INA201

I like the blue but I modified the bottom rendition pic a bit. Maybe even a mix of the factory ultra too with the silver rolled in.

"Sellers represent and warrant that the Aircraft is free of all known damage history" It can never be free of any history ie ownership, damage, etc. Once it has been damaged it cannot be free from the history of it. The plane can be appropriately repaired from the damage. It can never be free from the history of the damage or the repair history. Now if the damage history is not "known damage history," but unknown damage history then we go back to the whole prebuy thing to try and make sure there was no undocumented damage history. Maybe it should say Seller has fully represented all known damage history and repairs appropriate to the damage which ocurred. I aint no lawyer so please use this information "knowingly" or "unknowingly" at your own discretion.

Not sure if this is the same mod works plane that has been for sale for a looong time or not. I know there was one that sat on the market for a while. First Mooney My suggestion is to come up with a specific list of things you want, what you will accept or not, budget, and Prebuy inspection plan and list. Try to set up parameters that make particular planes a no go for YOU personally. When you jump in a plane and take it for a test flight we all have the tendency to let emotions take over leading to possible mistakes. Some folks keep a cool head in the buying process and some don’t. I may or may not be one to get overly excited haha and neglect things I shouldn’t. Have fun and be patient there is no hurry. The way maintenance shops are nowadays with the good economy it may be wise to get one that has had really really good MX too. The time savings up front will save a lot down the road.

Take a look at the Mirage UL with full fuel. If I understand it the useful load isn’t great on longer trips with four people and bags. My guess is 800lbs useful for a trip of 500 miles.

My thought on speed is practical in nature. I bought a Mooney for its history, looks, efficiency, cool factor, safety, and of course speed(ego maybe). My philosophy is to restore it as close to the way Mooney designed it to be without breaking the bank while modernizing the electronic side. I’m satisfied with 156knots but in the back of my mind there is always a desire to go for more. That being said if you need a new engine why not add the port and polishing to it along with balancing it all out. Also, if I had needed a total new exhaust instead of a $750 repair I probably would go for the nicely designed power flow for a little more. If it was time for a totally new magneto it may be worth considering Electronic Ignition to bring digital timing advance into play. If you like tinkering and a little extra work add a turbo for fun and let us know. A lot of the real tinkerer types don’t always show up on forums so who knows what other folks have done to speed up. There is always more but we’ve already got an A on the test by buying a Mooney. Studying an extra ?? hours to make an A+, who knows?

I flew an archer for four years and thought it was great! I was just a 40 year old kid and didn’t know any better. Now I’m fully grown and mature adult at 50 and own a Mooney. Go figure! There are so many parameters to getting those last few knots. Forgive me but I’ll list what I’ve done for posterity in the last four years. I’m not gonna spend a ton extra on speed improvements. Most of this stuff is coordinated with maintenance work and relatively cheap to do in aviation terms. 1. 1978J with 900 hours on the engine with high 70s compression. I don’t have a step or a belly beacon(came this way). 2. Switched the Bracket air filter to a Donaldson and definitely increased MP by close to an inch in cruise. You can search Donaldson in forums and see that folks see similar results over the Bracket. 3. Detailed the plane mostly for aesthetics and to maintain the paint but I hear it helps. 4. Moved the big ole temperature probe off the top of the cowl and into a side vent cutout. 5. All the rigging is fairly straight except my cowl flaps are rigged to 3/4” when closed. I could probably close them a little more while still maintaining CHTs below 380. My ball is off center by about 1/4 of the ball so getting that checked while in annual now. 6. Just now getting the ram air door stc to disable it and will fiberglass it over and smooth it out at some point. 7. I bought new Comant antennas and removed the reverse sevens.(may not provide less resistance but in theory should) 8. Put the Gee Bee silicone baffles as my old ones were shot. Did it under IA supervision and is relatively easy if you are handy. 9. Entire fuel system redone other than the fuel servo. 10. New ignition wires, Tempest plugs to replace Champion, and it was time for the mag rebuild too. 11. Exhaust and intake system checked with exhaust being rebuilt in a couple of places to tighten it up. Intake had a couple of small leaks that were corrected and fully tightened up too. 12. All old antennas that were still hanging out were removed notably the ADF, old LORAN etc. 13. Getting prop balanced but not sure if that qualifies as a speed improvement but maybe 1/4 knot. 14. I’m in annual now and on full run up I’m only getting 2650 RPM so may be a 1/2 knot+ there. Last 4 way test I did was at 2600RPM, full throttle, 6500 feet, no turbulence, 100 ROP, I was at 156 knots. The only things I’ve done since the last test will be prop balance, and RPM up from 2650 if they can do it. I’ll test again at some point and see. Some things I didn’t do that some people have done and I probably won’t do. 1. Enclose com antennas into the wingtips. 2. Replace the wire VOR/ILS antennae with the blade type streamlined antennas that the newer Mooney’s come with. 3. Port Polish and flow balance the engine which I’m frankly unclear about. 4. Smoothing the leading edges of the wing to make a “perfect,” more or less leading edge. 5. Power Flow exhaust 6. Electronic Ignition 7. One piece belly 8. I’m Probably missing one or two The quest for more speed can be never ending but it’s all in fun! I bet one of the engineers here can calculate the efficiency improvement at say 135knots when you’ve increased your top speed by 5 knots or so. That may be the hidden gem in all this improvement stuff. Long post, you know, sometimes we get excited.

