1980Mooney

It’s the Mooney Corp website. It clearly says that it is “Mooney Technical Support”. If it is not Technical Support perhaps they should stop stating it on the website.

The reason it stopped so short is because the tough cornstalks were beating against the wings. Unlike the usual belly landing it looks like the momentum was arrested by forces against the wings. It is like a carrier landing except the wings were snagged. That can't be good. Wouldn't be surprised to see this old J scrapped.

Have you looked at "Air Traffic" on the Mooney Corp website lately? Most of the Models/topics have no postings in months and it seems that the only responses are from other owners. "Mooney Technical Support" appears to be MIA (if there still is any).

Article says it was a cornfield. https://www.wxyz.com/news/small-plane-down-in-field-east-of-fowlerville Serial number says it is is the #3 J/201 built back in October 1976.

So if I understand the "rabbit hole" proposition: You have a well equipped Mooney that is a very capable and stable IFR platform With autopilot, alt hold, digital PFD, GPSS, Flightstream etc. Everything works perfectly You contemplate spending $30-40K - maybe you save a few dollars salvaging the old units The result is that you will have a well equipped Mooney that is a very capable and stable IFR platform OK so you trade a rate based autopilot for an attitude based unit. You will be able to touch one of the screens with your finger. And you can get stability protection and Smart Glide which you don't mention so it is not clear if it is any value to you. Going all Garmin may play better together and have a smoother upgrade path over time. And the new equipment may reduce maintenance cost (but there are a lot of comments on MS and others about the Garmin servos being weak and may not go the distance). But basically it seems like a slicker version of what you have with the same capability plus a couple bells and whistles. Has the S-Tec or any of the other components failed you or restricted you from making a mission that you desired? Will the new set-up allow you to do things or make missions that were never before possible? Will you be able to fly in weather or instrument conditions not previously possible? From a monetary standpoint you are contemplating adding upgrades that could be close to 50% of the current value of a 55 year old plane. If you add $40k of avionics upgrades to a $80K plane will you be able to sell it for $120K?....no. Will it be worth $90k?....probably. Will it be worth $100k?....maybe someone will pay. Perhaps half of the upgrade cost is unrecoverable - in the short term you can't get it back and in the long term Garmin will have new equipment out making the GTN750xi as obsolete as the GTN750 you replaced so you still won't get it back. The previous comments by carusoam above reminds me that avionics are becoming like iPhones or Samsung Galaxy's - it's all about screen size and processor speed. An iPhone 8 works just as well as an iPhone 12 for 98% of the tasks. They run the same apps. And today comes the 13 which Apple hopes you will pay a premium for a modest improvement. It becomes a treadmill of spending. But if the unrecoverable 50% investment produces value in your eyes then spend it - Garmin and your avionics shop will be happy too.

What about when going touch & go’s? I always follow the procedure that Toto recommends when on Final.

I think you have confused two different things. This about measuring the static level of fuel in the tank.....not the fuel flow rate.

As you fly more and study winds aloft you will find that high altitude is not always your friend speed-wise ….especially on your westbound legs. However the return leg will be great unless the winds have shifted. Funny thing I always feel that I have headwind…. As someone said aviation is balancing act if tradeoffs POH Early M20J GW was 2,740 lbs. Later was 2,900 https://pilotage.e-monsite.com/medias/files/m20j-poh3203b.pdf https://www.nqac.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/M20J-POH.pdf M20K POH http://www.sparrowflyingclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/M20K-POH-N654JB.pdf https://www.oesc-aero.at/downloads/POH_Mooney_M20K_OEKOG.pdf

