gsxrpilot

I agree... I had a string of sports cars and fast motorcycles. But I was always looking over my shoulder and the yearly budget for traffic fines and the accompanying electronic gadgets to avoid them, was significant. The Mooney has done away with all of that. Now a Tacoma with 200K miles on it is just fine. It's paid off and so is the Mooney.

Much easier to post pics though TapaTalk. But though a browser, you have to upload the pic to your Gallery first. Create a Gallery and then upload the pics there. Then you can included Gallery pics in your post.

My goal is 150 hours and the Commercial. Last year I logged 99 hours in 9.5 months.

Now you've gone and opened the can and worms are all over everywhere... I made a wish list for my plane shopping, (send me a PM and I'll share it with you). Down at the bottom of the list was a two blade prop. I think the three blade is a little funny looking on the short body C, and I think it costs a knot or two in speed, but I hear the climb is better. I want all the speed I can get as its a C and only 180 hp. So I wanted a two blade, but it was last on the wishlist. I love my manual gear. The electric gear has a higher speed range, but I LOVE the manual gear. There's never a question of are they down or up. And I think overhaul is much cheaper, and maintenance is simple.

The useful load in my C is 1019 lbs. But this number will vary between aircraft. These models are all old and have been modified many times over the years resulting in widely varying numbers. My one annual was $1900 but this was following a very thorough PPI which addressed all squawks. Remember, YOU don't have to "live with the cramped back seat" as you'll always be in the front left seat. :-) I flew my C 100 hours in 2014. About 60% were solo, 39% with one other person and only about 4 hours total with anyone in the back seat. And no one sitting in the back seat ever has any financial interest in the airplane, so I'm not so concerned with their lack of leg room. How tall are you and your other front seat passenger? I'm only 5'9" so there is quite a bit of room behind my seat. Of course, on long flights, once the autopilot is coupled up and takes over, I usually slide my seat back and stretch out. And with that, the leg room behind me is gone.

I have a C and live in Austin, but am frequently in Dallas. I'd be more than happy to give you a ride in my "high end" C. I started my search with pretty much the exact same mission as you. I'm very happy with the usefulness, practicality, and economy of my C.

My 5 hours of insurance mandated Mooney instruction didn't mention cross winds at all. And in the following 110 hours, I've found it's a non issue. I'm guessing that the slippery shape combined with no flap landings actually make it fairly easy to land in a cross wind. If you watch the Mooney Caravan arrival at OSH 2014, you'll see 35 Mooney's landing in very strong and gusty cross winds. It's on youtube, just search for it. YMMV.

The C is always better than you'd expect. I was shopping for an E and wishing I could afford a J. But after 120 hours in my C I couldn't be happier with it. It's an awesome aircraft that never ceases to amaze. Enjoy it.

Sparco driving shoes.

I understand that my C had the same problem, pre my purchase. The previous owners solution was to remove the boot around the J-bar. While it was in Don Maxwell's shop for the PPI, he noted the missing front part of the boot as an airworthy issue. (A pen or something could fall down under the floor and jam a linkage.) After the purchase, Don PROPERLY installed a new boot and the gear is up and down like butter.

