Auburn02

What part of the country is it in?

Quote: rubixcube2k3 @ Auburn02 - Mr. Bill was a pleasure to deal with, he's a great and straight shooter, held no information back and even said he'd let me stop by O.S. sometime for gas and a hamburger! lol I've been Training with a close personal friend Aaron Comstock (super duper guy) but due to insurance problems, I'm going to have to go back to my former instructor (super duper guy, too) Hugh Richards. From all accounts, Hugh has as much time in these things as Al Mooney himself

Nice plane Abe! I always had the intention of getting my complex rating in that airplane when it was at Ocean Springs, but the flight school closed up shop before I ever got around to it. Who are you doing your flight training with?

Well the file itself was a MS Word document, not just images. I've converted it to .pdf, but the forum doesn't allow the attachment of .pdf files. And I don't have a site on which to host the file either. Maybe I can put it on Google docs, never played much with that...

Does this forum have a running thread to review airplanes on the market? I was just coming here to ask the members' thoughts on a plane and came across this thread. Knowing what little I know and based on what I'm looking for, I'd say the first is still available because of the price first and foremost, and second the lack of exterior updates. The interior and panel are nice, but the lack of a 201 windshield and any other exterior mods (cowl closure, other seals/fairings) and to a lesser extent the paint are lacking, especially for that price point. On the second one all I can come up with is what you already mentioned, a past gear up and lack of a modern IFR GPS. But if I had more room in my budget I'd probably be looking at that one pretty closely. Speaking of my budget and my age (30 next month, wife, no kids for a few more years hopefully), I've been trying to limit myself to looking at Cs and maybe an occasional E or F, but realistically I think I need to keep my purchase price in the low to mid 40s or below if I want this to happen anytime soon. I came across this one the other day, which looks like a nicely updated '65 C with 201 windshield, cowl closure, G430 (not WAAS), King HSI, nicely laid out panel, and 3 bladed prop (read some pros and cons of the 3 blade on a 4 cyl Mooney, but at least it gets rid of the prop hub AD). Only thing I can tell that it's really missing that I would like is an autopilot, but I'm going to need to make sacrifices on some things if I'm going to be realistic with that low 40s budget. No history of damage that I can find, though the logs are missing prior to 1982. Given a solid inspection/annual, I wouldn't be too upset about that. What do you guys think? http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=1165508 I was pretty excited to find it's registered here in Alabama, but the ad mentions it was flown to San Antonio (listed with All-American).

Aside from the ADF discussion, that panel is ridiculously awesome!

As I've mentioned before any E/F model I buy will pretty much have to already have a 201 windshield at a minimum. If that were the only mod done I would take it upon myself to add the lower cowl enclosure and that's about it. Though this caliper rotation sounds interesting, I would probably look into that as well.

Finally got around to getting an insurance quote, which came back surpringly at $1475 (175 TT, 0 in type, 0 retract, instrument rated). I guess I'm just used to getting the shaft from all things insurance and was primed and ready for a $2000 quote. That was from AOPA insurance, so I suppose there may still be room to improve.

Quote: N207LS Bay Minette (my favorite of the local Mobile area airports)

Thanks. I had been to planequest.com before but forgot about it. I wonder though, do people really think their 200 hp Mooneys are burning 8 gph on average? The only hangar quote I've gotten is for a ratty T-hangar at a nontowered airport, and it was $240. Need to call the bigger airports and see what they charge for a spot in a shared hangar, as well as get an insurance quote or two. Looks like I can safely expect to be spending at least $1500/month with fixed + operating costs, including the payment for the plane itself. Kind of staggering to think about it as ~20-25% of our take home pay, but it's doable. Fortunately we're both scheduled for raises before the end of the year as well.

I'm sure this has been hashed and rehashed both here and on other forums, but I'm really looking to start building a budget around buying a plane. My girlfriend (wife-to-be) and I both do comfortably well for a couple in our upper 20s, with a combined income of around 120k+ and think we are about in a position to make this step, but we have yet to sit down and plug in all the numbers to put together a budget and make sure we can keep our heads above water. If it's not too much trouble, could you guys give me a rough guide of what I should expect to pay monthly? That goes for insurance, hangar, maintenance, fuel/oil on about 100 hrs a year, etc. As I said I know this has been done 100 times over, I'm just trying to get closer numbers specific to what I can expect for a Mooney. This would be for a late 60s E/F model. Thanks for any help you can offer, sorry if I'm repeating something that has been asked a ton already!

Nice find! Out of curiosity, why sell off the turbo F model for a project E model? Were you just looking for a project?

I remember seeing your panel pics and I definitely like that. I'm hoping to find one that someone else has already taken the liberty of upgrading, but can see it being a worthwhile benefit if I wind up with a plane that has the original panel. Yep, that was me. Hmm, I'm fishing in a tournament that Saturday and was thinking about taking off work on Friday to do an all day instrument lesson, but maybe I could find some time to head down there. I definitely appreciate the offer and I will let you know!

One other question, hopefully not a stupid one but just more a result of not spending a ton of time around other planes/pilots. What is referred to as the "T-configuration" when it comes to the panel versus a "modern panel" versus a "standard six pack?" I understand the six instruments involved in the six pack, just not sure about the terminology/layout. Here are a few planes that caught my attention off of a pretty quick search: '66 M20E, all kinds of great stuff including an S-TEC 30 and bunches of 201 additions, but no IFR GPS: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/clsfdspecs/818587 '66 M20C, GNS430, lots of recent work done (i.e., both tanks resealed in last 2 years), but old Mooney/Brittain A/P. And "Annual Due July 2008?" Typo, perhaps? http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20C-MARK-21/1966-MOONEY-M20C-MARK-21/1134234.htm?guid=3D4718E2B181454C8FC610DB7D430C1B And by far the most modified/modern (and most expensive) of the bunch, even though it's the oldest: '63 M20C, Aspen EFD, GNS430, separate HSI (could be sold since it has the Aspen?), 201 windshield, and I see A/P switches on the dash but I don't see a mention of an A/P anywhere in the ad, nor do I see anything I can identify as one on the dash. Owner is willing to trade for a 172/182, should that worry me? Too many hidden problems with this Mooney? http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20C/1963-MOONEY-M20C/1152573.htm?guid=3D4718E2B181454C8FC610DB7D430C1B I think this is the 2nd or 3rd board I post on asking questions about various Mooneys, so if this comes across as redundant for anyone I apologize.

Thank you all again for your input. It's definitely given me a lot to think about. Last night I was sitting at home and convinced I needed to be looking at a J, but today I'm back to trying to find the best C/E/F I can find. No offense to the G owners, but it's just not on my list. If one came across my path that seemed like a great deal I would take a look, but I'm not going to search them out. Quote: KSMooniac Of all the items on your wish list, I still think finding an E or F with a modern autopilot will be the most difficult since it is such an expensive upgrade relative to the airframe cost.