I see that you have been flying out of Hooks, Houston Southwest and Pearland. I am based at Sugar Land. First, transitioning to a Mooney as a low time pilot is not difficult with a good instructor. I bought a J model at the same time I got my PPL. I immediately went from a C-172 to the Mooney. Landing is all about managing and bleeding off the energy of the Mooney as it translates into rate of descent and speed. And I used it for my IFR training and at the same time underwent a 300 hp Missile conversion by Rocket Engineering. Second, I am surprised that no-one has asked you what you think your mission is - fly fast? fly high? how many seats do you need to fill? is high density altitude capability in the middle of a hot summer day a must have? do you have an operating cost max range? The concerns that you have mentioned are insurance availability (at any cost?), $200K limit all in cost with repairs, quality of pre-buy and a good IFR platform. Are you going to fly mainly out of and around Texas? - Gulf coast? Or are you planning to fly in the Rockies a lot? Are you planning to typically fly alone or with passengers? max number? What distance do you think the typical trip will be? if you are flying typically below 10,000 ft. then a K isn't really much faster than a J. Granted you get a better rate of climb as the altitude increases. And the turbocharged engine of the K can better handle high density altitude takeoffs but the wing and propeller still suffer the same as the J. But where we are on the Texas Gulf Coast, that high density altitude capability is of no real benefit. The K really shines at high altitude - mask wearing oxygen altitude. But funny thing if you look at a lot of flight history for unpressurized planes with high altitude capability, flights are predominantly below 12,000 ft. Why? - because many passengers don't like the hassle of oxygen and few like wearing full masks. Some are ok - it is just a choice. And if you don't carry passengers then it is no problem. The tradeoff for the benefits of the K are complexity and cost. Also fuel burn and useful load. A turbocharged 6 cylinder Continental will require more engine management and is less forgiving than the 4 cylinder Lycoming that you are used to. When you are learning IFR and building experience you may become consumed with basics and may not be able to pay as much attention to the engine settings as some. Yes it is safe but you may just run it hotter - you will be more likely to cook some cylinders or the turbo over its life. Annuals for a turbocharged 6 will be more than a 4 cylinder Lycoming. Overhauls will be eyewatering. More parts, more complexity, more tightly packed and more shop hours at about $100/hour anywhere around Houston. Some here will say you can dial back the boost and the engine to manage fuel burn - that means fly it like a J. The K that you are looking at has a Useful Load of 797 lbs. and 106 gal fuel tanks. Let's say you are planning a trip with IFR reserves and you plan for 80 gallons. Let's say you have 10 lbs of junk on your hat rack, a 15 lb flight bag, 30 lbs of luggage/bags and 5 lbs of water/drinks/food. That leaves 257 lbs. total for you and passengers. No passengers then no problem. Maybe you are skinny with a very skinny passenger. Third - have you looked at the logs posted on the for sale website? The logs posted don't appear to be complete but what is there shows that this plane has experienced a lot of corrosion repairs. It looks like it led a hard life early on in Canada. 1998 NTSB reported " DURING ANNUAL INSPECTION NOTED AILERON ROD RUSTY. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION, FOUND ROD RUSTED TO THE EXTENT IT COULD BE SEPARATED IN TWO WITH LIGHT HAND PRESSURE. SUBMITTER RECOMMENDED INSPECTING AT EACH ANNUAL." If you look at the maintenance logs all they say is both aileron tubes were replaced. There are numerous log entries where they have treated corrosion over time. Lots of re-riveting Corrosion is bad news and hard to stop. If it is one place then the entire plane has been subject to it. You will definitely need a very thorough pre-buy opening all the panels and pulling rear seats to look at the spar. Also the interior panels to look at the steel frame for corrosion. Also the "New" engine is from 2008 - a Mod Works 262 conversion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heYy6dI4TOk The price has been dropping https://plane-sale.com/en/search_aircraft/single_engine/mooney/231_(m20k)_w__252_fwf_engine_upgrade!/73030 The avionics were upgraded because much was INOP. Looks like they took the radar out - and the UL is still only 797 lbs. From just before the upgrade in the past year. You can see the old panel. https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/151753529/n261cb-1980-mooney-m20k-231 This could be the plane you want and all repaired properly but it needs to be priced right. get more complexity and cost with some other tradeoffs.

How do you conclude "The center section of the spar was most certainly compromised by the impact"? If you believe that the wings folded up vertically outboard of the main landing gear before impact then they were no longer placing any load (or minimal at best) upon the center section of the main spar at the moment of impact. With no loading or levering of the wings transmitted to and upon the center of the spar at the moment of impact, it does not seem reasonable that the impact alone would cause "The main and rear wings spars were highly fragmented in the center of the airplane between the separated left and right wings."

Here is an online picture of an Encore elevator clearly showing the left and right “horns” attached to the left and right elevator panels. All J’s are the same. And M20Doc says all Mooney’s are the same. I would take a pic of my J but it is in annual.

Good point

This is how it was equipped at the time he purchased it. If he hadn’t done any upgrades it would be as follows: Avionics/Radios Garmin GNS-530 GPS / Moving Map / Nav / Comm w Terrain Garmin GNS-430 GPS / Moving Map / Nav / Comm Garmin Active Traffic Avoidance System Garmin Transponder. Garmin Audio-Panel with 3 Light Marker Beacon King KCS-55A Heading System (HSI) King KFC-150 Auto-Pilot with Flight Director (Coupled). King KAS-297B Altitude Pre-Select / Vertical Speed Select. True Airspeed Indicator WX 1000 Storm-Scope Weather Avoidance. Additional Equipment Additional Equipment Dual Alternators Dual Batteries Stand by Vac New 2009 Fully Articulating Front Seats with Seat Heaters Split Fold Down and Removable Rear Seats Shadin Fuel Flow System Speed Brakes Dual Yoke Mounted PTT Electric Elevator Trim Electric Rudder Trim 3-Point Strobes Wing Mounted Taxi and Landing Lights Rotating Beacon Wing Fuel Sight Gauges 115cf. Kevlar Factory Oxygen Dual Bose Hard Wire Jacks Tanis “Engine Pre Heat” System Tow Bar Fire Extinguisher Standby Vacuum System New Tires 2009 Custom "Sunbrella" Cabin Cover