brantb

I have been thinking about the insurance aspect. I basically figured buy a Mooney for around 50k and just put liability. If things go bad and I somehow forget to put the gear down like everyone fears and it is totaled, there is still value in parts. It would suck to be out say 35k, but I have had worse years in my trading account. Basically it wouldn’t break me. Either way, build up to 3-400 hours and then upgrade to a j/k. At that point insurance for a 120-160k plane would be 2-3k. Loseing 120k would hurt. if I happen to find a great j I would jump on it and just suck up the 6-8k insurance premium for 2 years.

I called yesterday to set up a time to have it checked out and there was an offer earlier that morning.

Very true, and I am thankful for the information. While the engine is a concern, I specifically did ask how many hours it has been ran in the last month/6months/year. Running it during the pre buy and hopefully being able to put some hours on the engine will mitigate that worry somewhat. The other big things are corrosion around the spars, and then I need to do some more searching about the fuel leaking around the selector.

That is the one. Still looking for a recommendation for someone to do a pre purchase inspection.

This is exactly it. Build time in a C so when I get a j/k the insurance will be cut in half. I am not far into my training, but also not far off from being done. I am flying 2x/week now and going to move that up to 3x in January. This isn't a process I wanted to complete over the course of a year. I also understand the the purchase will be the cheap part. This isn't a plane that I would be dropping 40-60k of avionics into. This would be the equivalent of the beater car a teenager drives. It is going to get me more experience and time, then sold to move on to something nicer. I am not expecting the engine to last another 1000 hours, if it lasted 2-300 I would be happy. If I were to get this plane I would get added to a waitlist for a engine rebuild because it is only a matter of time.

Yes. I guess specifically close to Indianapolis.

I am in the process of getting my ppl and want to get my own plane. Obviously the looks of a mooney had me consider them, and the efficiency sold me on them. The insurance agent I talked to partially crushed my dream, but it was expected. That led me to change my search from a late 70 to 80 j/k to an older one to build hours and then move to a newer plane. Anyway, there is a cheap mooney on trade a plane in Indiana. From the logs it has sat for 7 years but somehow had over 100 hours put on it. 1600 hours on the engine, which is fine with me based on price, but 100 hours in 7 years leads me to expect corrosion on the cam and other issues probably not found in the recent annual. Maybe I am wrong and it was a compressive annual, but I am still looking for someone with extensive knowledge of Mooney's and specifically a m20c to do a pre buy. Anyone have recommendations? Thanks