CJpilot316

I'm a believer that an airplane, at the very least, is worth the sum of its parts. I always buy accordingly. It went out of annual in August, the owner is getting older, and almost did a gear up during a BFR with an instructor friend of mine. The instructor told him during the flare what he had forgotten...and It scared him into buying a fixed gear Cessna.

The plane and engine have all the logs, but this is a different engine than came with it from the factory. I'm going to be doing a prebuy on the plane in the next few weeks, and delve a bit more in depth. As far as paint, it's in good shape, so I'm gonna look to do a scuff and clearcoat. I plan on running the engine to 100 hours past TBO (200 hours from now) and sending it in for overhaul then, most likely put a top prop on it at the same time.

BXM was the Naval Air Station Base, it's completely surrounded by high fences. There is a gate if you have the password. Or, just borrow their golf cart and push it across the ramp to the car gate.

Its out of annual currently, but I'm gonna do a pre-buy/annual and hopefully fly it. The mechanic that maintained my Skyhawk for while has been maintaining the Mooney, and he tells me its in excellent shape. It had been a Midwest plane before, so its clean and dry, with no hail damage. All logs SNEW as well.

Hey JCT, I'm from Maine, grew up in Aroostook County, and learned to fly up there. Lived in Bangor until last year, and flew into BXM many times. Horrible airport in my opinion, no way to get out after hours...at all. They say to call, but they don't answer. The last time I was there after hours I had to hijack a golf cart to trip the sensor and open the car gate to get out. They did not appreciate that much when I told them in the morning. Haha. The Wiscasset airport is awesome, and so is Rockland. I actually just got a job in Florida, so I'm moving in a couple weeks...sold my 172 but I'm in the process of buying a Mooney to commute back to Maine with.

I believe that the engine was an A2F converted over to A1D somehow. I'm going to see the plane and inspect the logs thoroughly next week to figure it out. I plan on running the engine to 100 past TBO, that'll get me to next year, and ill send it in for overhaul and probably a Top Prop. I can buy the plane as it sits for around $20K, Ill have a prebuy/annual done on it and fly it to its new home in Florida.

Thought so. Must be a typo. The engine that is on it did have a prop strike related to a gear up, but was torn down, inspected, and returned to service. I found an A1D for sale that had a prop strike at 400SNEW, for $5000 with all logs. Good overhaul candidate?

I'm looking at log entries from 1988, and most recently, in 2014, showing it as a A2F. I'm not sure its possible though. The plane does has a CS prop. What about doing a top overhaul and just flying it?

I'm suspecting that the mechanic typed the wrong designator.

Yeah, the logs show that its an A2F. I thought they all had A1D's as well.

Looks like quite a while. 25 years.

I believe I may have found a Mooney that I like and seems like a solid plane. Its local, a '67 C model, no corrosion, all logs SNEW, one gear up about 10 years ago that was properly documented and repaired, and its been maintained by a mechanic friend of mine for the last 10 years. He also worked on my 172, and he is more than thorough. Paint and interior a solid 7/10, could probably use a little bit of minor trim work in the interior and a good buffing. It has all of the speed mods...one piece windshield, LASAR cowl, gap seals, etc. Basic IFR panel inside. Issues: The Lycoming 0-360-A2F on it is within 100 hours of TBO, but is running high 70s on all compressions, and all oil analysis checks have come back clear. It has the Hartzell prop with the AD. The prop itself looks awesome, and in excellent shape. How much of a hassle is the ECI inspection on these? What would be a good replacement within a fair budget. Does anyone know of any good used engines for sale?

Foreflight. No question. I've tried them both, and nothing compares to it. i use it for work, on both my phone and iPad. Heck, the FAA approved it for our EFBs.

If anybody knows of any local planes, hangar queens, etc, let me know. need2beflying@gmail.com

Unfortunately not. :/

I've got an email into Philipe.

It's in France. I am the closest you can get in the US to France. I could ferry it...but is it legit?

n130la.free.fr That one is for sale on Aircraft24, for about $40,000. Is this legit? I'm all over it if it is.

I would have been all over that!!!! Gah!

Yeah, neither of those would work, the camera is about 2 feet long, 6-8inch diameter and weighs 15lbs. It needs a substantial mounting point.

Hey Bob, In a previous post I noted that I need a fixed step because I do aerial survey work as a sideline, with an externally mounted computer controlled pod camera. On the 172, we use a bracket that mounts onto the main gear. With a Mooney, the only way is to remove a fixed step, and use the attach points for the step for mounting the camera. This will not work on a retractable step aircraft. So the issue really isn't the step itself. In fact, when the camera is off, I probably won't even keep a step. -Cody

The 172 was my "Buy and fly the wings off to get ratings and experience" aircraft. I wanted a faster plane then, but went with a 172 since it fit my mission of building hours at the time. Now that I've established a career in aviation, I want a plane that can be used for more of the things I want to do (like travel with friends and the girlfriend). With my schedule, I could have time to fly all the way around the country between my duty periods if I have a Mooney. But not in the 172. Whatever I buy next I intend to keep for at least 5-10 years. Its the the fixed step I need. I have approval for installing on a fixed step, but not a retract.

Great advice for sure! I think that'll be quite a while down the road. If there ends up being more than two youngsters, I'll have to look at larger planes anyway. I think I'll cross that bridge when I get there, considering there's none yet and I don't plan on any in the next 5 years for sure.

The 172 was my "Buy and fly the wings off to get ratings and experience" aircraft. I wanted a faster plane then, but went with a 172 since it fit my mission of building hours at the time. Now that I've established a career in aviation, I want a plane that can be used for more of the things I want to do (like travel with friends and the girlfriend). With my schedule, I could have time to fly all the way around the country between my duty periods if I have a Mooney. But not in the 172. Whatever I buy next I intend to keep for at least 5-10 years.

I think you just summed up what I have been thinking, and I even just mentioned to a friend of mine whos a Mooney owner/member here. An M20C would work fine, but I do need the fixed step. I found a '69 C model in Florida I'm looking into. Still waiting on selling the 172, a local friend and previous student of mine has said he'll buy it at my asking price but needs some time. Had an offer today that was $3k below my asking price of $32k.