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.

Quote: Hank You've probably already noticed a common theme: get a good plane, well-maintained and regularly flown. This will prevent many surprises on your first annual. Pay for a good pre-buy at YOUR mechanic, not at the sellers! Low engine hours are nice, but for high hours the purchase price comes down with a larger overhaul expense coming sooner. Don't rule out a short body. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've had back-seat passengers since I bought my C-model two years ago. If you don't have children yet, it will be a long time before regular back-seat usage will become an issue. WAR EAGLE!

Quote: KSMooniac I started out looking exactly like you are and thought I couldn't get into a J. I wanted an E/F with a modern instrument layout, IFR GPS, speed mods and hopefully an autopilot.

This is a question about airplane buying in general, but has some Mooney specific items as well. As I've mentioned before I'm beginning to explore the idea of purchasing a plane, and for the money I have (or am willing) to spend and my mission I know I want a Mooney. That said, I still need to sit in and fly one before I can make that decision official. For all know I'll absolutely hate the feel of the things in the first 10 minutes, but I sure hope not Where it gets tricky is I have a small list of specifics items I want in an airplane. Then again, who isn't? Here's the list: M20E or M20F (J is just stretching the budget too far), GNS430 or GNS530, autopilot w/altitude hold, and the 201 windshield/cowl. I guess it's not such a long list, but it's proving to be quite di The question is on which items do you hold fast to your list and on which do you give? I guess my list probably isn't even all that long compared to some others, but it's still proving to be quite difficult to find a plane that meets all of the criteria. For that reason I understand I might need to concede an item or two to get the others, and then look at doing them later myself. So where would you concede? I think I already know my answer, and it's on the 201 mods. I've already told myself and my girlfriend (wife-to-be) that if for some reason we came across a great plane for a great price but it didn't have a GNS430, I'd add it. So if I'm that adamant about it, I guess it just makes sense to really focus on the planes with that and consider upgrading the airframe later.

Quote: N207LS my darkest color (dark purple)

Quote: GeorgePerry You got me there....I should have said "Mooney's that don't leak" have been fixed at some point along the way.

Quote: TurboExec interesting, I've never removed mine before flight....I wonder what it is worth haha 1 knot!!!

Craig, I mentioned your idea to my girlfriend. And not surprisingly, she's all for it! We'll probably make it out there sometime between now and 2013.

Thanks guys! Jim, while I know the J is going to be out of my budget, I sure wouldn't mind a ride in one some day just to see what I'm missing. Brandon, that would be great! I've got a pretty busy schedule over the next month or so, but if you think you'll have some extra time while you're in Selma I'd definitely try to find a day to fly up and meet you there. That'd be a nice easy 1-1.5 hour flight from here (depending on if I take a 172 or 152), plus I need to build the PIC cross country time anyway as I'm currently working on my instrument rating. Let me know when and I'll try to be there! Thanks again for the offers and the warm welcome.

Hey guys, I've been reading threads on this board for a while but decided to register today. The title just about says it all...I need to bum a ride! More specifically, I'm starting to consider options during what will likely be a very long shopping and purchasing process. For everything I want in an airplane, the vintage Mooney has it. The problem is I've never ridden, flown, or even sat in a Mooney of any vintage. For myself and my most frequent passenger (girlfriend as of now), I think a short body would be perfectly adequate. For starters, I only rarely carry a back seat passenger as it is now, and even if I did, I'm 5'6" and she's 5'3"...we don't exactly slide the seats all the way back on the tracks. Additionally, the performance numbers of an E model over an F have me further convinced that if I don't really need that 5" of space, I don't need an F. That being said, I'd like to pay someone's fuel and lunch bill if I ever had the opportunity to hitch a ride with someone for an hour or two. I've only ever seen one Mooney at the local airport (I believe it's a C), and I don't recall even seeing it move anytime recently. I'm not sure whose it is. I figured I would check in on here to see if there were any owners in a relatively close radius of me. I'm in Mobile, AL and would be able to travel a couple of hours by way of my club's 172 to meet up. In any event whether this pans out or not, I appreciate the knowledge I've been picking up here and I'll continue to loiter around and absorb as much as I can.