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These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of things happening so I'm just now getting a chance to write up my first annual with 201QE. This is not that write up; I just wanted to provide a PIREP for AGL Aviation at Foothills airport. I’ve owned my 77J since Jan 2021 and was coming up on its first annual. I set everything up with them to do an owner assist annual for mid October after getting my IR at the end of August. Then I ended up having a work trip come up that would take me out of the state for about 3 months from September to December. I called up AGL and they were able to get me on the calendar before my work trip started. I finished my IR training, dropped the plane off at AGL and they were able to perform the annual in about a week. They worked with me on my schedule and were super helpful getting my bird inspected and the squawks fixed. They found a handful of things that needed to be fixed and nothing was deferred (I’m a bit hard on my brakes apparently). Bottom line, if you’re located in the south east they are worth taking a hard look at for maintenance at a MSC.

I'm still pretty new to the ownership side of the house. Can you explain a little more on your last comment of flying over 8k? why does that matter, is it just power available ?

+10000 for Lee Fox, he did my transition training for my J and helped me go down and pick it up. He has been instrumental with my development as a Mooney pilot. Also KEZF is a great little airport, that 3K runway still puts me on my toes as I get more confident, but that restaurant is worth it.

I recently bought my J (January 2021) it was a long process for me, I took nearly a year finding my bird. the combination of finding something in my price range that had what I wanted and more importantly what I didn't want (older engine...). Good news is your in the right place and on the right track to learn from some amazingly knowledgeable people. AOPA has a few articles about the rough steps and their respective order. The market is a bit tight right now with higher prices and quick purchases. As for hangar vs tie down, I tied down at first and got fed up with birds making it home in a matter of hours, I would come to the airport and spend more than an hour digging a nest out of the nose or tail. So I found a hangar, its a bit of a drive from my home, but that extra driving time is not as frustrating as taking the cowl off to get a nest out or waiting on ice to thaw. My process was as follows: figure out what you can set aside each year for the plane. there are a few threads here about annual expenses and many out there in the ga community who are "if you have to ask..." I'm not a fan of that thinking so I did as much research as I could and figured out if I could make it work in my budget. PM me if you want a bit more detail or numbers. You will never know exact numbers before you buy but I am of the camp that thinks you can get a ball park and see if its with in possible for you before buying. Figure out about how much you will actually fly each year as well, be real with yourself about it and how often you will get out and fly then add a few hrs to that because owning means you will find random reasons to fly. 1) find the plane I wanted 2) put a deposit and sign purchase agreement (basically reserving the plane and setting what if any of the deposit is non-refundable and terms), in parallel get approved for financing, get insurance quote 3) set up pre-buy with your choice of mechanic (highly recommend the mechanic you want) 4) negotiate based on results of pre-buy or walk, set up insurance 5) pick up plane Just my 0.02 and not worth that much

@gsxrpilotany chance you could share the link to the Map with me? I'd like to find some mooney minded people in my area to help me out for a few months

Unfortunately I don’t have many I know around me.

Thats whats got me so on the fence, roll the dice and try it (but if things don't line up perfectly it makes a mess of things on the travel orders side) or to just plan a vacation trip of this type in a year or two and not have the pressure of work looming. Typically I'm a roll the dice kinda guy when it comes to timelines but not with work in the balance, I think finding a good mooney friend to run it around the pattern a few times a month and just go commercial is turning out to be the better bet

I understand not waiting for everything to line up as that will likely never happen, but in this instance everything has to line up perfectly for this trip to work out and I have to make that call now to put in travel orders with work. Its a multi dimensional problem and should the flight be cut short somewhere in the middle, the plane is stuck there for ~3 months as I won't be able to take multiple days to go get it after any work is done. I'm starting to think this just isn't the trip for me right now with my comfort level with the situation (all things involved) annual and the trip and the tight turn around times. I'm shy of 200 TT with about 60 in my J as for experience right now. As many have mentioned if anything slips with the annual then my back is against the wall trying to just get her home much less on the opposite coast. It might be better to find a good Mooney pilot near my home base to show her some love while i'm gone.

Thanks for this, it goes into annual on August 26 and yes I have to be out in ca by September 7th. I forgot about the holiday and didn’t think about a problem along the way and not being able to find a mechanic. Maybe this isn’t the time for the first transcontinental flight for me.

My concern is the timeline, the plane goes into annual about a week and a half before I would need to leave and I absolutely have to be out there on the 7th. It’s my first annual with the plane so I’m not sure on the timeline for it and am unable to do owner assist. Each day I go back and forth about taking it and leaving it and finding a fellow Mooney pilot who could run it around the pattern a few times a month. Not ideal but might be where I am also so I finish my IFR training the week before annual so it would be a very tight timeline for a plane fresh out of annual and a ink wet IFR pilot

Thanks, My plan was a 2 day trip and try to make it to ABQ on the first day and spend the night then early morning out west with the sun

ok I'm leaning more towards doing the trip, ~12 hrs of flying and this is the route I'm looking at. I don't have O2 or any experience with flying around tall mountains or high altitude airports. Airports are notional and the path is more to keep me below 12.5 and above the mnts just fine.

