I am new to the group and new to GA and have a question about a 1969 Mooney M20C I am looking to purchase. First of all, let me preface by stating my mission is to haul myself and fellow young air force pilots on short cross country trips on the weekends. With that in mind, looking for something that can travel in the max 400-500 mile range, that's relatively fast, budget friendly, and has a decent useful load.
I have found a mooney m20c and am working with the seller to close on it but had some questions about the aircraft logs that I figured I'd ask on here about to try and get some good answers to. It's being offered for 54k, has a Garmin gns 400 and dual VORs, 749 hours SMOH and prop OH in 2003, annual was completed In Feb 2021.
I've gone through all the logs and two questions come to mind that effect the price point and decision to buy the aircraft itself:
1. There is a gap between 2009-2016 where there are no entries. Seems like the aircraft wasn't flown at all. Then starting in 2017 it picks back up and all the proper inspections and annual were completed. What are the risks associated with this gap in flying? Should the value of the aircraft decrease because of this and if so, how much more?
2. There was an off airport landing in 1973 and some of the gear system and some of the body were replaced. Flown a ton since then. Should this be a red flag that I should step away from this airplane immediately?
I appreciate any input to these questions. Thank you in advance and I look forward to being in this forum for a great many years!