [shift][E][2] toggles the luggage hatch, [tailhook assignment command key] toggles the engine oil fill (?) / dipstick (?) access cover, [ctrl][shift][C]/[V] work the cowl flaps, and in the VC click on a sun visor to toggle it. Also, chocks appear and the pilot disappears after the engine is turned off, the master alt/battery switch is turned off, and the parking brake is set.