TTaylor

I fly over that area VFR several times per year, the South Lake Tahoe to near Placerville and turn south is what I use most of the time. I like to be 12K or higher as I pass the high ground just southwest of KTVL. In May I was forced to fly north of the lake and that was fine but did not feel any more comfortable than crossing about 10 miles south of TVL near Luther Pass and then flying toward SPOOK and then turning south once I felt I could reach one of the airports in the valley. It is good to look at Eagle Ridge on Google Earth just so you know what it looks like if you had to go there. On my return flight I tried a new route over Columbia (O22), Bear Valley (private) and Alpine County (M45), and again these are much better above 12K. All of the crossings at 12 to 13K mean some of your engine out landing spots will be lakes. I only fly where I can reach a lake, flat fields or an airport.

I have slowly gone from the stick-on and hardline bifocals to a good pair of progressive bifocals. I had my main glasses done in transition lenses that darken in sunlight with progressive bifocals. After a little time for adjustment I now like the progressive bifocals because they are nearly infinite in focal length. I just move my head slightly and different ranges in the cockpit are in focus. Not cheap but I can fly the Mooney and my glider without any problems and I can see near and far instruments on the panels. I use a pair of clip on Solar Shield sunglasses that match my frames if I am flying in real bright conditions ($10 or less at drugstore or eBay). Yes, it is hell getting old, but as they say it beats the alternative.

I agree with Ross (Shadrach). For a first plane if you manage the risk upfront the downside can be minimized. I would have the engine inspected carefully for any sign of rust or corrosion to the cams, valves and cylinders. After that consider a ferry permit to Maxwell for the prebuy and annual in one. Make the deal such that if it can't pass the prebuy you can return it. You are only out the costs and time involved. If you are close this is not to hard to do, across county it is much more difficult.

Off topic slightly but worth the debate. To lock or not to lock, (the baggage door) that is the question. Lock. You are sure that it is closed and good check list item. Closed and locked, check. Unlock. Allows an additional access point for emergency help. If it is locked help can't open it. If the main door is jammed this may be the best way into the plane. I actually quit locking mine after reading about a pilot that was saved through the baggage door and we upgraded the side windows to 0.25 thickness which is much harder to break.

I have been in several partnership and found it has worked well. Good agreements are essential but it is nice to have others to share the costs with and ensure that the plane flies regularly. Part of the decision comes down to your mission and personality type. How many hours per year do you plan to fly and at what times of the year? Can you see the plane as an asset and not as your personal toy? Many will argue that the only way to go is owning the plane by yourself, but for some this is not a good idea just because they don't fly enough. I have four partners and the plane barely sees over 100 hours per year. When several of my partners bought in they were concerned about having access to the plane enough yet they only have flown 10 to 20 hours per year. Every month each partner pays into our fixed cost account and that means that I can fly the plane and keep it in a hangar for about $150 per month fixed costs for annual, hangar and insurance plus a little for upgrade account. We have a dry cost plus fuel. We have a fuel monitor and change based on actual fuel used to encourage efficient use of the plane. I own a glider as well so for me the Mooney is a tool to travel long distances so I don't take it out to do the $100 hamburgers. I would value the share just like the plane at 1/4 the airplane plus 1/4 of any funds in the accounts. Never pay more than it is worth. The nice thing is you are only looking at a few thousand either way on value estimates rather than 10K if you bought it yourself. If something major goes out you are in for 1/4, you want to upgrade and you have like minded partners it is 1/4 the cost. Critical is talking with the potential partners to see what their vision is for the airplane. Upgrades and aviaonics can be expensive, this is one area where friction can grow. One partner likes VFR with a tablet and the other wants a full IFR glass panel. Have a group with similar financial backgrounds will help to keep the expectations on similar grounds. Prebuy is likely not necessary depending on how long the group has owned the plane. If they have had it for several years I would talk to the mechanic that has done the last few annuals and go through the log books. You might spend a day and open up several of the access covers if you are familiar with what to look for in a Mooney. We use PilotSchedule to schedule the plane, it is free and works well. Having as approved plan for priority usage will make things go smoothly in the long run. Overall, don't be afraid of a partnership, it can be a great way to fly and keep the overall costs reasonable. It is nice when it comes to annuals because there are more hands to open panels if you do pilot assisted annuals as well.

From Mike Busch: "I normally recommend 50 hours or four months, whichever comes first".

As far as instructor and mechanics more details would be helpful. Where is the plane now and where will you have your home base?

Welcome to Mooneyspace! 1. A good mechanic that knows older Mooney's. 2. Corrosion, it will ruin your day (maybe your year). Spar corrosion is most common in the 62 to 65 planes but can be found on others. Need a mechanic that knows what and where to look for it. 3. I think there are prebuy check lists in the flies section. MS has a terrible search engine, better to go to Google and search back to MS. LASAR has a short list if you search Mooney prebuy checklist. Good luck on finding a Mooney

Since we have not received a postcard or letter with a code we must print out Form 8050-1B, fill it out, and send in the money. Glad the FAA is making our lives easier again, not! No explanation other than blaming the post office for not receiving a renewal notice.

I have an aircraft due in June as well and have not seen a notice as well. Wonder if there are issues at the FAA?

kurtsnyder a member on the list was a professional translator and Mooney owner. Would be a good source to try.

