Ryan ORL

Still pretty new here, but just as another data point... the rates I was quoted for the 1984 M20J ($100,000 hull value) I am purchasing were pretty nuts: ~$3200 was the lowest (USAIG). Avemco was $3500ish. Others were north of $4000. Admittedly I don't have a lot of Mooney or even RG time but I am 37 y/o, 600 TT, CFI/CFII, 35 retract, 10 make/model, no accident or claim history. I sure hope my premium goes down a bit after I get some time in the Mooney.

This was a good read, thanks! That’s sort of how I assumed people would use them. (“Keep the speed up on final” mostly, which I encounter a lot around our busier airports)

I actually am working with the pre-buy guys. They're relatively local (one of them used to be in my flying club) so they were my first choice, and they're great so far. Regarding the bladders... I thought all the Mooneys had bladders. (Or rather, were not a wet wing) Can you point me to some of the pros and cons? Which do you prefer? Regarding the speedbrakes, the Mooney I had flown was not equipped, but I thought I had heard they were relatively ineffective. Is that accurate? Good to know about the late model year MGTOW increase.

When browsing listings I have seen a wide variety of things listed as STCs including: - GAMI Injectors - Something with the Air Filter? - Fuel Tank Sealing / Other Mods - Air / Oil Separator I'm sure most of these things are minor, but for instance, the fuel tank stuff I have seen on several listings.

Hi all, I'm sure these types of questions get asked often, so I apologize in advance. I'm a newbie to the Mooney community here, but I've been interested in purchasing one for quite some time. I've finally gotten to the point where I am seriously considering doing it in the next month or so. After doing a bit of searching to see what's on the market and thinking about my price range, I think I have decided a J model is right for me. I had also considered an F model, but the (admittedly small) speed advantage of the J model is appealing, plus the J models that are available seem to be better equipped and less of a 'project'. (I am hoping to buy something with the equipment I want rather than doing a whole avionics overhaul right off the bat.) My 'mission' is basically IFR cross-country flying with my wife, which would seem to make really any of the M20 models pretty ideal for us. We live in Florida, so there isn't often a need for very high-altitude flying (and therefore, I am not looking at any of the turbo-equipped models). I also can more easily stomach the cost of an unexpected overhaul of the non-turbocharged engines. My budget is ideally $110,000-$120,000. Based on my preliminary research, it seems like that budget should be enough to find a reasonable example of a J model. (Does that seem realistic?) My personal experience level is moderate... I am a 600 hour part-time CFI/CFII, but virtually all of my time is in 172s/PA-28s. My only actual hands-on experience so far with a Mooney is 10 hours or so I had in an M20F model a couple years ago, but I came away very impressed. I expect the J model would fly fairly similarly, is that about right? The most 'intimidating' thing for me about shopping for a Mooney so far is the huge variety of STCs that sellers advertise. It seems like virtually every aircraft I look at has at least 2 or 3 STC'd modifications. I guess my questions for this community would be... if you were shopping for a J model in my price range, what are the big desirable things to look for as far as STCs? What are some early model-specific red flags I should watch out for (or ask sellers about) before I get deep into the process (pre-buy inspection, etc)? Do you guys think my price range is realistic? Does the year matter, or were the J models fairly consistent throughout the run? Also, can you guys recommend any pre-buy services or brokers that specialize in Mooneys? I have looked at SavvyPrebuy but have heard mixed reviews. Thank you from a hopefully-soon-to-be Mooney owner