Will I fit in a short-bodied early model Mooney?

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1Dave outside door.JPG
So you want to know whether you can fit into the cockpit of a short body Mooney, eh? Well, hopefully these photos will answer your question. I am 6 ft 5 inches tall with a 34 inch inseam, meaning that my torso is longer than normal, and my legs are average. Notice how low to the ground the M20A sits. This decreases drag and contributes to the optical illusion that Mooneys can't fit tall people, when in fact, they can.
The previous owner of my plane, Richard Ott, is 6ft 4in and flew it for over 20 years
2Dad and Dave.jpg
Here my father (6 ft 1 in) with very long legs sits next to me, with the seat all the way back. It was more comfortable that way than trying to slide the seat forward and having him dodge the rudder pedals
Here I am sitting in my M20A. Sorry it's not a close-up, but you can see I fit OK
Headset and Leg Clearance.jpg
There are 2 things you can see in this picture: My headset is brushing the headliner, and I can pull my knees up and move my legs around comfortably. In takeoff or landing configuration, I would have my legs nearly straight ahead to get my feet on the pedals
If you are more than 6 ft 5 in tall, you may have problems with your headset touching the headliner. It's not a problem for me, but in turbulence, it does sometimes get pushed around
Note how close I am sitting to the control yoke. In a Mooney, you sit lower to the floor with your legs stretched out ahead of you. There is a good reason why Mooneys are faster than other airplanes with the same size engine. They are sports cars of the air, and you have to be willing to fit into a Mooney like you would into a sports car.
You can see my knees clear the bottom of the instrument panel. I sit with the seat locked into the 2nd notch from the most forward position. There are 3 more notches going backward, and then there's the 'way back' position against the back seat, if you have really really long legs
Here are two standard FAA-sized guys on a 4 hour flight (my CFI Jonathan Hanold and Kelly Vinton). Kelly (in the back) said it wasn't really all that bad, and that he was able to find space for his feet and keep shifting around to stay comfortable.
Martha and Dave.jpg
Here is my sister sitting in the right seat. You can see I had to lean over in order to get in the picture. This plane has a lot more shoulder room than a Cessna 172.
I have never been able to use car armrests because of my torso length. I normally just rest my arm on the window sill, unless I'm actively flying, as in this left turn.
Paul and Dave.jpg
My brother is 6 ft 3 in tall. He slid the seat all the way back to keep his feet out of the rudder pedals, but you can see we had plenty of room

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