iceman

Matt, I am also in your neck of the woods (S43) and have experienced icing on several instances. Statistically, the Northwest is the very worst place to live in the US for icing. Between November and March, we are under an Airmet for icing 50% of the time. What most pilots don't realize when giving advise on your needs is that our MEA's are so high in the NW, there is no real option to descend to a lower altitude. Just to get out of Puget Sound you need to be at least 6,000ft heading to Portland. The only real option is to turn around, and I've used that one more than once. You can pretty much throw out the option of playing with your altitude...we have mountains everywhere. Another item to consider is that your J cannot be FIKI approved. There is no STC that allows that. You can have TKS-deice, but not FIKI. I have been searching high and low for the perfect all-around airplane that I can fly all year up here. I have narrowed it down to a Cirrus or Mooney...BOTH WITH TKS. While I won't launch knowingly into known icing, here in the NW it can and eventually will get you if you do ANY IFR flying between November and March. Everyone here has provided very sound advice on staying out of icing conditions. So you will basically need to park your plane until April or May of next year. But being and avid flyer, my advice it to pay the money! Of course you could use in on the 6 VFR days we get during the winter! FYI, the only way I stay current during the winter is to buzz around Tacoma, Paine and Skagit at MVA (3,000 ft) and do approaches. Even then you can pick up ice so have an out at all times. Dan N9940V "iceman"

Parker, I called on this Mooney over a month ago. There are a two things about the plane that are driving the low price. 1)There are several instances of damage history 2)The TKS is non-FIKI. Just thought I would let you know.

Matt, I too have been watching the M20J / M20K postings on controller for about 9-12 months being in the market myself. What I have noticed is a lot of planes from American sitting on the list for quite sometime. And with no disrespect, IMHO most are on the high end (from American) of the asking price for the current state of economy. Conversely, Barron Thomas seems to price things about right for the economy but they have a few quirks like not releasing the tail number on their site or over the phone when you call. In American's defense, I have not called to talk to them about their inventory. I have been hesitant to call because of the high advertised prices and found myself looking elsewhere. So, if I may ask, how much of a discount did you negotiate? You don't have to "kiss and tell" so to speak, just a rough idea would be nice.

Wow, lots of GREAT information. I believe the point of how much is spent on maintainance in one year vs. at the annual is a very good point. I am VERY proactive when any squawk comes up on my C172. Being a Mechanical Engineer (Worked for Boeing for 9 years) I enjoy doing almost everything myself with an IA present. I would really like to find a knowlegeable mooney IA in the Seattle area if I choose to buy a mooney. MSC's don't have a patent on providing good or bad service. In fact, we have a maint. facility where I keep my plane and I refuse to let them even touch my plane. I had work done a few times that was incomplete and just plane unsafe. I agree is Mooney231Pilot that launching into Known Icing doesn't do much for longevity. But having the ability to get out of the icing safely is a big factor. Much of the icing in the NW comes from the mountains holding back the clouds in a stratus layer below 8,000-9,000 feet. Just 60 miles east, it is usually sunny and clear a lot of the winter. Being able to climb above those conditions at 700 fpm with TKS would open up much of the winter travel. So, it looks like I need to 1)Find a mooney that suits my needs 2)Find a reputable MSC or IA for annuals 3)Continue my proactive approach to maint. 4)Have fun going 160+ Knots instead of 115... that should be easy!!! Thanks guys!

Hello all! I am new to Mooneyspace and have been looking for a Mooney to fill my mission(s) for about 9 months. I finally found what I need at a reasonable price http://www.air-mods.com/forsale/N231RQ#/sites/airmodsflightcenter.com/files/forsale/N231RQ/N231RQ-788.jpg This plane has all the 231 to 252 mods including the LB engine and GAMIs (not listed but I called). I has NDH and a recent overhaul. I'm told the owner is 80 years old and still flys the heck out of it! I checked flightaware and he still flys at least twice a week. The big thing I need, which this plane has at a reasonable price is TKS. Living in the Seattle area, we can't go anywhere for 6+ months out of the year because of icing. Heck, even today (May 12th) we have an icing airmet for 6000 feet. The MEAs are at least 8k to get out of here over the mountains. Even to Portlland, OR the MEAs are 6000. I currently own a C172 180Hp, G430W, Stec 30 w/Gpss, Mode S traffic and LOVE it. I fly the heck out of it (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9940V )and with a useful load of 1050lbs, I can put the family of (4), fill the baggage compartment and the LR tanks and STILL be under gross. I actually intend to keep this plane even "if" I buy a Mooney. My hesitation in the Mooney is the annual costs. I called the MSC that does all the work and he told me the plane had a "light" annual this year. He described what was done and most of it sounded like labor. The "light" annual cost 5k!!! I read the blogs that this forum suggested and every one's annuals are between 5k-8k!!! Right now, I do owner assist annuals for about 1k! My question to all is... "on average" do Mooney annuals really cost that much! I searched this site for the answer and most people seem to dodge the actual numbers. I guess when we spend more than we had planned we tend to sweep it under the rug a bit. In reality, I can't afford 5k-8k on top of hanger fees, fuel, TKS fluid, insurance, reg maint., etc. I am sure I am not the only one with this dilemma?????