Hello all, I've been contemplating the purchase of a Maule for some time now and have narrowed it down to a M4 220 and a M5 235. The M5 is original paint/fabric (razorback) and the M4 is 10 years old and very nice looking though I don't know yet what kind of cloth. The M5 has great avionics, all new garmin but the M4 is IFR certified and is not lacking. The M5 has 160 hours left before it's 2000 hr tbo and the M4 has 735 left on a 1500 tbo FRANKLIN engine. What do you all think about the Franklin vs the O 540? I intend to put it on floats in a few years. What about the difference between the M4 and M5 flight characteristics? I'll be landing this aircraft on beaches, small dirt strips and the such here in alaska.

I appreciate any feedback. Thanks

540 for sure, that's my vote. The razorback will outlast the wooden stringers, or at least that was my problem. 540 may go way beyond TBO and they are like small block Chevy's, that is they are everywhere, parts are everywhere and everybody knows how to work on them. You may be able to run Mogas too.

Thanks for the info. Do you know much about the difference between the M5 and M4 airframe?

How old is the M5 and what kind of shape is fabric in? You could easily spend more then you pay for aircraft restoring fabric, and engine overhaul not cheap either even if it is a 540... Nothing wrong with the franklin, parts are available if you can find a good franklin man, and a new engine from franklin is about 50% cost of the Lycoming. I'm sure someone will be back in business manufacturing in the future... The M5 will make a better float plane, more wing, more flaps, more HP, etc although the M4 does ok, just got to work a little more with it at high gross weight on floats. M5 would probably make you a better airplane, but I'd certainly make sure you have someone familiar with Maules open up tail cone and get a GOOD LOOK at fabric - structural corrosion - paint condition - wood, etc... If aircraft hangared most of it's life, it's probably all pretty good, if outside tiedown exposed to WX - sun - and other elements, it may open a bag of worms for you? Good luck hunting!

The M5 is a 1977 and the owner states that it is hangared. He has sent me many high definition photographs and it looks very clean. I will take a look personally next week and look inside the tail cone. I am an A&P and have some experience with cloth coverings but I would rather fly them than fix them. The engine has about 4 years until tbo so by then I should have my IA and can do most of the engine overhaul myself. Thanks for the information.

Tworude,

Define your needs vs cost, there is nothing wrong with a good Franklin, we all know that the 235 is a great engine but TBO is TBO! The Franklin is about a 100 pounds lighter on the nose & although the wing is almost the same between the 2 you can install the 2500# upgross kit to the wing root on the M-5 & it is not available for the M-4 (I don't understand why but probally just because the M-4 was out of production by the time it became available and was probally did not warrant test flight costs to make it available for the M-4). The M-5 has more tail vertical & horizontal but needs the gap seals on the horizontal. I have flown in both and just sold an M-4 220 only because I had just spent the last 3 years rebuilding another M-4 220 from the ground up with all the goodie mod's that I wanted on it. It is probally 1 of the smotthest recip engines that you will ever fly behind & you can flight plan for 11GPH vs about 14 in the 235.
They are both great planes and although I like the lighter weight and looks of the round tail, buy the best plane for the money that will fill your needs. The M-5 may make a better float plane if you put in the upgross
kit just because you can load it heavier legally.
Just my thoughts, buy the best plane you can for the money as recover & refurb costs aren't cheap! Also most M-5s have the Aux tanks due to their fuel burn, not as many M-4s have them, ( 1 of the goodie mod's I added to my new one).

Vaughans

I looked at Stinsons last year before I bought my M5-235 and researched the Franklin 220 for about 2-3 months. Spoke to everyone and their dog including the people in Poland. No disrespect to a previous post but parts are not that easy to find (some might be but if you need an overhaul - good luck ). The engine appears to be great, and if it was still a production engine, it would have been my choice (although with some advise on the 235 from Jeremy, I went with this engine and I'm real happy with it)

Unless something has changed with the Franklin since this past winter, I would check into the parts availablity if I were you before I bought one.

My M5-235 with EDO 2440's at 21"MP and 2000 RPM uses about 11 gph and cruises at 115 MPH.

garth

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I'm going with the M5 235. Afterall, it's all about size - right? I'm going to pick it up next week and fly it to Alaska with my buddy who is current in Maules. Can't wait!

A call to Jeremy at Maule AK is in order

Ahh, another Maule in the AK fold!

tworude, since it wasn't mentioned I thought I might point out that TBO is hours and calendar time. For example, my O360 is 2,000 hours OR 12 years. You might want to ask for both numbers when examing an aircraft.

Good Luck!

Part 91 is exempt from that. "On condition", while it may effect resale if you plan on turning the plane around in a short period or targeting part 135, if not and you plan on holding it for any length of time, no factor.

I wanted to thank you all for your input. I purchased a 77 M5-235 and flew it from Washington to Anchorage. I am used to flying a turbo 210 and I was suprised at how fast the M5 was. I usually flew at about 8500 and 2100 - 19 and my indicated was always in the yellow. My ground speed was always between 160 and 183 at level flight. Learned in Watson Lake how a tail dragger can get away from you, luckily the 235 has enough power to pull me out of it. Whew, didn't have to tell the wife I crashed the plane.