These days there is considerable demand for turbocharging, evident by the sales of the Cirrus SR22T-a model that continues to outsell the normally aspirated SR22. Boy, have times changed. Flash back nearly 40 years when Mooney’s M20K arrived in the GA market during a time when turbocharging was relatively new and the demand for high-flying aircraft was different than now.
The M20K wasn’t exactly a slam dunk. Mooney didn’t get the airplane’s turbocharging system right on the first try and the model developed a reputation as a maintenance hog. At this point that reputation has been mostly burnished and the fact that the M20K bores along between 160 and 200 knots on relatively little fuel has boosted the model’s used price. But that turbocharged engine can still be a maintenance hog.