mmgreve

Similar issue here.... Our 231 has developed a bad habit of transferring the oil from he sump where it is most useful, to the underside of the plane where it is much less desired. The oil "consumption" is 0.5-1 quart per hours, so apart from the inconvenience it also limit the operation range significantly. The oil on the belly is yellow and sticky, so clearly new and "unused" oil and we are sure that he oil is not being burned in the engine. While our mechanic believe the oil to be leaking into the exhaust from the turbo, I highly doubt that, partly because the silencer (Liese) is clean and dry, and partly because oil leaks onto the nose gear door after landing. There are a couple of hoses the oil could come from, but I am wondering if it has to do with the oil separator that is installed?

We're getting the MTV-12 (three blade) fitted to our 231 in April. I'm going to fly down to the factory where they will fit and dynamically balance the prop for free, but I suspect that will not be an option for you. €10,900 plus VAT (19pct in Germany) is the all-in cost.

Blackbushe, EGLK.........$11.00 !!! That's a little high to be fair and will probably come down when they have used the batch. Currently the cheapest in the region as at Goodwood at $8.52 ....welcome to Europe

I'm in the South, but if they want to pay for the fuel, I can fly up. Recently bought covers from Bruce, btw, and am very happy with those.

Congrats ! I have been looking at that particular Mooney on the net, mostly because I'm a Dane and was in the market for a Mooney...the Ovation was a little out of range though - I was shopping for 231s Are you keeping it on Danish reg. in Austria? I guess there is no real reason to change as the Danish CAA is quite easy to work with. I ended up with a German registered plane, which is a real pain and I might be changing.

I did a pre-buy on a 231 that had been sitting idle for 2-3 years and while it looked prestine on the surface (it was in a hangar), we had to give the guy a really low offer due to the required work - Half the electronics not working - Everything needing to be re-greased - All rubber perished ....and the big one. There was water in the oil and rust in the cylinders All in around £35K of work needing done. We didn't agree in the end, and I ended up paying much more for well looked after example. I'm sure yours is better, but just wanted to share my experience

Adrian, if you fly in and out of the UK on a regular basis, it also gives you a little more fuel to claim the duty back on. By rough calculation, you can claim back 40p on an extra 113 litres, or £45. If the $6500 (£4000) install price holds, you only need to fill up 89 times to recoup the cost

Not sure that holds for propellers? GR17

To avoid dealing with EASA? It is interesting that there are pretty significant differences between the European aviation agencies. My understanding is that the Germans, oddly enough, are closest to the pragmatic attitude of the FAA. Unlike the Brits, they're happy for you to operate on-condition and apart from the annual, the pilot can pretty much do all of the maintenance, etc. They however require a full avionics check annually to release for IFR, which is costly. It means for instance that I will have to buy a new prop to get on G-reg, and if we're looking at that kind of trouble and cost, I might as well go N-reg while I'm at it. For now, I have asked the Germans for an exemption from the authorized recipient requirement - not having much hope, though. My sense is that EASA is slowly changing attitude and start acknowledging the difference between a Piper Cub and Airbus 380 - but it's baby steps. I can't really understand why EASA and FAA can't just agree that they're probably both thorough organisations who know what they're doing, so if something is FAA approved, it should be good to go in Europe and vice versa....but then again, I never made my money as a lawyer.

I will look up EMPOA, although I already have a pretty competitive cover through Visicover. I hear you regarding the move on N-reg. It turns out that the Germans want me to appoint an authorized recipient in Germany to allow a D-reg outside Germany. I will ask for flexibility on that, given that I'm happy to correspond with them in German. if that doesn't work, I might actually have to move and I think N-reg is then the way to go, to avoid the whole EASA major mod debacle.

EGLK

Hi guys, Having nosed around the forum for a while, as I was educating myself on Mooneys, I should probably introduce myself. I have just bought a 231 with a friend of mine after a long search for the best available in Europe. It is bought in Germany, but will be based in the UK probably still on German registration, unless it proves very troublesome. Would be great to meet up with other Mooney owners at some point.

Jose, No expert, but I believe he just needs to stay out of class A, B and C at present time - or go VFR. MG

I was really struggling on the first couple of landings when transitioning from an Arrow to a Mooney, until I realised that I was way to heavy footed ! In the Arrow I could plant my entire foot on the pedal, but when doing so in the Mooney, I would be landing breaks slightly on, which was....interesting. Use the tip of your toes when landing.

I believe someone on here was trying to get a group of 10 together to get a batch of Airflow Systems intercoolers made. Not sure if the efforts are still live though

Many thanks Podair, I'll try to reach out to the three of them. Chris, I'm no expert on maintenance (yet, ownership will likely change that), but have looked a little into the N-reg vs EASA, and I udnerstand the following. Apart from the IR argument it is also much more flexible and somewhat cheaper to maintain an N-reg than EASA. Most importantly you don't have any freelance mechanics under EASA, you need to register the plane with an approved shop who will do all of your maintenance...and I udnerstand some outfits take advantage of their monopoly once you're in the door. As they "own" the paperworks on the plane, you can't just move. Then there are little things like mods not being approved and ADs being mandatory, never optional, etc, etc....so many go for N-reg to have flexibility and control over the maintenance. The issue is that under EASA, there is little difference between being Mr Jones and being Lufthansa, in terms of maintenance regimes, pilot training, etc. As Podair mentiones, there are signs of improvement though.

Hi all, First post here, but has been a reader for a while and appreciate deep Mooney knowledge most of you seem to have. We're considering to buy a 231 that is being sold locally, and while I have a good amount of Mooney hours, it would be a first outright ownership of a plane. That coupled with the reputation on the 231, I'm very keen to have a thorough pre-buy inspection done. Can any of the fellow Europeans recommend a mechanic to do an honest assesment? Both we and the plane is UK based, but I'd consider flying the right guy over from the continent....if he is the right guy, Just to pre-empt the pros and cons of turbo, I'm keen on a 231 due to the ability to go above Northern European weather and get in and out of alpine destinations. In addition to the Moonney, I have flown a Turbo Arrow and loved the engine (hated the airframe though) Any feedback from locally based 231 owners is also grately appreciated.