airbornepinata

There is no corrosion issues, however there is definately a need for paint. It is priced accordingly...

Mine is still original too, and i will do the same thing. The classic look is a good one.

I had her in the air this week. Was up for an hour and a half. It flew very well and will go up for another hour and a half flight on Monday. The transition was surprisingly easy. I am used to an Arrow and it was similar, minus the speed and lack of desire to slow down in the pattern.

The kit is good I just ordered one for my E and it was useful for replacing fasteners that I had stripped out or were in less than perfect condition. I still have about 90% leftover for future inspections. I'm not quite sure why the G and F models would be so different?

I say if you are mechanically inclined and or have friends that are mechanics, go for it. Mine sat for 5 years outside. I spent the last 4 months replacing parts and today is when my very thou rough mechanics shop is going to approve the annual inspection. It did take a bit to get her back in airworthy condition, but I think that because it was a good candidate aircraft with an overhaul less than 9 years ago, new prop, and most importantly sat out in a relatively dry Colorado climate, it made it worth it. The best part is getting the bird in the air for under $20k. Now I just have to start saving for paint!

I just brought it in for the annual today! Should be done by the end of the week, and then I need to learn to fly it.

Welcome. I am working on getting a similarly aged bird back in the air. It is now awaiting inspection and then put the interior back in. I have done quite a bit to get it ready for its first annual in 5 years! Mine is a '66E s/n 1006

Concerning manual gear vs. electric - I have picked up both types from runways in the past due to hard landings or landing gear up. The difference that I have seen is that usually the electric gear is up due to absent mindedness, and the manual gear is up due to a hard landing. This is just based on my experience of working at airports for 17 years now. I had one electric gear mooney land gear up twice within a short amount of time, so perhaps pilot error has the statistics skewed! So far I have removed: Mooney M20F electric - twice Mooney M20C manual - hard landing and gear retracted on bounce - once Baron - failed to extend gear C182RG - failed to extend gear Bonanza - failed to extend gear TBM 700- hard landing nose gear failure Yak-52 - pilot did not engage pneumatic system resulting in nose gear failure on landing and post impact fire C210 - gear lock failure (nose came down mains did not swing forward and lock) Boeing Stearman - new pilot hit brakes too hard taxiing and it nosed over Cessna 170 - brakes applied too hard on landing and it nosed over Piper Pacer - groundloop breaking left main off and landing on wing

I would treat this purchase no different than purchasing a home. You agree on a price assuming that there are no problems or squawks. Sign a contract to that effect, then conduct the prebuy inspection. If you find problems, agree that the seller fixes them or if you are willing to take a chance, discount the purchase price and fix yourself. Just make sure that the shop you get the prebuy from is reputable and Mooney savvy. I just bought mine last month, and because the seller was not willing to pay to get it airworthy (it sat for 4 years), I offered a much lower price after conducting my own prebuy. I was an airplane owner the next day. I also have friends that are aircraft mechanics that are looking for fun projects- which is why I went for it. Good luck!

Sounds like a nicely equipped bird. I hope to get mine equipped that well over time. Great photos, and I'm curious do you have to change the registration from U.S. to French ?