M20F Modifications: need advise

[KSMooniac]

I'll also ad that getting a modified F that is nearly a 201 is great... for the next owner!  You don't want to pay for those mods yourself, but if you can pick it up for a reasonable price with complete paperwork then that is great.  

[Bennett]

As I've mentioned in another thread, one of the forum members I often fly with in two ship formations has a well modified E - a 201 windshield, one piece belly pan, modified nose bowl, and a

few other mods, and a three bladed composite prop. His airplane is lighter than my J model, will outclimb me, and slows down faster than I can, even though I have speed brakes, and I can drop my landing gear at higher speeds. In level flight at a given altitude, I am somewhat faster, but he still beats me on a block basis. Older Mooneys have some advantages, and they certainly are less expensive to buy, and perhaps maintain. Hard to beat the Johnson Bar gear for minimizing complexity. On the other hand, having owned a turbo Mooney in the past, I find that my J model suits my current type of flying, and does so surprisingly economically now that I cruise LOP. (Thanks Knute for teaching this old dog a new trick.) At my usual 7-9,000' cruising altitude, there is little difference in speed as compared to my former 261/262 conversion, and at a lesser fuel burn, and two less cylinders to maintain, let alone the turbo.

[OR75]

If the annula was done in April, it will be tough to ask for a new one.

 

However, the annual should be fresh in the mind of the IA who signed it. Did you give a call and ask him whether you should be concerned ?

[KenMan171]

If the annula was done in April, it will be tough to ask for a new one.

 

However, the annual should be fresh in the mind of the IA who signed it. Did you give a call and ask him whether you should be concerned ?

OR75: I have not contacted the IA yet. I'll let you know what I find out as I go.

[KenMan171]

If the FAA has valid copies of those 337's referencing STC XXXX or a field approval signature from the FAA or a DER, then you should be fine.  If not, let the seller know they have a major problem on their hands and it might motivate them sufficiently to go digging through that box of misc. that everyone has, looking for those STC papers.  Otherwise, you might later find yourself in a situation like N4352H described above.

  

I'll also ad that getting a modified F that is nearly a 201 is great... for the next owner!  You don't want to pay for those mods yourself, but if you can pick it up for a reasonable price with complete paperwork then that is great.

We shall see what the FAA records say when they show up. I agree with your last post, key word there is "complete".

[jetdriven]

If the FAA has valid copies of those 337's referencing STC XXXX or a field approval signature from the FAA or a DER, then you should be fine.  If not, let the seller know they have a major problem on their hands and it might motivate them sufficiently to go digging through that box of misc. that everyone has, looking for those STC papers.  Otherwise, you might later find yourself in a situation like N4352H described above.

All of those 337's should be filed with the FAA to be legal. When we bought ours, we requested the entire registration history and airworthiness files from OKC. 

[KenMan171]

Just to give everyone an update.... I recieved the FAA records for the plane today... go figure, ALL of the Mod Squad Modifications are missing FAA copies... won't be buying this one. The current owner is basically flying an experimental airplane... I am sure his insurance company would be happy to know. 

[KSMooniac]

Oops!  Good catch, especially since you figured it out before it became your problem.  Make sure the owner knows it as he might be able to dig back through the history and figure out where the ball was dropped.