FlyingAggie

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Give me a ring if you need any help with the logistics when you get serious on a plane (ferry, insurance checkout, etc.). I've got several free weekends coming up and I can make weekday afternoon/evening trips if necessary should you need the help. I'll send you a PM with my info.

Quote: Buster1 I've seen a little of the same in my search for the best 252 I can afford. For me, I plan on financing a large chunk of the final purchase. I guess if I found the right plane, with a 'worn' engine for $25k less than the average, I would buy it and have it immediately overhauled while financing the additional $25k into the overall figure. Yeah, it's more financing, but it would be the right plane for me with a 'new' engine at the right price. It's a little more headache, but at least you have a starting point for the engine, vs hoping for the best on one with 800 hrs to go to TBO.

Have you seen any performance improvement from the new cowl and prop? Alan

This one has almost 9,300 hours and has been on the market for a long time. My guess it was also an EB plane. http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd.aspx?id=116134 Although this is not a Mooney, it has over 50,000 hours http://www.trade-a-plane.com/classified/search?browse=single&usealttemplate=1&adnum=833293 Alan

Matt, Life is too short, why wait: sell me your 201 and buy this: TLS Rocket (http://www.trade-a-plane.com/specs?clsfdnum=806068) and make both of us happy Alan

I was taught fuel gauges only have to be accurate at two positions: empty and full. Using them for anything in between is pure conjecture. Alan

Matt, Willmar will be listing a 231 with TKS in the next few days. Alan

Quote: N223MM I missed it, what is plane C? Silly question: can a regular garmin be upgraded to WAAS? Carl

Okay Plane A wins. Unfortuante for me, Plane A went under contract on Wednesday. So now it is between Plane B and Plane C. Thansk for the discussions. Alan

Thanks everyone for you suggestions. Interestingly I posted this same request on the MAPAlist and only receieved one reply and that was for the MSC. MooneySpace rocks! Dave, I talked to Reliant a couple of times about Mooney 231's thay had listed. They sounded knowledgable on the phone. I thought Reliant was too far away to go for a prebuy. Barry, Thanks for the leads on A&P's. I belive ViaJet is the name of the MSC in Burlington, WA. bgpilot1, That is the type of prebuy I want to avoid. Bryan, Thanks for the G2 on the N231KQ. Spanaflight said it hadn't been flown much in recent years and the owner is a Psychologist who has either lost interest in flying or is too busy. Sad when an a/c slowly rots away on the ramp. I hope that is not the case with this one. Glad to hear the paint looks good. I appreciate you recommending Jim Bergman. The picture of N231KQ is the snow, reminds me of the AVIS neglected car commercials. Finally I appreciate your service to our country and hope you are soon safely home in the left seat of your 20C. Joe, What did Jim Bergman think about N231KQ? Did he know anything about it? Spanaflight was up front about the busted plastic panels and sent me pictures. Of all things requiring fixing on an a/c, interiors should be pretty easy. Spanaflight sent me an estiamte for installing new panels and it was about $800. Hard to believe the owner hasn't had them replaced before putting the a/c on the market. Hope it is not an indication of neglected maintenance, Spanaflight claims they have maintained it properly and it hasn't been neglected. I figure I may be able to hire Jim to do a pre-prebuy for less than a ticket from Denver to Seattle and based on his assessment decide to move to the prebuy. Mitch, Thanks for mentioning Advance in Troutdale. Maybe someone will post more information about them. RFB, Thanks. That's the third vote for Jim and he sounds like a solid recommendation, especially with him being on the same field. However, do you don't think with him being local would bias him into a favorable opinion of the plane? Does N231KQ appear to be a ramp queen (i.e. flat tires, bird pop and oil leaking underneath? For you NW'erners, how bad an environment is the ramp at KPLU? Is corrosion a problem for non-hangared a/c at KPLU? Since I am not checked out in a Mooney, I'll need to find an instructor to take me on test flight and then if I buy it, fly it and me back to Denver. Spanaflight may have someone on staff, but does anyone have a recommendation for Mooney savvy instructor? Of course if Parker would complete his CFI and get some 231 time, he might be an option, but I would have to fly him to Seattle and back home from Denver. I am also looking at another unhangared 231, but this one is from a very dry environment and is flown about 150-200hrs per year. It is Plane B in the "Plane A or Plane B" thread. BTW Plane A sold yesterday. Alan