I'm trying to get a grip on what's involved with the planes. --This is an excellent question and you are right to be asking. Just understand it can't be answered without a lot of time and research on your part. I honestly cannot afford an Ovation so that regulates me to the older planes such as a J or wishfully a 252/262 but in order to make one of those attractive on the front end they are going to be in need of: --In my humble opinion, if you cannot afford an Ovation, you cannot afford to upgrade a J to look like an Ovation. Upgrading is ALWAYS more expensive than buying it already built the way you want. Paint, most are old, faded and downright bugly. An Earl Shive paint job is not an option as one pointed out sanding the plane anodizing will ruin it. So gotta see what an honest budget here is. Interior, some of the planes look like they were taken from the "70's Show" and could use a real update Tank seal. I've read enough to know its not a matter of "IF" just a matter of "WHEN" Engine, the reason that this one amazes me the most is that A. they are severely over priced B. everyone preaches about the operating cost based upon banking X $/hr towards a rebuild yet everyone is selling the plane prior to the rebuild rather than actually doing the rebuild yet they are still complaining about the hourly cost. Time someone was honest with themselves and just admitted that they are going to run the plane till 80% TBO and off it. Base their cost on the real world situation/plan and go from there. C. Rebuilding the engine requires much more than just rebuilding the engine, hoses, alternator, magnetos, cooling ducts, etc. A 16K quote runs in to 40K and that 40K isn't increasing the planes value by 20K so it's a real bad investment. Windshields, these take a beating in the sun and such over the years. Thankfully a few have said they cost X but installation is X to the 10th power more than the cost of the windshield themselves. Seems they were not really designed to be removed/replaced. Corrosion. The unseen problem -- Corrosion is prohibitively expensive to fix. If a plane is corroded, cross it off the list and move on. Landing gear, numerous people have commented on these threads about the fragility of the landing gear so have to address the fact that purchasing a plane will come with some landing gear problems as well. I read mentions of electric gear, is there a hydraulic gear also? -- Gear is either electric or manual on the older short body Mooney's. The reason I didn't put electronics into the equation is simple, I'm to naive to know what is what on a panel and I don't know what is good to have or bad to have. Some say Forflight and an Ipad replaced the panel's most vital gauges anyways??? Regardless of what the costs are for all of the above items, they will be much more expensive than buying a plane that has them all already done. It is possible to find the plane you want, it just takes time to find it. My C is a good example. It didn't need anything but an engine monitor when I bought it. I paid under $50K for it. It already had a new interior, new paint, all the speed mods, new windshield, new gear pucks, low time and regularly used engine, no corrosion, excellent avionics including Century HSI, 530W, STec 30 w/alt hold, 2nd electric AI, etc... ​It's not a turbo, and only a 180hp engine, but I've had it to 14K ft in cruise, it burns 7 - 8 gph, and has 1005 lbs useful load. The only time it ever makes sense to upgrade an airplane is after you've owned it for 10 years and are sure you'll own it for another 10. You need to find the guy who is 2 years into the second 10 and has changed is mind and is ready to sell. To do everything you want to do to a rundown J or K model will cost more than that Ovation.

Whatever you do, keep with it. We don't fly for financial reasons, time saving reasons, or safety reasons. We fly because life's too short to stay on the ground. That is the best quote ever.

If I had that weekend free, I'd go with you in a heart beat.

I'll fly up and give you a ride back from KGGG anytime. I'll fly up there just to sit and ask a few questions of Don. Here's my experience with Don... I flew up and dropped my plane off for it's annual, and a friend was flying up to pick me up and give me a ride home. My ride got a little bit delayed. Because of TSA rules, Don couldn't let me just sit out on the curb and wait by myself. So Don waited 45 minutes past closing time with me. All employees and Jan had left for the day. Don sat there and told me stories of different Mooney's he'd worked on and stories about Mooney's he'd flown. It was an enjoyable and very educational 45 minutes for me. I'm sure Don would have preferred to be home at dinner, but never let on and was just happy to sit there and talk. I'm also very curious as to what it was that Don said was fine, but Shaune says is unairworthy. Or was it the other way around?

I know I'm fortunate to have a C as well equipped as it is. But it's a new year, a new budget and with both IFR Cert and the Annual coming up, I'm thinking of doing some upgrades. I'm not up for all of it, but will be deciding between the following... 1) New J shafts to go with my, still in the box, pair of leather wrapped J yokes. Along with new PTT and autopilot switches. I know this is largely cosmetic, but the new switches would make the flying, and especially approaches, easier. 2) New Stratus and Transponder to go with the existing 530W and ForeFlight for ADSB compliance. This is probably the most important, but would almost rather wait and see what comes out as we get closer to the mandate. 3) AOA indicator of some sort. I'm becoming more and more sold on the idea of having one of these. I like flying into short and interesting strips. I'd like to get out west and tag along with Brian (piperpainter). And an AOA would add an additional level of comfort. I doubt I'll do anything until after Oshkosh, unless some vendor really twists my arm at Sun-n-Fun. I'd like to see what's available from Stratus and what interesting discounts are available on the various pieces. Some items that are already on the list or in progress, but minimal in cost are... Window tinting Sun visors LED torpedo lights Oh, and I also need an O2 tank and associated bits and pieces. That C does better up high than I thought originally. Any opinions?