is there a link to the map? If I'm not on it, please add me. This is a really cool project.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm so far on the fence for this its not funny. I don't really like the idea of it sitting outside for 3 months in the heat and sun, I do have a travel cover now that covers the windshield, and both sets of windows down the side and a tail cover. If all goes according to plan I will be a freshly minted IFR pilot and it will have just come out of annual the week before at AGL.

out near Edwards AFB, in the desert area. I'm only 28 so I assume I'll have the ability to fly coast to coast again at some point, but further more I move to CO in April so I know I will be doing more 1/2 cross country flying as the family is all in Ga

I'm not as worried about it being tied down as if my options are little to no opportunity to fly out there and it tied or not flying at all but in its hangar here.

Thanks for the advice, I just got it in Jan so I think I'm having some separation anxiety already.

Hey Mooney Family, I have a work trip coming up for 3 months to southern California, I am based in Northern Va. I am debating taking my bird out there but once there will have no time to fly out there and will likely have to tie down for the time out there. So here is the question: Should I take my bird out there and tie down for 3 months and roll the dice on being able to get it off the ground in the 3 months I'm there or leave it here in a climate controlled hangar where I know it will not fly for 3 months ? I'm leaning closer to leaving it here rather than tied down out there if its not flying in either situation.

I did a VFR XC a few days ago from Ga to base in WV (more Northern Va) the trip was supposed to be 420nm one way and flight aware (if you trust it) says it was 524mi. The track did include alot of deviation East/West and vertical to go over and below clouds as we encountered them. We got back to base VFR but it was a long day as we got to the airport ~0800 and didn't get to take off until 1130. The weather was changing rapidly as a front was about to blow through SC and NC so we had multiple alternatives planned out. halfway through the flight our Stratus died and with it our on-board weather (ADSB-in) so we ended up asking ATC for some advice when we would need to deviate, they would talk through what they were seeing and we could get a picture of the next ~50nm. We had originally planned to fly out the day before but weather shut that down and honestly holding another day likely would have been the better call. This trip is what was my last straw/kick in the pants for getting my IR so I'm working through my written study material no and hopefully can be done with the rating by X-Mas Only question I have is: Does your daughter like to fly with you or is this just a means to an end for her and she might not enjoy 7-8 hrs of flying and potentially turbulent air and all the "fun" we pilots embrace with stopping for weather and such. One side of the coin is an experience you two get to build and remember no mater how the trip goes and the other side is her frustrated because you had to stop and saying we should have gone commercial like 'normal' people. To echo what most have already said here, give yourself a few days margin and maybe plan something to do a the destination if you get there early because all the weather gods smiled on you (and if that happens tell me what you bribed them with) Planning a ~400-450nm trip is annoying enough weather wise because so much can change from departure to destination so I don't envy you planning a 900+nm trip so having never actually done it I would likely attack it this way (Those with more experience might correct my approach here): - break into desired legs and flight plan each leg independently, set up alternate airports/hotels every ~75nm - make separate go/no-go for each leg depending on 1-2 day forecast for that leg, if one leg is a no-go then figure out if going around it makes sense and if yes start over and evaluate if turning a 900nm trip into a 1000+ trip is worth it to you and daughter - leave with 2 day margin

My data point is from Jan 2021, 100hr TT, 0 in type, 0 retract, non IR (working on it now) and 80k hull, Quote was $3050 (about I don't have it in front of me)

can you throw a pic of that this way. I'm looking at putting in a PTT on the Co-pilot side too and your solution might just be a better way

WOW, are you getting any rate decrease next year (speculation) because you took the course?

This was the basis of my comment, they are normally not hot selling items. Barring the housing situation we are currently in where things are selling fast and for over asking, airparks (as you mention) have a limited market and can therefore be harder to sell if you decided to move. Some might prefer to be able to sell easily and then the extra hangar money you referenced is just spent on a nearby airport based hangar. Its all just a matter of preference and life situation. I'm still young in my career and will move every few years so while an air park home with attached hangar is my dream it will not be a reality for a decade or two for me strictly for resale prospects alone.

This is soo true, they don't typically sell too easily so you have to plan properly.

So I must now ask a New owner, low time, all east coast training pilot question. (Just PPL, currently working through ground school for IR) I move to COS in about a year and DA is one thing I've been worried about slightly. Having done all my training on the east coast and not really dealt with high DA I'm unsure about what to do to prepare for the move. I'll be there for 4-6 years then back to the east coast most likely and I love my J so I don't know that exploring a turbo upgrade is worth it for a "short" time out there. I plan to do some training with a CFI once I get out there to familiarize myself with the altitude but is there anything you all would recommend doing before heading out that way? Its hard to practice high DA landing performance on the east. I can read and calculate the performance numbers but I'd like to hear (read) from those with NA engines out there what some common practices are, is it something where you rarely ever takeoff with full tanks/past a certain time of day in summer and just plan to fuel stop "soon" ? My Main mission out there will just be exploring the area and occasional trips back east to see family.