MikeOH

Glad you are narrowing this down. Have you called Surefly? Maybe time to pull that Emag and sent it to them.

A couple of random remarks for the OP: That J might be a good deal... for someone that does NOT have your requirements and has been around airplane ownership for awhile. Those KX-170s are bulletproof...but are at the utter nadir vs the GTN you are waxing poetic about My age addled brain needs at least a flip-flop so I can go back to the last freq and ask for the new one again Not long after I got my F, I had the static and transponder checks performed as I was getting ready for long family trip...well, we depart into IMC, and here's why I don't engage an AP until I"m several thousand feet AGL, I click it on and WHAMO rolls hard to the left, YIKES!! Disengage and go back to hand flying.... for the next 4.5 hours! Then got to do that for another 4.5 hours on the way back! It was some work to hold +/-100 feet for that period. I won't go into how the shop screwed up my autopilot doing a static system check, but I learned you better check EVERYTHING after your plane comes out of the shop regardless of what they worked on. Bottom line: You really want an AP if you are going to take long trips... even VFR. It's easy to turn off if you have one; a LOT harder to turn on if you don't

Just noticed you don't have your medical. Do NOT delay this, and do NOT show up for your medical with ANY history that you do not FULLY understand what the AVIATION ramifications are. Especially a DUI or psychiatric visit. High blood pressure, diabetes, any ER visits, ... These things CAN be dealt with, but you don't want to find that out when you apply for your medical as you can't "back out" after starting the exam...and then the clock is ticking and you can end up with a denial.

$2500 for basic inspection is spot on! My F has run between $3000 - $5,000 including repairs.

IMHO, Hell no!

Dude! There should be major demerits for posting that sacrilege here

Only thing better would have been Bill Wheat's sig for the factory production flight test!

WOW! How in the world did you troubleshoot that??? Hats off to you!

"That paint'll buff right OFF" FTFY

Think the cam is ok?

Appears to be for experimental, NOT certified aircraft.

Do you know you had the issue BEFORE the new mag? How about BEFORE the Surefly? When you say the timing was checked at 25 degrees, that was only for the mechanical mag, correct? I'm just suspicious of the electronic mag. Take a flight, get the #4 CHT temp up and then kill the Surefly mag...see if the CHT drops. That would at least eliminate the Surefly as a contributor. Do the same with the mechanical mag.

FWIW, I paid 10% under asking 2 and half years ago.

Yeah, that's the best way to fool yourself Sorry, but your list is missing a BUNCH

TOTAL: fuel, charts, data base subscription, Savvy program, oil, EVERYTHING. My spreadsheet has spark plug gaskets, Wash-Wax-All, cleaning rags...

$360 per month for hangar in southern California I had IR and over 100 hours in a M20B before I bought my 'F'; I'm at $1200 per year $1MM/$100K (I passed on $3200/year for $1MM smooth!) I've owned for two and half years and am around 90 hours/year. All in I've averaged $16K per year. I was shooting for $12K/year...I'm doing a little better this year, so we shall see.

While I gave my smart-ass answer earlier, I'll throw in my 'shopping advice' based on my embarrassingly long search for my first and only, so far, airplane. The advantage of my long search was that I looked at a ton of Mooneys! By the time I saw the one I bought, I was pretty good at ruling out the dogs. Which in my price range (<$40K three years ago), were the majority, I'm afraid. I was looking for an airplane that I could fly and enjoy; NOT a work in progress. So, in my OPINION, in order, here are my criteria in order of importance: 1) Recent use: I didn't even bother with a plane that was even 1 year out of annual. I wanted to see a minimum of 50 hours/year for the last 3-5 years. Meeting this criteria is harder than you would think. Many planes just sit. BAD BAD BAD! 2) Hangared: You can tell if the plane has been hangared for most of its recent past. Outside is just plain hard on equipment. Yes, it can be successfully done with proper maintenance and upkeep. But, frankly, in this price range outside planes are not going to have been cared for that well. At least that was my experience. Hangared planes also are an indicator that the owner was willing/had the money to maintain the plane. 3) Maintenance: What do the logs reflect? One line annuals, or a detailed list of items addressed? How about between annuals, any entries, or nothing between annuals being done? Pull the cowl. Clean, neat, hoses in good shape, etc. Or, chicken wire and bubble-gum? Again, did the owner have the coin to properly maintain the plane...or did it sit outside for a long period with little money spent before the owner got tired of the expense? I found this to be VERY common, unfortunately. 4) Equipment: Does it have avionics you can live with? If not, you are looking at HUGE money (relative to this price range) that you will NOT get back when you sell. 5) Paint/Interior: Don't be too picky! You will pay a premium for perfect paint and interior. More important, you may pass on an otherwise excellent plane. Further, the interior is something you can do yourself. Just decide if you can live with paint condition and scheme. As long as the paint wasn't badly oxidized (unlikely if the plane meets criteria 2) and/or really badly chipped I was happy. 6) Engine: Yup, last on the list. If criteria #1, and #3, are met you are likely to be able to fly for a while without serious engine issues regardless of TSMOH. Second, the price is/can be negotiated based on engine hours; buy right, and engine hours aren't that critical. I was actually nervous with planes advertised with low TSMOH; did they just do a cheap overhaul to sell? In my case, I bought with an already over TBO engine (and, priced accordingly); that was two and half years, and 200 hours ago. The previous owner had flown 100 hours per year (this is a very uncommonly high usage for a single owner pleasure plane) for 13 years. TBO is somewhat arbitrary; do you rebuild your car engine at a certain number of miles, or on condition? Regardless, engines are a big unknown and you should be financially prepared to overhaul at any time (including right after purchase) or you will end up with a plane sitting, costing you money (especially hangared) and devaluing. Honestly, that fact was one of the reasons I shopped for so long; to be in a position that I could afford the $30K a proper overhaul would cost. Good luck!

Run Forrest, run! (I guess it should be Run Mark, run!)

Thanks, Paul! Bunch of stuff you discussed that NEVER would have occurred to me...like blade stretch at high rpm. Awesome answer

Paul, Can you please elaborate a bit more? Questions/thoughts that come to my never had/flown a turbo mind: 1) What are the real wear factors for a turbo? I would think temperature (TIT) would be the crucial one. Not so convinced that higher rpm in and of itself is a huge factor as long as sufficient cool oil is being supplied to the shaft bearing. 2) Why would the turbo be working 'harder' at altitude if the compressor is working with a lower air density? Sure, it will spin faster to get the required boost but, again, is the higher rpm an important factor in wear/reliability? Thanks in advance!

Have you tried 100LL? I know those aren't fuel stains, but it might be worth a try.

Thanks. I missed the "do not need" if it's a CAR-3 aircraft. But, I still need a copy of whatever cert they do have, correct? That is, I can't just put in carpet with NO burn reference at all, right?

That's the trade off I'm evaluating, roll my own with automotive wool carpet and get a burn cert myself, or buy from an aviation vendor at a premium price. If I can get a remnant, like you did, for $100 then I'm done. But, if I have to fork over $500 for min buy...

And, No extra charge for that

Hmm, it was my understanding that you can source from anyone as long as you obtain an appropriate burn cert (of course, that cost may negate the savings). Also, I thought wool is self extinguishing; it will inherently pass a burn test. Which makes me wonder if you even need a burn cert for wool?