HC

Carusoam, Thanks so much for your kind advice. I will keep that in mind that training never ends. Actually, tail wheel and acrobat training was on my list after I get the PPL. Flying different airplanes and feeling the nuance should be a right way of enjoying aviation. Blessings and thanks so much, all. P.S. Will update you as I progress.

Yes, I totally agree with you, Carusom and ChrisK. I might be in kind of a first buyer fever stage. Even though I have not soloed yet, I am thinking about M20K 252 Turbocharged model manufactured between 1986-1989 time period. I first thought that I might buy C-150 to spend tons of time most economically until I get IFR and further training. Then, I thought that if I eventually want a plane like M20K 252, why not spending time in training in Mooney model, familiarizing myself with Mooney specific characteristics, such as special characteristics in landing, etc. So my first eye was on old Mooney, such as M20C, manufactured between 1962-1977, which varies a lot in price, airframe status, engine status and equipment, etc. I realized that if I double the price of well-equipped and well-maintained M20C model, I may get the long engine hour M20K with old avionics. I may be trained with the old avionics because I want to get familiar with steam gauges anyway, as I always tell my sons that you have to learn how to drive without GPS in the beginning. Well, eventually I may have to update avionics later, overhaul the engine, as necessary, etc. The reasoning behind preference to M20K over M20C in this irrationally early stage is the time and efforts to sell M20C and buy another, once hopefully I outgrow old machine. And so on, on and on. Reality check, avoid impulsivity, that's what I hear from you all. Thank you so much for all of you and blessings!!!

F14, that's top gun, "Take my breath away!", isn't it? That's one of my favorite movie. Yes, I am in NoVA and will check with Mr. Perry. By the way, three different M20K 252s interested me among those in the market. May I ask your opinions on these, if it's not violating the mooney community rule? 1) N252TM. private seller: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/Single+Engine+Piston/1986/Mooney/M20K+252TSE/1588380.html 2) N402LA. LASAR: http://www.lasar.com/w/id/249/new-plane-details.asp 3) N39252. Island Aircraft Sales: http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd.aspx?id=160633&listingType=true&IsInternal=True&pagingNo=1&searchId=22029548&dealerid= I would really appreciate anybody's opinion who knows or is familiar with these planes. Thank you so much in advance.

Thank you so much, Anthony. I already feel like a proud member of the Special Club. Do you have any recommendation for Mooney proficient service center for future maintenance as well as PPI in this area? Thanks in advance.

Thanks so much, Sir.

What an enlightenment! Let the airplane fly itself. I will keep that in mind and apply it in the next week's flight. Trimming plays an important role, to which I did not much attention, because it's said "trim if necessary". Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, everyone, for such valuable information and thoughtful advice. What a nice community!!! I vividly recall how overwhelming it was to just keep level and straight in my first 5 hours of flying. Now, approaching 20 hours, I am struggling with pilotage and radio communications as well as being ahead of plane. Further, how disappointing it is to see irregular shapes of my pattern works and bouncings on the runways in landing C172! Getting a PPL in a rental plane and then transitioning to Mooney sounds like a very reasonable approach. Having said that, I must start now searching for a plane that suits my mission, considering how long acquisition process would take. I cannot afford to go to the dealer and pay cash for whatever new model available. May I ask your opinion what type of Mooney should I start to looking for, C, E, J or K ? I don't want to extend myself further than current average asking price of K. I know that without specifying mission, it is tough to answer. I cannot fully figure it out my mission, either: ocasional flights for business in the east coast, mostly mid-atlantic; regular weekend flights for fun; maybe visiting kids if they go to college far away; and so on. Well, most usage in the imminent future would be my training for IFR, commercial, ... I really appreciate for your experienced and thoughtful advice in advance. P.S. FYI, my wish list No. 1 is turbo-charged K model, of course, but that's just based on what I have read in the internet and other magazines that sounded cool. So I want reality check.

jhelleberg or rvaart, have you found good MSC or CFII in NoVA? I would appreciate if you could share such information with me. Thank you so much in advance.

Good afternoon, everyone! I am a student pilot of 54 years old and attending a flight school in NoVA, DC metro area. While attending school, I feel that buying is more economical than renting. Typical training planes at school are C172. So it may be logical to buy either C150, 152 or 172 and move to other planes later. Falling in love with all these fantastic Mooney stories, however, I may end up with Mooney as my dream plane, and now consider buying a Mooney for my learning and building up my skills on how to fly. Here are some questions that I may need your advice. 1. Mooney being a complex plane, is it more difficult to learn fundamentals of how to fly than such as C150 or 172? 2. What would be a proper model to meet my purpose, M20C, J or K? 3. Is it better to buy my target plane now or to buy a cheaper Mooney, learning and building time on it, and move to a target plane, such as M20K 252, later? 4. Any other factors that I have to consider? Thank you so much for your help in advance.

Thank you so much for quick response. Yes, snow over here is not a kidding. DE might be affected as well. Please stay warm and safe^^

I am a newbie, too, not just to Mooney but to aviation in general. Actually, I started taking flight lessons last December and planning to purchase a price-worthy old Mooney. Living in DC Metro area, I would really appreciate if you could recommend a good, trustworthy and experienced mechanic nearby, hopefully in VA and MD. Thank you so much for your help in advance.