Wow, if I was going to get one of these, I should have done it before Aircraft Spruce got ahold of it. Last year it was $395 direct, now it's $625 exclusively from AS.

Lean of Peak. There are lots of people who will say LOP is bad. Others will recommend it, but say it's not possible with a carbureted engine. My experience is that it works for me about 80% of the time.

I only use carb heat occasionally in cruise to get better balance between the intakes for LOP operations. I don't leave it in, but use it about half way for 30 seconds or so. Sometimes, but not always, this allows me to go LOP. Other times I don't need it to go LOP. And sometimes it just won't go LOP. But I've never used it for ice and never used it on landing.

I like the paint, it looks just like mine. It's a good looking C. I sure like mine, and like it even more for every other one I see for sale. :-) The C is such a great airplane.

For about a month, I was beginning to question if I could find the right Mooney and so started looking at Comanche's. The first airplane I remember was my grandfather's Comanche 250 and I've liked them ever since. It was either that or an RV 6 or 7.

On the topic of why Mooney wasn't successful here in the US...? I'm just asking... It seems to me that the market doesn't exist or isn't big enough to support an airplane manufacture. There are about 500,000 pilots in the US and a very small fraction of that outside the US. Of that total number, the majority fly for the airlines or the military and don't fly GA at all. Of the fraction of pilots that are active GA pilots, how many are owners vs. renters? If we get down to the owners, how many can afford a $700K new Mooney? And finally, of the group who have the disposable income to allow them to buy a new Mooney, how many could just as easily afford a TBM, Pilatus, or a biz jet of some sort? It just seems to me the market is too small. It's like selling Ferrari's except that likely every person on earth who could afford one, has a license to drive and is allowed to drive by the jurisdiction where they live. All the other manufacturers build a wide range of airplanes, from trainers, to pickup trucks, to busses. And then there's Cirrus. I don't see investing my capitol in a company like Mooney, I just don't think the market is there. Having said that, I'm a huge fan of Mooney and wish them all the best. I love my M20C! Someday, I might even aspire to fly an E!

I think I'll just go burn some 100LL instead.

Scott and I agree on something?? Amazing :-) But I agree completely with this sentiment. There are countries where labor is cheap and anything built here, can be built cheaper there. There are countries where quality construction is unsurpassed, i.e. Swiss watches or German cars, etc. But no where and no one can compare to the good old USA when it comes to supporting crazy ideas. Invention and innovation is really a numbers game. Given enough crazy ideas, there will be some great ones. I personally think we should quit pining for the "good old days" when American manufacturing was king, and get back to doing what we do best... coming up with the next big idea. We have been a nation of dreamers since the 1600's when our ancestors risked everything on a crazy idea and a new world. And we've been turning those dreams into reality ever since.

I don't see any downside here. Without Chinese investment, Mooney is dead and gone. If this investment prolongs the Mooney's in Kerrville for 5 years or 10 years or 2 years, it's upside. I'm not afraid of Chinese airplanes either. Much like American manufacturing, the Chinese can make cheap crap for people who want to buy cheap, but they can also make very high quality products for those willing to pay for it. I'm sure that the inevitable "Chinese" Mooney will be just as safe and any airplanes made here in the US. Finally, I'm happy that friends of mine who just happened to be born Chinese, but dream of flight just like I do, might someday have access to GA like we have here. I'm sure the passion for flight is not unique to a particular race or culture. Here in the US we've been so fortunate to have had the conditions to foster innovation and invention that has lead to the GA opportunities of today. And having traveled extensively and lived abroad, I can say I've met people all over the world who dream of the ability to fly like we do here. This has got to be a step in the right direction for GA world wide. BTW... I just got back from a flying trip in Mexico. It was a "free flying" trip as in hang gliding and paragliding. There were close to 100 pilots in town from all over the world. Pilots are pilots, and pilots need to fly.

Good point -A- I went and download SPLnFFT which just happens to be the most accurate decibel meter for iPhone as tested by Univ. of Florida. No I need to go fly and test the noise level in my M20C. We've flown with our Labradoodle a couple of times and she doesn't like the mutt-muffs. I'd like to be comfortable knowing that I'm not abusing her by letting her fly without the muffs. Thanks,