I am looking at 231 located in the Seattle area that has a damage history and need a thorough prebuy. Can anyone suggest a mechanic or shop that would do a good job? Does anyone have experience with Spanaflight? They have maintained this Mooney is recent years. This is the plane: http://www.aso.com/i.aso3/aircraft_view.jsp?aircraft_id=125529 Does anyone know anything about this plane? Alan

Quote: FlyDave Nice to know that the people selling the airplane know what they're talking about..NOT! This is probably why it didn't sell on Controller. When someone I'm potentially buying an airplane from sounds like an fool, I quickly loose interest in the aircraft. If you look at their other items on Ebay, you'll notice they're also selling a boat...you know, airplanes, boat, car...they're just all transportation, right? Good luck finding the right airplane. I'm in the market also and will keep the board apprised of what I find.

Airplane A seems to be winning hands down among the Mooniacs. In defense of B, am I wrong about the following: What I like about B vs A is: 430W vs 430 SFRMN vs MOH Auto wastegate + Intercooler vs Intercooler Only Long range vs Normal Tanks Gray vs Red interior I did talk at length with the owner of B. He has flown the plane 150-200 hrs/yr and flies it regulary. He said Don Maxwell had told him if he wanted to avoid top problems cruise at 65% power. So it has been handled gently. (A neat trick Don M taught him for setting power at 65% is to have MP + RPM = 50.) He removed the factory O2 bottle and has two portable units that will go with the plane. He said it is much easier to access more economical sources of O2 with the portable bottles and he gained useful weight. Last two Annuals were by Chandler ($6000) and Top Gun ($7000). Only negative is the plane has not been hangared, since the owner travels with it, it spends more time in transient parking than at home. But home is in AZ's dry climate. What I like about B vs A is 1985 vs 1980 airframe options 2550 vs 3900 TT 335 vs 750 engine time Radar Altimeter vs none New vs original and faded paint However after drooling over Scott's new paint job, I have had a paradigm shift in that actually bad paint is a plus, since it gives me the excuse to have my plane painted like Scotts. Appreciate everyones comments. Alan

Quote: FlyDave Hmm...just saw this on Ebay (has anyone bought an airplane on Ebay?) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979-Mooney-M20-Turbo-261-Thunderbird_W0QQitemZ230380930948QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Aircraft?hash=item35a3c60784&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

Which Mooney would you buy and why? Plane A http://www.trade-a-plane.com/clsfdspecs/832270 (or) Plane B http://www.trade-a-plane.com/clsfdspecs/830081 Alan

Scott, The pictures of the actual plane are even better than the designer's drawings. Congratulations on owning the prettiest '77J in the country. Have you been able to see any effect of the speed mods on N11MH's performance? Alan

No direct experience in dealing with them, but I have spoken to Bruce several times and have been very impressed. He sounds to be very thorough with pre-buys and even appears to be a bit of a maverick in that he recommends inspecting for corrosion inside the steel tubing in addition to the outside, even though not called out in SB208. Are you looking at the 1980 J?

I was inquiring about a Canadian registered plane listed for sale over on (I hope this doesn't get me banded.....) Beechtalk and appears the only complication is doing a thorough title search. Seems you have to do seperate title searches in each Province as there is no centralized database. Several folks recommended paying a broker to do the paperwork to import it into the US, but if you know what forms to file, it is not a big deal. I thought it would be more complicated. Don't know if it gets any better than this! I think these would be better:, 1997 Encore Especially for the $5K less, although it appears this one may have had a recent prop strike. Although this isn't a pretty, it has a better panel and and a useful load of 950#. The broker called me the other day and said they were reducing the price another $10K, so it would be $25K less. 1986 252