Firebird2xc

Poorly. The aircraft was a wreck. It needed $10k in repairs, as well as an approximately $11k engine tear down for a cylinder base oil leak that was on the report but for some reason the inspector refused to put in the repair estimate. It was ugly. Despite sending a photo of the oil puddle in the engine bay the broker refused to even acknowledge it exists. The inspector tells me there's RTV smeared around the base of the cylinder. Sounds like a bandaid to me. As this airplane was marketed as a well equipped, well maintained airframe with an engine that has been and would continue in service past TBO, I'm confused by the inspector's insistence that the engine is run out and the leak would be handled in overhaul. Very confusing. My favorite part is the structural damage found in the nose wheel well. Apparently there's a hole that goes clean though to the cabin. My faith in 'reputable shops' is a bir shaken, too. Could all of this have happened since the last annual? Maybe, but I doubt it. How all this got by the shop maintaining the airplane I can only speculate. The broker and seller made concessions to meet repair costs for the first $10k in repairs but since nobody can seem to give me a straight answer regarding the oil leak, and given the horrendous condition of the airplane in general, I decided to pass. I'm out travel expenses and the cost of inspection, but so long as my deposit is returned without drama I'd consider this a disappointing but reasonable and fair outcome. I think the real issue is the seller, who is reported to be extremely attached to squeezing every possible cent out of a neglected airplane. I'd certainly do business with the inspector and broker again. Nice, helpful people all around. I see the seller's name again I'm not even looking twice.

Ah- that's it. Thank you.

Thanks man.

Totally saw the Mooney light! I'm sitting at Don Maxwell's place waiting on results from a pre-buy inspection as we speak. Here's to hoping!

I'm not certain, but I believe he meant that the GPS has WAAS which makes it compliant for providing GPS signal to ADS-B... A technically and a misleading one but not technically false. I'd advise against buying this airplane anyways. The seller was pushy and a bit obnoxious when I was speaking with them. Also, it was a flight school airplane for about five years, where the airplane had a highly suspicious SDR from a maintenance event- and that maintenance department has since been violated and fined...

I see a lot of music in jacks out there. What's in your flying playlist? I'm looking for ideas...

The airplane is under contract and is going to Don Maxwell on Monday. Thanks again, all!

Army, 1997-2006. Blackhawk crewchief. 2/2 Aviation (Air Assault) 1998-1999. 54th Med Co (Air Ambulance) 1999-2006.

Maxwell is the plan at the moment. Just have to get him on the phone.

Okay, now I see the reason for the confusion. SWTA recently moved to KBAZ. I'm familiar with them. There's another outfit at KHYI that had a questionable reputation...

I agree with your logic. I'm not skipping a PPI. This airplane will be more than my daily but less than my house. Either way, I'm not screwing around with it. There are too many airplanes that die young because people neglect them. Mine won't be one of them.

By San Marcos I assume you mean Blue Sky? Their reviews are too mixed-bag for me. I'm not going there.

They did tell me about the plane, yes. Minus a thing or two that will be dealt with it's a solid bird. I still want to see it with the panels off. I'm not really open to negotiation on this one.

I'm inclined to agree based on what I've seen and the conversation I had with them regarding the airplane. I already called Dugosh to ask about the airplane. They were more than forthcoming and very helpful. I understand that they're quite commendable. I see your point on saving the money on the pre-buy, but it's something I'm going to understand. It will help me as a first time owner to understand the aircraft and as a maintainer to know the upkeep it needs. The annual is also nearly due so if possible I'm going to try to get that taken care of in the process. I'm going to tack on a Corrosion X treatment, too.

Good to know. If that's the case, I'll hit him up again tomorrow. Thank you.

I think they're all pretty great from the phone calls I made today. The problem is availability. SWTA is booked up and then unavailable until after 9/15, Dugosh has been maintaining this specific airplane and politely declined due to conflict of interest, and Don Maxwell hasn't returned my call yet. That only leaves Don up in KGGG, so I want to keep looking until I hear back.

Nothing fancier than a J model, please... anything else is unwarranted by my mission and my budget.

If you mean Dugosh, they've been maintaining the airplane and politely declined due to conflict of interest. Is there another place you recommend?

Thanks guys!

Hey all, I'm scouring the country for my very own Mooney. I'm hitting up the Southwest this week. Can anybody recommend good inspectors for a Pre Purchase Inspection? KSAT and KAUS for starters, please.

Okay, all, thanks for the tips. I go look at another airplane tomorrow, so we'll see how this goes.

Big oil leak I noticed post flight, very low time flown over the space of a decade, and a strong recommendation from a Mooney inspector that I either get the price slashed or just walk.

I sent you an inbox message about the airplane. Please let me know what's what!

Oil leaks, and a general sense that 140 hours in 10 years is much too low recency of time. It's apparent that the airplane sits a lot, and the oil slick I found post-flight under the airframe ran as far back as the ADF antenna. Small wonder the ADF was inoperative... A conversation with a pre-buy mechanic got a strong recommendation to either get a much lower price or not buy the airplane. I'm willing to get work done to get an airplane to where I wanted it to be, but it seemed like this plane had immediate problems.

Not a bad bird, but I think normally aspirated is really where I wanna be. Thank you, though.