DaV8or

Quote: JimR I'm glad to hear you guys say that. With very, very rare exception, I don't fly at night anymore either. I thought that it was just me. I used to fly at night and really enjoyed the serenity of it all, but I just can't get that old saying about turning the landing light on and then off again at 100 ft AGL if you don't like what you see in the event of a forced landing. Jim

Quote: CJSmith Should we talk Bonanzas?

Wow. That is kinda crazy. I would have stopped in Texas for lunch or something. No way I could hold out that long. Must be young. I guess he's challenging himself. If he really does have just 88 gallons, that means he's got it throttled back to about 6 gallons and hour. I guess that explains why he flight planned 115kts. He's got a decent tail wind going on. I wonder if he had planned to stop short but when he saw the tailwind decided to go for it?

Quote: Auburn02 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...

Quote: knute Southwest Texas Aviation (SWTA) is an authorized Mooney Service Center in San Marcos (HYI), which is pretty close to Austin, and I had a very good experience with them last year when they did my annual and put in a 201 windshield. Very thorough, very careful, high standards. I flew all the way from the SF Bay Area just to have them do the windshield. If I needed a prebuy anywhere near Austin, they'd be my choice. -Knute '66 M20E - San Carlos, CA

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Don Maxwell in Longview. I'll be up there this weekend teaching a new M20J owner all the way to Pennsylvania from his shop. Dugosh is a good second choice and they're down here in Kerrville.

Quote: CJSmith "Isn't Mooney a religion?"

Quote: piperpainter Does anyone know a way to upload this file and set it to a link or something? I have been getting alot of requests and it would just be easier if I could have someone get it themselves? Otherwise I love helping yall!

Quote: jmills That being said, hangars in my neck of the woods are high, very high at $600 - $1800... a month ($7,200-$21,600 year) at both GA airports in the Las Vegas Valley (VGT & HND). If I was REAL lucky I might be able to find a hangar 35 miles away in Boulder City (BVU) for maybe $500 a month, but only if my timing was perfect (most hangars there also usually go for $600-$700 per mo.).

Quote: CJSmith 90% of my flying will be within a 200 mile radius. 40% with the wife, 10% with wife and 5 year old Grandson. 5% to fly 600 miles to visit two sons. As you all know the mission tends to modify or evolve depending on the aircraft. No one can pinpoint a mission statement as accurately as he may think. Not at my ownership experience level. The Tiger and 28-180 are good aircraft, but on my list purely because I've been told repeatedly they will cost half what a C-model costs to maintain per year. I don't have the experience to confirm or dispute this.

I want to do a pre-buy inspection on a '69 E somewhere nearby Austin TX. Any suggestions on MSC or even a highly regarded AP in that area? Then the question arrises as whether or not turn this into an annual when and 100 hour or annual was just done by Ron Fisher in TX two weeks ago. I guess a prospective buyer for the plane chose Ron Fisher to do the pre-buy and in the middle of it backed out of the deal because he decided the plane was too small. The owner then decided to have the pre-buy turned into either a 100 or annual. From my copies of the recent logs, it's not clear to me whether or not the work was an annual or just a 100 hour inspection. In his hand writen notes, it says 100 hour inspection, but in his rubber stamp he has filled out annual. IIRC, a 100 hour and an annual are similar, but not legally the same. Anybody have experience with Ron (or Ronny) Fisher?

Does anybody sell calibrated fuel level dip sticks for Mooneys?

The F has a higher gross weight than the E. What is the difference in parts and mechanicals and is there an STC to bring the E up to the F gross weight?

Quote: mooneygirl Dave, which plane are you looking at? I lost track, sorry. Nice to meet you on Saturday. Jolie

Quote: mjc Were either of the engine failures mentioned in this thread the result of high engine time?

That's why I don't fly at night anymore. This guy got really, really lucky. I shouldn't have listened to this. I just agreed to start the buying process on a Mooney with a really old engine in it! Yikes!

Quote: 16LPilot I'd like to learn where the spots you spray with the "rattle can" for maximum effect are located? Any specifics/photos are appreciated.

