Jakl

The top photo I tried electrical tape but was overall unhappy with how it came out. It's all the way down into that flexible part so not really an easy way to clean that up without cutting some of that plastic away I'm thinking

It's right at the base of the flexible plastic where it goes into the battery module. It's both on the dual cord exit end as well as a little on the inside. It seems to be both black wires, as I can see the red ones still intact inside.

I recently purchased a Lightspeed Twenty 3G on Facebook marketplace locally, but when I went to plug it into the comm port, it just had nasty squealing noise. I took apart the battery module and of course the wire is frayed badly where it enters the battery module from the dual plug end. I called Lightspeed and they said they no longer support these headsets. Anyone know a source that might salvage headsets or that can custom make a cord? I only bought this thing because I want to introduce my 4 year old to flying and her favorite color is purple. I have a 20XL from way back (of course the cords don’t match) that she can use, but alas, those are gray.

I understand an MSC is my best resource, but when in one breath they claim to be just as good as Willmar Air Services at sealing tanks, and in the next breath they tell me to definitely plan to have them stripped and sealed at the pre buy, well....

Ok so the MSC in Venice, FL is just trying to make money off me? After I sat back and thought about it, thats sorta how it felt TBH. That makes more sense

Not sure I understand why it would be "whiney". This was just a direct suggestion from an MSC nearby and they even stated regardless of if there was an actual leak or not they would put the old tanks on the pre buy report to be re-done due to their age.

So I spoke to a couple Mooney Service Centers about doing a pre-buy. One of the questions that came up both times was about the tanks and when they were last stripped and re-sealed (not patched). I looked into it and it looks like the tanks have never been done on a 28 yr old Mooney. Is this a red flag or normal? I'm hesitant now with a greater risk of a $10k repair that will need to be done likely in the near future.

Audio panel

List of wanted upgrades? AOA would be nice. A new comm panel and an aux input. So my revised timeline involves us flying down on a Friday to check out the plane for ourselves. If it looks good, We have the MSC take it Saturday and finish by Monday (planned). Then I stick around from Monday to Thursday to learn the ropes. If it's all good, I fly it home. If not. I pay a CFI to fly back with me and pay his airfare home. Does this sound more conservative?

Willing to separate?

Thinking about using these guys for the pre buy http://www.mooneyservice.com/home.html

So I need to plan for a week away and find a MSC to send it to for its pre buy. Then get 2 days of transition training before flying home. About 5 days. I'd rather catch as much as possible up front.

It's a 1986 M20J. Has a 430w, kcs55a, kap150, ski tube stc, about 4000 hours on airframe, 830 smoh, gtx327.

Found a Mooney that fits all of our criteria. Going to have to wait a month or so until I return from TDY to make the transaction. But between now and then what needs to be done? So far I have money in escrow, financing secured and the P&S done. I know I need to find a good A&P in south Florida who is familiar with mooneys. The sellers cooperated with the price but they also said they didn't want to bother with the small common things found on all pre buys and they would only cover major discrepancies. What sort of minor problems could we expect? Lastly, what sort of timeline did you guys go on when you purchased your mooneys? I plan to fly down, have it inspected, buy the plane and have some transition training the next day and then fly home. Thoughts?

Any thought to low approaches instead? All the practice of getting on speed but none of the ground contact or tire wear. Just give it the gas and clean up.

Checked out all the links here and all were a great help. Thanks!

Ha yeah I'm on my phone as well and having trouble with the search function. I'll see if I can find it once I get home.

My wife and I are going to check out our first Mooney this weekend. We obviously will not buy anything without a thorough pre buy from an experienced mooney mechanic. But before getting to that step, what are some things potential buyers can look for themselves to weed out the less desirable planes? Obviously looking at the overall ccondition of the skin and rivets, and checking the condition of the donuts on the gear, but beyond that I'm still trying to find specifics to the 20J that can stand out (or not) as potential problems.

Apologies, I was unclear. She felt more secure in the Archer (I guess secure is synonymous with blind spots) because it felt like a car meaning she had a windshield, a roof, doors, side windows. It just felt to her more like a mode of transportation than a toy. I still plan to have her check out the Mooney and hopefully she's a fan

Thanks Rags. I found a few locally that aren't exactly what I'm looking for but I hope they may be willing to let the wife and I check them out anyway so we can sit in them and see how she likes it. She did just fine in a Piper Archer even though it was painfully slow. She actually preferred the Archer to the RV9 she got a ride in. She enjoyed the more "car like" feel of the cabin. Hopefully she feels the same about the Mooney!

Thanks for the response guys. I'm probably just going to have to find one locally to sit in!

Wife and I are looking for our first plane. We started by looking in the already-flying used Vans market for the newer-for-the-money and efficiency they offered. I've been up in them and I enjoyed it, so did the wife, but we want to travel. When I say travel, I'm talking 500ish miles regularly with the occasional 1000nm trip. We have 2 dogs we'd like the option of bringing along, or maybe even our snowboards. Typical load would be us (360lbs total) plus 40 or so in bags and fill tanks, but obviously with the other options previously stated or even 4 pax plus bags and fuel at the tabs. We're on about a 90k budget max, obviously he less it costs the more we can put into it and fly it. I'm 6'4 and 230lbs so not a small dude so I'm concerned about the fit in the plane. I've heard it has legroom but not very wide. Thoughts?