Not sure if this will work but I used a McGuire’s clay bar all over my plane following the directions and it removed the light staining in the paint really well. Polish and compound as mentioned above will probably do it too. I have no experience with fuel stains but worth a shot and if nothing else you can use it in other places.

Ok, sounds like the definition of “scam,” is the deciding factor. My definition is paying 12x the cost of something that you would do anyway without the “service” that is offered. Some scams are nice and professional but the reality is just handle it with the FAA for $5.00. Hiring someone to replace the hard drive in your computer for $300 vs doing it yourself for $100 is not necessarily a scam. You may have zero technical skills nor the time to do it and it’s worth paying the extra.$200. This has turned into a good thought provoking thread. The bottom line is you will save a lot of money the more you do yourself assuming the opportunity cost doesn’t outweigh the benefit. Yes, I pulled out the old Economics 101 from thirty years ago by adding opportunity cost to the forum matrix.

This email came from my local EAA chapter. Scams have been around since the beginning of time. Always know the truth and ask questions if there is doubt. There is a company that has inserted itself into the N-number renewal process “as a convenience” to aircraft owners. The company is called: National Aviation Center. (www.nationalaviationcenter.us) I received an official looking letter reminding me of my pending renewal and the letter provided me with “friendly instructions” on how to renew – through them. Of course, there is a fee. They get the renewal dates (a public record) and then contact the aircraft owners asking for renewals. They make the documents look official and something like you would expect from the FAA. They are fishing for renewals from people who are unaware. You can still easily renew through the FAA website and the FAA will send you a postcard (including your web PIN) before your renewal is due. (FYI, this “steal the renewal for a fee” has been a common ploy for years with regard to domain name renewals. ) The company also offers other aircraft related services. Again, these are things that you can do directly on the FAA website for much less cost. Everyone should be aware that they also pay for “top-of-page” Google search returns whenever you search aircraft related stuff.

You guys still like Twin Lakes Avionics? Looks like there are two votes for Twin Lakes. I am not going back to my previous shop for work ever again. It was not any shop I have seen mentioned on this forum just FYI. I just need to get some glitchy things worked out that I think are connection issues, and add a second g5. I am concerned with timeliness, professionalism, and quality more so than the cheapest price. Thank gang!

I was really pleased with these guys. Brand new results. https://www.saircorp.com/home.php?cat=255

My gut says thats since all are about ten points lower that would point to the person testing it vs the engine changing that much. That being said, if you try you can certainly burn up the engine but my bet is on the tester being different.

Thanks for the PIREP. I had a ride in a Cirrus with the Garmin AP and was also extremely impressed with the yaw dampener. I would definitely consider buying it with the dampener if it’s not too much. It makes for an extremely smooth ride especially with non aviator passengers.

I’m a big fan of MSCs and being loyal to a shop that is good to you. Going to a non MSC and then calling the MSC for advice so you can save money is not cool. If you are stuck somewhere then that’s a different story. Just my two cents

I'll go ahead and give you guys the synopsis here in SC. Record rainfall for us in this area of the southeast the past year and starting this year. We haven't had many severe clear flying days this winter like we usually see.

1978J O&N bladders 985 useful not weighed just calculated over the years. Might weigh it this year to see.

I am seeing real progress here on this thread! Has to be the case! “It’s my 200lbs and I want it now.” Get outta the way SR22, 182, and A36. Not to mention this would seriously improve the value of the aircraft. There is probably a track record showing virtually no airframe failures on middle conversions but I wouldn’t know. Nice thread and it breeds optimism.

Is that tube really the reason that 200lbs wasn’t allocated to early Mooney gross weights? I’m retro frustrated.

I was skiing in Montana in January and ran into icing on the slopes. One day while we were skiing at approximately 18F our goggles and clothing were picking up a significant amount of rime ice. It was fairly dense fog with what I am assuming was super cooled water in the clouds. We were also at 8500 msl + not that the altitude was significant. I’ve never flown in ice in the Mooney but it is truly amazing how much ice is picked up at 30mph. Certainly knocked out all visibility through the goggles. I’m afraid of the stuff personally and will only fly with a 100% “out,” solution with even the lowest chance of running into it.

Dang, if I had the 2900lb gross this old J would be at 1145 useful. People really like the separate mags, folding seats etc. etc. I’m wondering if an 1145 useful load J would be more attractive than all the extras. Nowadays an extra 32 lb backup battery would suffice over an extra alternator or backup vacuum pump(give you a solid 1 hour+). The ANR headsets cover the extra DB of noise. It’s a tough call when the marketing department tells you that your competition has XYZ. Your engineering department adds XYZ.

The later Js were a little heavier I believe. My 1978 weighs 1755 FWIW. I have a 985 useful. What are some of the empty weights of you guys with later Js with the 2900 gross.

Anyone try to push for 2900 on the older Js? Is it doable by Mooney?

Do you guys know the costs prior to install of the AVEO wingtips? Also, approximate install time excluding paint?

Took my lens to a glass shop and they cut one out of plexi for me and put the holes in for under $20. It fit perfect and has held up well. I meant to say the hangar elves somehow made it happen, my mistake.

Not this I guess? Up to 16% more efficiency. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra-rotating_propellers