Pilot looking for information on 200d

[Greg Platt]

Hi,
My name is Greg Platt and i’ve been hovering around here for a little while. I currently own a piper archer and i’m looking to move up. I have a few questions that i can’t seem to get correct info on so any help is great.
I’m 6’8″ tall, normal build, so size is important to me. I actually fit ok in my archer. From what i have read most people say that the Meyers 200 has a lot of interior space. It looks like 50″ tall and about 44″ wide, which is pretty good. Are there any tall pilots on here, or anyone that has had experience with a tall guy in there plane?
Second question is performance, I’ve been looking at the 200d models with the io-550f engine, I’ve seen numbers all over the place, from a cruise of 175 to 200 knots. Does anyone fly this setup and have a general idea for me. I’m thinking 10k’ ROP and LOP cruise? Also I’ve seen climb rates of about 1350 fpm at gross, sounds pretty good!

My mission: I’m located in Portland OR. I have a need to fly now monthly to SFO, so that is just under 500nm and i don’t want to goof around, just get there and get back. I’ve been looking at the Mooney ovations, bravos, 210’s tn210’s etc… I like to fly high, but even N/A the Meyers 200 seems to have some good performance.

Any comments or general advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Greg

[Ed Pulliam]

Hey Greg-nice to meet you. I Fly a C model which is not terribly different from the D models. Unfortunately I am a foot shorter than you so I cannot appreciate what you are evaluating. The only common thread is I also owned an Archer-no issues for me on head room or pedal room on both of these birds!!

I think the Meyers is a great 2 person cross country machine, particularly for your mission as you defined above. The 3,000# gross weight is definitely the limiting factor. Most of these girls have an empty weight of around 2100# +/-, so a 900# useful load with 480# in full fuel leaves you 420# for people and stuff. With two 170# FAA types, that leaves you 80# of stuff, which is a lot for most aviators.

I am flying behind a IO-520 at 285HP. I know some of the guys have had custom OH’s on 520’s and 550’s and are getting a nice bump in BHP.

Definitely find a 200 and sit in it and see if you can adjust the seat to your satisfaction. if you can then it’s all good from there. They are sweet flying birds.

Good luck-

Ed

[Mark Jensen]

Hi Greg,

I did show my 200D to a interested person who is 6″6″ and I also fly with a neighbor who is 6″4″. neither had any problem with head or shoulder room. However, the first person had long legs which put his knees at the bottom of the yoke with the seat adjusted full back. I believe some owners have replaced their seats which, if coupled with modified seat tracks, could accomodate long legs.

Mark

[Ashley Wade]

Hello Greg,

Dave Smith is nearly your height and drives a chop top A model. Fits great. I don’t know if he did anything to the seat rails. He doesn’t do too much computer stuff, so contact him offline at davesf17@yahoo.com.

Take Mark Jensen up on his offer to sit in his plane. It’s gorgeous and for sale. Just be advised that if you sit in it you’ll want to fly it back home.

[Joe Martony]

Greg,

I have a 200D with stock seats. If flown with passengers your height. They are not obstructed when I allow them on the controls, but their knees can get in my way (yoke, throttle, trim) when I am flying and they are flat footed. I don’t believe headroom will be an issue for you. Getting in and out without pulling down hard on the door is worth checking out. The 200 is a great plane.

Joe Martony N2998T

[Greg Platt]

Thanks everyone for your help with this. I have now sold my Piper archer so i’m on the hunt for another plane. Sounds like i could make it work, on my archer i slid the seat to the back side of the seat rail stop and it helped a lot, sounds like a little modification could be possible. Is the pilot seat articulating? Was that an option. Also from pictures the seats look like they have very thick foam that could be changed, maybe it’s just the pictures though.
It looks like Dean Siracusa is brokering a couple of planes right now also, N2976T looks nice. What i would love is a plane that needs avionics and paint though, i really enjoy upgrading things. Anyone know of something for sale that is decent mechanically but needs some cosmetics?
I’m all over the place for my next purchase, i have a thing for navions, i really like the meyers for the speed, heavy duty landing gear for off airport and i always dream about entering some of these sport air racing events. Then there is the rational choice with a cessna 182/206.

[Ed Pulliam]

Greg, when I sold my Archer in 2000 my partners and I bought a C 182. Picked up 15 knots plus useful load. It was prefect for the flying I was doing then. We sold it during the recession in 2008 and I bought (without partners) the Meyers 10 years ago and now have 500 hours in her. I have also not looked back, although I have spent a ton of money getting her right for my flying today. Dean is the ‘go-to’ and with some patience you will find a bird that will allow you to upgrade. But as you have learned, the fleet is small and not a lot hit the market at any one point in time. Personally, if I had to redo it I would buy one that had the bulk of upgrades already completed. You will find that the prices today are nowhere as expensive as it will be to buy a bird with old avionics or with a run out 520 and then doing the upgrades, which is what I did. This is true for any bird though. Looks to me like pricing for all brands have some hat stabilized and are in fact increasing for certain models.

