MediumSpeedAluminumTubing

@Schllc Did the plane do most of it's sitting down in Florida? If so, that's a pretty good recipe for corrosion.

Thanks for the help!

Just sent a PM! Does anyone know if the backseats are removable on this plane or if there is an STC to upgrade to folding seats?

Looks like a nice plane! I'll plan on giving you a ring in a few hours.

@FlyWalt Is the 231 mentioned above your plane?

Take a look at the M20 Wikipedia page. There is a table near the bottom with production year and engine information. This will help through models once you figure out your "mission".

It looks like there was a J model listed today with what appears to be pretty good bones. It's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for minus a turbo and TKS. https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20J+201&listing_id=2393151&s-type=aircraft

Check out the shop in Paola Kansas. I have yet to hear a bad thing about their work and the rates are reasonable.

What makes the K model more attractive to me is the turbo for mountain flying. It also doesn't hurt that the acquisition cost is roughly 100k less for similarly equipped examples.

That looks like KPUB. I flew from Pueblo to Lee's Summit yesterday. Small world!

@LANCECASPER It sounds like you found a nice plane due to your diligence as a buyer. However, in my opinion, the current conditions of the market make it tougher on the "prospecting" buyer. Furthermore, It seems like most of the airplanes I've visited were better in the pictures and on the spec sheets than in real life. With these two factors in mind, it didn't seem prudent to continue pursuing this plane. I probably should have just left it at "this airplane isn't the one for me but it might be good for someone else".

I emailed yesterday as the phone number wasn't listed. No reply yet. Does anyone have the seller's number?

The search continues. Felling bad about missing out on Xavier's plane but those are the breaks. Just emailed a seller regarding that rocket that was posted today, fingers crossed.

Price was listed as "negotiable". Speaking optimistically, I hope it works out for all parties involved. Speaking candidly, I know it will work out for whatever shop gets to do 20k plus in wrenching to bring it back into annual.

The plane is represented by a broker. He's a nice guy and I appreciate the time he spent on the phone with me. I did not mean to imply that the plane is explicitly knowingly misrepresented. If the plane hasn't had a thorough annual in years, then you don't know what you don't know in regards to specific issues. However, I have the feeling that the owner knows that the plane would take a good amount of coin to get a sign-off. I want nothing more than to be proven wrong and have to eat crow. I hope that the owner gets an annual (to include borescopy on the lower) from a MSC. It seems like a clean airframe with good features; just what I'm looking for.

I don't want to say anything too negative regarding the plane as I'm relatively new here and don't want to offend anyone. However, I do agree with your assessment that there is likely a substantial issue preventing the plane from being signed off by a reputable MSC. I can only think of two reasons for not spending a few AMU's on an annual to help sell a 200k plane. First, the seller does not have the time or money to annual the plane. Second, there is a significant airworthiness issue that would cost tens of thousands to fix. I think that both are likely in this scenario. In my mind, it is most likely that not flying or maintaining the plane for ten years caused some sort of issue with engine corrosion. Not a big deal if the plane's list price reflects possessing a core value engine. I've also been looking at light twins such as PA-30's and Travel Air's. It seems like oftentimes sellers are unable to reconcile that low or mid-time engines are not worth VREF even if the power plant is older than the minimum age required to obtain an ATP and has documented issues. My post is obviously speculative. Furthermore, I do not mean to be judgemental. I just hope that no one pays full-retail for a project. It seems like MooneySpace members tend to (appropriately) exercise more caution in plane buying than the average pilot.

I called on this plane and reviewed the logs. It has good features such as NDH, FIKI, and the nice paint/interior. Unfortunately, the plane hasn't been flown regularly in the last ten years and is out of annual. The owner does not plan on getting the plane into annual before selling. This might be a good project for a prospective owner who is an A&P.

Private party retail cash buyer looking to buy a nice 231, 252, or Encore. Must haves are a corrosion and hail free airframe with complete logs. I'm looking for a plane that is regularly flown and has been maintained by a reputable shop. Strong preference will be given to TKS equipped planes. PM for phone number. Thanks, Kyle.

The M20 Wikipedia page shows about 1,000 between the 231, 252, and Encore. That means that about ten percent of the fleet has TKS. It seems like a smaller fraction of the K's listed on TAP or Controller have TKS; I'm guessing that owners who invest big bucks for systems are more likely to keep their planes long term.

Thanks for the help everyone, I've lined up a weekend trip to go check out some planes down in Texas.

Budget is under 250k. I'm sure that you all are well aware of this but the real appeal of a Mooney is the speed and range. To justify paying taxes on a new plane and taking the risk of ditching a proven quantity(the Archer), it only makes sense to get something that offers a significant performance improvement (231 or better). We are based in the Midwest and see freezing IFR for 2-3 days a week between November-March. I'm thinking that the system would get the most use when we fly to Colorado and Utah. Being able to fly into the ski resorts in the Winter would be awesome. With this in mind, I think that only a turbo or 300Hp ship makes sense. With the relatively even costs between Encore's, O's, Eagle's, and Bravo's it now seems like we should consider anything FIKI equipped with a turbo or 300Hp.

Thanks for the replies everyone. From what I'm gathering, finding a full FIKI 252 or Encore will likely require patience. I'm thinking that an inadvertent system would still offer a good improvement in utility over the Archer due to the FAA's ambiguous wording in their most recent Known Icing Letter of Interpretation. I think that any 252 series with either type of TKS system and at least 800 pounds UL would fit our mission. From what I understand, the long bodies cost more to run by way of increased fuel burn and engine maintenance. The 5 GPH difference is relatively small potatoes in my book but the big bore Mx seems like it can be a headache. I'll have to do some more reading on the differences between the O and the Bravo before seriously considering them. My dad thought that a long body would be a good plane to own with a partner to reduce costs. Thank you for the tip, Art. That Bravo's spec sheet looks pretty nice, I'll give the seller a ring.

Hello everyone, I've been reading this forum on and off for about a year and finally got around to making an account. In the past two years my father and I have flown about 900 hours in an Archer on all sorts of XC trips. We are thinking that it would be nice to have a ship that can do two people (400lbs), five hours of fuel, 170 Kts, and Midwest winter IFR. I think that a FIKI Encore would suit our mission best. I've noticed that 252's are rather rare, Encore's even more so, and have yet to see one equipped with either an inadvertent or KI system. I'm hoping that this is just recency bias as there aren't a ton of planes on the market right now. Does anyone know how many 252's and Encore's have TKS and how often they come to market? If anyone has thoughts on alternitive model selection that would also be appreciated. My current thinking that the O's and Bravo's are overkill for our mission and thus the increased ownership costs would be nice to avoid. The Eagle seems like the second best option but they are also relatively rare.