ShermAv8tor

Its pretty clear to me which one is correct. Thanks Wishbone for sharing.

Rad thats awesome! Congrats! I am out at KOAK airport often to visit my Gulfstream cusomers, and maybe we can try to meet up one day to put real names with faces. Would love to check it out. Are you over at the T hangars on the north side or the T hangars near hangars 9 & 10? Again, congrats! Did you get a prepurchase done and a title search completed? Maybe we can take this to PM and you can give me any insight about do's and dont's of the purchase.

Schule, All great info and thanks for providing it. Yes very familiar with all operating costs, etc. - no worries I know what I'm in for on this. Not a huge fan of partnerships as I'm in one now on a C150, and again....not a big fan....I'll just leave it at that. Good to know 65 was first year of PC as well. Im gonna stick to the 65 and later versions

Hi Rad, Did you get the E out of Bentonville? That one is a smoking deal for sure! Congrats on your new acquisition! Where are you based out of?

It is great coming back to this forum for advice!! You all have alot of experience and great recommendations and I really appreciate your time to jot down your replies…..I will open my eyes again, and take the blinders off….Your right well equipped is where I should be at. Sometime I catch myself almost wanting to force it, instaed of waiting for the airplane to "pick me" as a couple of members have stated. Also I have read that the pre 65 models the ailerons are different and thus require more effort since they have a higher breakout force. Impressions were to stay away if possible…..I think I read that on MAPA…….do any of you belong to MAPA as well and is it worth joining prior to buying?

What is your average airspeed both east and west and how many hours does it take you to do the trip…..simply out of curiousity

Thanks again everyone, again all great points to consider. No I will not routinely be flying 4 people on LONG trips, but would like the capability if the mission arises. Yes smaller peeps get the back seat. I am pretty sure the the C/E/or even an F (if you can find one) will fit my mission. getting a ride is going to be tricky, and not sure how to accomplish this one, I think one of the memebers on this post near me has offered that option and i really need to take them up on that. I will figure it out. Based on everything I have read and my personal likes/dislikes, I really think the mooney will be a great airplane for me. fast, efficient, sexy, easy to maintain (my personal A&P opinion) My family and I have taken many trips in a car/suv that were sometimes up to 20 hrs, but would routinely do 12-14 hrs drive in a day, so not new to making the best of small areas for long trips (Nissan Murano) Yes the C would probaly be the best cost/efficent model, however right now I really seem to be hung up on getting an E model. Long distance, faster is better, so is the 10 kts really worth it? To me yeas, but lets open that question up to the ranks of the C & E owners. I know speed mods can get me up to the 150 kts mark on the C, but the fuel injection seems to be a bigger attraction for me (personal pref) Also lets talk paint - have you had your bird painted, and if so what was the cost? I would think you could get a good paint job for 6-8K (outside of Cali) but maybe I'm way off. Lemme know if you have recommendations on shops or people to call - I dod a search on here and nothing came up that was helpful Hope everyone had a great Christmas.....off to Top Golf in the Colony, TX

Ok I just finished reading the post that was linked on thread 4 - So what did I get out of that? Its George vs Mooney guy.....LOL, no not really. But wow. Very good and informative info, and I will start using the search function more for my questions. Thanks again for the great comments and feedback, keppem coming if you have more to add....I am back to looking/considering the E model as well as the F, I think I may have been overthinking it a bit.....well alot actually, this whole process is swallowing me whole! My wife says if she had a propeller I would be more interested in her uh oh! Somebody mentioned flying and transitioning to the GIV, well I have flown the simulators alot, and landed......and I have been a flight engineer in the past as well in GIV's, GV's, G550's...........I have been fortunate enough to be at 51,000 feet and seen the curvature of the earth!! If you ask me landing the Gulfstream is easier than the C150 I fly now!! Yes I have contacted a couple of transistion pilots off the LASAR site, and will definately do that even if insurance didnt require it....I like to learn, and not afraid to ask questions or admit I dont know.....Maybe someday I can offer others what im learning from this experience.

Hi Gary, Yes I am factoring that all in, and right now hangars are not available where I'm at, so outside tiedown for short time hopefully. I have quotes on insurance too. I will be doing all MX and Mods on my own, I have a good network of aviation peeps who all have connections to, all about the networking right? Thats awesome your based at DTO, that would be the airport we would fly into! We used to live on Lake Lewisville in Hickory Creek, and have been to Ponder many times on motorcycles. Our son lives in Aubrey. I used to work part time with Butch at USAviation flight school/maintenance shop and thats when I had the most exposure to GA. Doing annuals, top ends, cylinders, and worked a few mooneys as well, but gosh that was 2005ish? Wonder if butch still works there? Ha had a taylor craft he flew to work. Any way thanks for the great advice.

