Matt Wallace

Thanks! It looks like this is a very supportive group. Yeah, this looks like the right path. It's so tempting to buy the cheap airplane, but there have been times in the past when I've bought something because it was cheap and not because it was the thing that I really wanted, and that usually didn't turn out well. So it looks like I should get an aircraft I actually want, which would be full IFR with a GPS. I do have the money for that, but I am concerned about some of the stories about unexpected maintenance. Assuming I get a pre-buy inspection from a mechanic and the aircraft has no significant issues at the time of purchase, what would I be looking at for unexpected maintenance (beyond annual inspection, tires, oil changes, etc.?) I'm fine with fixing some minor issues, but if there is going to be $20-30k in unexpected maintenance during the first few hundred hours, that's going to be a problem. I think this is the right way to go, and is a better way to buy an airplane than browsing ads on the internet. I live around Los Angeles, and I am planning to move to Salt Lake City in a few months, where I'd be flying at South Valley Regional Airport (U42). Are there any Mooney groups in either of those two places that I could connect with?

Hi. I'm a private pilot with 125 hours and I'm thinking about buying a Mooney, probably an M20C. It seems that this aircraft has a good combination of efficiency and performance, and would be good for time-building and cross-country flying. I'm new to the process and I'm trying to figure things out. I've been looking at some online ads for Mooney aircraft and I'm wondering whether I should get a VFR-only aircraft, or one that is IFR with /U or /G equipment. I am working on my instrument rating and I would like to do the rest of my instrument training and checkride in the plane I buy, but there is a significant cost increase for IFR-certified airplanes. I see VFR-only M20Cs for about $50k, with /U IFR planes for about $60-70k and /G IFR planes for about $80k, which is pushing my budget a little. I am wondering if it is worth the extra cost to get an IFR aircraft, or if it would be better to get a VFR aircraft and put 150-200 hours on it and then sell it and buy an IFR aircraft. Or perhaps I could keep the VFR plane and do my instrument rating in a flight school aircraft. It seems like it would depend on how much actual IMC flying I am planning on doing. I'm planning on mostly flying around Salt Lake City and basing the aircraft at U42. It looks like many of the routes, departures, and approaches in the Salt Lake area require GPS, and the /U aircraft would probably not be very useful for IFR there. I understand that it's very expensive to upgrade a VFR aircraft to IFR, and if I want to fly IFR I'm probably better off buying a plane that is already IFR. If you have any advice on this topic I'd appreciate it, and if there is any standard first-time airplane buyer literature I could take a look at, that'd be great.