DaV8or

So... all looks well! We poked and prodded and found no show stoppers. A few skeletons in the closet with reguard to damage history, but corrosion free, AD complient and in overall pretty good shape for a 44 year old airplane. Hard nose landing in '82, a gear up in '88 and somewhere along the way, light hail damage. Good repairs. Clean engine, runs good with all the proper things done along the way. Low time engine and prop, speed mods and great avionics. Decent paint and interior. Everthing works except the panel lighting (that's OK, I'm changing them anyways) and the door lock. What's not to love? I now will make the call to take the next step. Pictures to follow when I get home.

Quote: bradp That is a nice looking piece of equipment, if it's the one at business aircraft sales' website. Even though it was a bank repo, were you able to contact the previous for discussion / was an amicable departure from his Mooney?

Quote: Bacachero For the super low price...are you sacrificing anything like log books etc? Good luck with this one!

Tomorrow I go for another pre buy inspection. The airplane is a '66 M20F with lots of nice mods. It's a bank repo and so a little different in the sale process. The good news is I bid real low and they accepted it. The bad news is it can't be moved from where it is. It's located at Santa Barbara and there aren't any Mooney specific mechanics there. The best I could do was get Ray Maxon from Ray's Aviation in Santa Paula to come up and look at it. He came recommended as a good guy by Top Gun and others. If all works out, I'll get a pretty nicely equiped F (damn near a J with new radios) at C prices. I was told that the previous owner bought at the top of the market and then sunk a bunch in new avionics, so ended up owing the bank $105,000! Yikes!! I was able to combine the trip with work, so travel was easy and I have lots of friends and family in the area. Lots better than traveling to the boondocks and paying for everything. We shall see what we shall see...

I personally hate yoke mounts, but as a renter it's pretty much your only good solution and it is easy and quick. As an owner (someday soon) I will not have any yoke mounts.

Quote: allsmiles There seems to be a frenzy on here regarding G500, iPad, iPhone, Foreflight laptops etc, etc.

Quote: flight2000 They sent me the pictures for final approval on the 1st of June and shipped on the 2nd via UPS Expediated service. The models are made in the Philippines and take a little longer in shipping. Brian

Quote: conom06d I even think lasar is based out near me so i'd definitely like this if the price is right

Quote: Sabremech This is one fast M20C from what I can tell. Speed mods definitely make a difference.

Congratulations on your wise choice in airplanes! You must now keep with tradition and post pictures. Must be awsome to have your own Mooney and I hope to find out for myself soon.

Quote: Qwalton You could also talk to Ray's Aviation in Santa Paula, he has some Mooney experience and he's pretty close to Santa Barbara.

The only way to know for sure is to sit in one. Someone on the field, a dealership or maybe someone here can help. I am not yet a Mooney pilot (I'm working on that!), but I have sat left seat in a number of them now and have flown right seat in others. I also have nearly 200 hours in an Arrow IV. IMO, if you feel cramped in an Arrow, it will only be worse in the Mooney. Technically, I think the cabin width on both is maybe only an inch or so off, but the roof curves in tighter and there definately less footwell space. Also in the older F model, the panel is closer to you and all these things add up to create a more clausterphobic feeling. Also I find getting in and out of the Mooney a bit tougher. Having said all that, you will fit and it's ergonomically pretty decent. Only you can decide if you can adjust. The tighter cabin is one of the trade offs for all that awsome speed and thrifty fuel burn. Pretty much if you want a big cabin and anything close to the speed of a 201, you'll need to look at a Cirrus SR-20 and that plane comes with it's own limitations and price tag.

Here is a link to an article in EAA's Sport Aviation magazine about how sky writing is done. I don't believe a Mooney is really suited for this task. Maybe the M20T if you can get it pried away from MAC! Sky Writing

Quote: edgargravel I took it over to our local avionics shop (Woodlawn in Ottawa, Ontario) and while I watched they changed the tilt it for the tilt I measured with a protractor and plumb bob.

Quote: danb35 Just in case you're not aware, there is a spec in the service manual for this. Page 5-22, Figure 5-13, specifies no gap between the collar and the upper retaining plate on the nose gear at static weight (full fuel, no pax). See the attachment for a drawing. Are you sure it's a '66 F? There were very few (only 2) of those made, IIRC.

Quote: Sven The donuts themselves ran about $900 with shipping.

I might be needing to do a pre buy inspection on a M20F that is located at Santa Barbara. The weird thing is, because this plane is a bank repo sale, it can't leave the field like might be normal for a pre buy. It has to be done there, but there's a shop that is willing to accomodate. Anybody know of anyone?