Good luck in your search.

ED

[Ed Pulliam]

Greg-see a post below that I just saw on the Twin Cessna site and copied and pasting here. Food for thought.

I read once on a forum “The cheapest airplane you can buy is the most expensive one!”

Our recent search for a Twin Cessna has brought back to mind some thoughts of things learned from my previous aircraft search and purchase. And things learned since that purchase through the first five years of ownership.

I THINK I HAVE COMPLETELY REVERSED MY THINKING!

When purchasing an aircraft most of us “define our mission” then select the aircraft that will perform that mission. Then we examine our finances to see if they will comfortably support that aircraft. Next, we name our criteria for our prospective aircraft: good avionics, ADS-B Out, auto-pilot, paint, interior, damage history … and most certainly PRICE.

We can’t “have it all” … so then we prioritize our criteria or place more emphasis on what we deem important ones … and less emphasis on criteria we deem less important.

Our first aircraft purchase my two greatest criteria were PRICE and ENGINE TIME.

So we bought a vintage Mooney for $40k with a low time engine in the middle of the price range. It was well-cared for and had newer paint and interior, avionics had been updated decades ago – so not original, but still needed upgrading, no autopilot, no GPS … and an old “shotgun style” panel.

Then we started “getting it how we wanted it.” $90k later we have one of the nicest old Mooneys anyone will ever see … but now we have $130k in an airplane we’ll be fortunate to sell for $75k. So if we were keeping that airplane “forever” that’s ok … but now we’re upgrading to a twin and selling it … I’m going to “lose my shirt!”

(We did most everything, 201 Windshield and Cowl, all new thicker windows, new lightweight carpet and soundproofing, all new interior panels, 201 control wheels and shafts, 406/121.5 ELT, GPS, 1090ES XPNDR, G5, autopilot, EDM-930 new left and right instrument panels, resealed tanks, new shock discs, STC upper truss … tires & inner-tubes, new exterior trim paint, new LED lights everywhere … interior, beacon, landing light, PowerFlow Exhaust, Challenger intake, Concord sealed battery, lightweight starter, overhauled prop and modify prop hub to remove AD and about ten speed mods to the fuselage… flap gap seals etc.)

So now I’m thinking … had we bought a $75k Mooney that ALREADY had all that stuff done and paid $35k to overhaul the engine … I’d have saved $20k … missed all the drama and downtime … and I’d have an engine with less time that had been run only by me … so I wouldn’t have inherited an engine that someone else ran – who knows how? for a couple hundred hours.

Hmmm … ?

Shouldn’t we be looking for a nice well-cared airplane that has most stuff done, but high time engines … and priced accordingly … rather than a plane that needs “a lot of stuff” (ADS-B, avionics, panels, interior) but has mid-time engines?

[Tom Thibodeau]

Greg,
The airplane can be very tight for someone who is 6-8. My 6-9 friend can’t fit in either seat, but he has long legs that won’t fit under the dash or around the controls. Also, the gear handle is very close to my right knee (I’m 6-0) and may be an issue if you have long legs. I’ve heard there are those who modified the seat rail mounts to gain a few inches of rearward travel which would help significantly for someone over 6-2, but make rear seat legroom non-existent. I’ve also heard some people may fly up to (the all but paper work approved) 3300# max gross weight limit increase AeroCommander didn’t finish due to production halt.

As far as what condition of aircraft to buy, that is purely personal preference. Before I was shown the light of the M200, I was shopping for Bonanzas and C-210s. I had the pleasure of being introduced to Capt Downey (a legend of the Meyers family being honored at this year’s fly-in) who highly encouraged me to look at an M200 he knew was for sale. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was going to be interviewed by the owner before he would consider allowing me to fly his plane, let alone purchase it. Well, I guess I passed because I’ve had N2919T since summer of 2000. While the airplane was well cared for, its paint was thinning, the interior was original and wearing, and it was in need of some minor mechanical repairs, etc. I followed some sage advice to fly the plane, enjoy it, and improve it as time and funds allowed. In the past 19 years I’ve spent more in upgrades than the purchase price, and the value hasn’t increased significantly. It’s part of the pleasure of preserving a cherished aircraft for the next caretaker.

If you google N2919T you’ll see the before photos (teal and white) and the post paint/interior (white and blue) completed after 7 years and ~350 hours. Last year, it was time to bring the avionics up to the 2010s and ADSB compliance. There’s always one more thing on the wish list, and eventually, I’ll get to each item as time and budget allows.

I’m happy to provide an honest assessment of the M200 if you want to chat…

VR, Tom
757.870.2474

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