Highly recommend David Bliss! Great mechanic and great person to work with. He helped me to get my plane out of J. Tune and into his shop for a two week clean-up and annual. My gallery shows my plane in his shop when it was getting ready to fly home. He knows Mooney's well. I would not worry about the low hours per year, at least it has been flying. I have a 75 with the same throttle quadrant, actually nice to fly with once you get used to it. Tim

My "Back of the envelope" calculations show that with a Mooney 20F that you save 9 minutes on a 576 nautical mile flight and burn 6 gallons of fuel more by running at 10.5 gallons per hour and 144 knots versus 8.6 gallons per hour and 139 knots. I will take the $3 extra engine cost to save the $30 of fuel. Real numbers are likley even closer because I did not run the climb and desend profiles for the estimate.

Two years ago I bought a plane across the country and out of annual. Figure minimum $3500 for the annual plus $2000 for travel. Another $10K for upgrades and repairs when you get home A $30k plane in current annual near you starts to look cheap.

There is optimum and there is practical. Mooney's are designed to get there fast and efficiently. Carson speed does not take engine and prop costs in to account. Practical flying most find the sweet spot for an F (and J) is in the 8 to 9 gallons per hour range. I fly mostly at 9 to 12K feet in the west and set my fuel flow at 8.6 gallons per hour and get an average ground speed of 139 knots with a mostly stock, three bladed, 1975 F. I find this is my balance point for speed and efficiency. We didn't buy Mooney's to fly around like Piper's and Cessna's .

After and Before! I was a partner in a 20C from 2005 to 2010 until we found spar corrosion and had to write it off. I was missing flying the Mooney and started looking again in 2012. MS helped me buy my current 20F. The plane had been repossessed by the bank and was sitting in Tennessee and I needed to move quickly to get an inspection done to figure out was it worth pursuing. I got recommendations from users on MS to find a mechanic that was able to fly over and look at the plane and then after I made the deal I spent 10 days in his shop getting the plane ready to fly home. Not sure I could have bought the plane without the help I got from MS.

A few notes, hopefully it is not too late to help you. 1. The windows for the F are not attached the same way as the J, so you don't just order a set of J windows. I talked to GLA and they made the widows larger by about 1/4 if I remember correctly. 2. I used 1/4" thick windows on all the side windows, If I was doing it again I would go with 3/16" for all the side windows and 1/4" for the windshield. The 1/4" feel massive after pulling out the 1/8" stock windows and they are harder to fit because of the thickness and lack of bendability on installation. 3. The Mooney stringer parts are not too hard to install but take time and care. You can see a few photos in my gallery and thread on the process. I would make sure that your mechanic uses flush rivets. My 75 F has mostly non-flush rivets on the fuselage, so my mechanic used that to match but as a typical efficiency driven Mooney pilot I wish he had used the flush instead. 4. Be careful to leave extra headliner material as you cut back the insulation to make room for the stingers. You will need the extra to lap over the stinger and tuck under the window trim covers. 5. If you are not familiar with fiberglass work let me know when you get ready to change the window trim. I tried to document the process but for someone not familiar with glass you may have more questions. It is a lot of "art" to shape it so it looks like the center column was never there. Tim

Sorry, I was able to work with my mechanic without any letter because I had the official Mooney parts and he accepted that the 1976 was only a minor change from my 1975. He did a log book entry with the Mooney part numbers. N601RX might still have the letter, I would like a copy just to help others if we can get a copy. I can help with reccomndations if you get your mechanic to agree. I learned a great deal in the process that would help others do it better and easier.

SEM Super White is what most use on the interior panels. I found it at a local autopaint store. My gallery has images from the rear window mod showing the painted window trim.

I flight plan for 139 knots LOP at about 8.5 gph at 10,000 feet. I might get 144 knots if I pushed up to 10.5 gph, but why waste the fuel? Stock 1975 F with flap seals and three blade prop. See the Mooney evaluations on-line for similar numbers. I would love to see 150 knots at 9.0, but I will need a 201 window mod, remove the step, and other mods to get there.

Backseat of our 1975 20F is cold no matter what we do. I have actually run a tube from the front heater vent to get hot air back to the rear seats. There have been several threads on this that may give a few options. It is amazing how the front seats can be too hot and back are freezing.

Use some fiberglass and epoxy resin to repair the area. Include a thicker section behind the attach points. See my album where I modified the window trim during the window conversion on our F.

Just to throw in the other perspective. I have been flying with a Nexus 7 for over a year. Not paying the Apple tax is nice. Naviator is only $35/year with synthetic vision and Avare is free. I like the 7" tablet on a yoke mount. I found trying to look down at a tablet in my lap was distracting.

I was flying over the great basin a few years ago in late December. We opened the vent to help defog before take-off. As I was climbing out I tried to close it and it was stuck open. Outside air temp as about -20 F and my wife nearly froze in the backseat with full cabin heat on before I crossed the Great Salt Lake and landed at Battle Mountain where duct tape was found to seal it shut. Required cleaning and lubing plus a complete disassembly to get it working correctly again. Moral of the story was don't open it somplace if you really will want it closed in flight.

The Solar Gray gets you a the smoke color but also UV blocking and solar radiation rejection. This means the cockpit does not heat up and your interior fabric and plastic parts do not degrade as fast. For the slight cost difference of replacing a window I would not get anything else today, it is far superior to all other types.