Great comment Bob - Thanks for the advice. And yes M20F, the pilot always gets the best seat in the house! Gheez if I might need pedal extensions, my seat might have to be too close to the panel and controls….hmmmm…..interesting thoughts there too I will be checking out an F model soon, but Yes I need to compare the inside "back seat feel" to the C/E.

Jeff I appreciate the feedback, but the reality is I cannot afford to spend 80K on an airplane, especially since my son will be starting college next fall, and who knows when that happens I might have to sell whatever I have at the time and downsize till college is done….hoping thtas not the case…..

Thanks everyone for the great comments and the link, but good laughs too (Bonal I want a 911 GT3 also…LOL) I used to own Firebirds, so now I know what I'm up against! LOL! M20F - Good point on the cost of cylinders, will check that out….and yes I've heard the mooneys can be difficult or suck to work on, but I feel confident I can get things figured out, but I know there will be a learning curve for sure. JR I might have to take you up on your offer! I'm due to do my Xcountry's now, but the weather here since Thanksgiving just sucks this year, but man do we need the rain and boy are we getting it! The rain is more important than my selfish needs to fly…. I'm gonna call the guys at Lake Aero and pick their brains a little bit as well, but didnt realize another shop existed called Top Gun. Will check them out also. This is all good stuff, and helps me focus on the areas of concern. Another question is having a 3 bladed prop any more advantageous over the stock 2 blade?

OK, so I joined to hopefully to get some insight or be told I'm crazy....either way I'm still gonna buy a Mooney. My name is Sherman & I'm currently a student pilot with 30 hrs and a quarter share owner in a C150. been in aviation 30 yrs on the maintenance side but mostly Gulfstreams & USMC fighter jets prior to that. I do have GA experience, but its limited and Im obviously getting alot more experience now. Im finally pursuing getting my PPL and my own plane. Im driving myself crazy trying to do all the research and looking at numbers, cost, finding the right plane, looking for pre purchase inspection criteria, etc. Im more than capable i just need help with finding out or getting this info and finding out what the problematic areas are to be concerned with whaen I do go look at a plane I might buy. Anyway...I live in NoCal (for now) and based out of Byron C83. Future plans and mission: I have family in North Texas and I want to make trips there several times per year as a VFR pilot to start (crazy right? but yes IFR will come in due time) and would like the trip to take no more than sunrise to sunset if possible including fuel stops. My wife plans to fly with me, and possibly my son (hes 18 but off to college in TX next fall - he is uncertain about flying long trips in single engine plane) I will also have occasions where 3 adults plus me may want to go on shorter trips from Byron to places such as Tahoe, Las Vegas, Monterey, San Diego, Seattle, Cabo, etc. My wife, son & I are a smaller size family (meaning each person weighs between 150 & 120) nobody taller than 5'8" So....after looking at all kinds of planes and brands...its the Mooney for me (I have always liked them) that kind of speed and range on 4 cylinders? heck yea Im a maintenance guy and 2 less cylinders to refresh or overhaul is reduced cost, but I think I have it down to an older C, E or F.....but really leaning towards the F for cabin size and the fuel injected engine. Initially I wanted the C model 66 or newer, but more and more research tells me fuel injected is better due to carb ice in a NA engine like the O-360. Not sure if thats an accurate statement - but any ice is concerning to all of us pilots out here! Especially the new guy! Not sure If I will be flying over the sierras directly (with O2) from here to get there or heading south towards Las vegas then cutting across where altitude may be lower, just depends on what I learn the airplanes are capable of as well as my own personal limitations. I have the insurance covered, so no worries there. If I find the right deal, i will buy while im still a student, would like the plane to be IFR cert already, but not a deal breaker. Looking to spend around 40ish so my wish list is gonna be tight. I have a couple of F's in mind one a 67 ad one a 69, I hear the 67 is a great year to have due to flush riveting and mooney not cutting corners until starting in 68 (non flush riveting, etc) Looking for comments from actual Mooney owners on all the above, if I left a piece of my puzzle out, please ask me for further clarification. How tight is the C&E when it comes to 4 adults? are they really 2 place adult cabins? Is the E&F over the C a better choice with FI considering what I want to do on long trips? please help point out areas I should focus on when I go look at a plane besides the usual log books, AD's, STC, etc. (I will still want to find a mooney guy to do a PPI, but I can do alot of upfront leg work if I know where and what to look for) adise, comments, concerns all welcome.... Thanks and Im looking forward to joing the Mooney owners group!