Since this thread is not about whether to get a hanger or not, but rather a choice between good paint and bad paint, I would go with bad paint. You will be fighting corrosion on the surface no matter the quality of the paint job, so bad paint is easier for the owner to patch up and hit with a rattle can to keep corrosion at bay. Also, to help keep water out of the cabin so that corrosion doesn't start inside, a full cabin cover is helpful and these covers when used a lot can lead to scratches in the paint. Since you might be tied down in a busy area, there is also the possibility of getting scuffs and scratches from careless people on the ramp or other planes parking. This is assuming that you do intend to get a hanger as soon as possible. That way, the money saved on storage can put towards a new paint job that is actually your paint job. On the other hand, if you know that you will be outside for years and years, the old worn paint job might really bug you after a time. Also a new and thicker coat of paint should give you a bit better corrosion resistance. However, I would still go for bad paint and get a good discount on the plane.

Quote: 140pilot This article will give you a good run down of what to look for. http://www.lasar.com/sales/buyers-guide.asp And you can use this pre buy check list to try and get what you can accomplished. Obviously you cant get it all done but it helps as a starting point. http://www.lasar.com/sales/checklist.asp

This week end I'm flying to Texas to see two different planes. Both planes are Es. One is a '69 with a lot of modifications and great avionics and the other is a '67 and has great avionics but much more stock. I have purchased many, many used cars, trucks and motorcycles in the past, so I've gotten pretty good at it, but this is my first airplane. I've done some reading on them, but are there things I should look for in particular? Also, how far back should I look in the logs and what am I looking for specifically? I want to be throurogh, but I also don't want to waste a lot of thier time. There will still be a pre-buy annual coming. Things I'll be looking for will be corrosion where I can see, tank leaks, loose bushings in the rudder and elevator, STCs for the mods, oil change intervals and oil annalysis, but what am I missing? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again. P.S. I now have my MAPA membership in order and I was wondering if there is a great pre-buy article specific to the E like there seems to be for the A-B and the J-K? If so, where would I find it?

Well, I've decided to take the extra time to go look at this plane this weekend. I'll see if it lives up to the photos and check on oil analysis. I'll have a close look at the logs too. I'm still not sure how far past TBO I'm comfortable going. You have to figure that the TBO number was arrived at for a reason that presumably is based on experience and annalysis. The FAA clearly believes in the number as they require commercially operated planes to rebuild at TBO rather than just an inspection program. Oh, how I wish that airplane engines could somehow be magically as reliable and simple to own as a car engine.

Quote: mjc if your airplane is 35 years old or older, it may qualify for a property tax exemption (web search for "Aircraft of Historical Significance" for the terms and conditions).

I have located a plane that has what looks to be an excellent low time, all original airframe with some nice avionics in it, but it has a high time engine. Here are the known info on the engine; It was a factory new Lycombing engine in 2000. After about 1300 hours, it developed low compression on one cylinder. They pulled it and determined the cam looked good, so the owner opted to redo all four cylinders. The bores were redone at Penn Yang and installed by the local A&P with new rings but original in spec pistons. The engine is now at a little over 1700 hours. Compressions are reported to be high and oil consumption low. (one quart per 10 hours) In my inexperienced mind, this engine is still only 300 hours from needing major money. The problem is, the overall price of the plane is higher due to the very nice airframe and avionics. I can make this plane meet my stated mission goals with in budget in all perameters except one, a mid time or lower engine. Is it wise to run an engine past TBO? Because this engine has a somewhat reconditioned top end and has been inspected only 400 hours ago, is it reasonable to expect to push it past TBO with confidence? I really don't want to spend enough to get the plane I want it AND buy a new engine in about 3-4 years. What I should I do? To see this plane requires a trip well out of the way and I'm going to Texas this weekend where it is and have limited time, so I need to make up my mind. Thanks for the help.

I don't have a plane yet, but I looked into what it's going to cost me. For me, it depends on where I base it. At Oakland, the rate is 1.3459 percent of the assested value and at Hayward it is 1.07 percent. So a big savings to go to Hayward, but it's further away from my house and I don't know yet if there are any hangers there. I have found two at Oakland.

I'll go! I don't think I'll have a Mooney by then, but I love fly-ins. I was just to Oceano back in January for an informal AOPA fly-in. We had a good turn out and combined with another small flying group that just happened to pick the same day, we really filled the ramp. The locals were impressed and kept telling us that they didn't know when they saw so many airplanes there. It's a great destination as long there isn't any marine layer on the day you want to go. The only thing that might keep me from coming is if I'm off to inspect potential Mooneys somewhere in the country. This weekend I'm off Texas to see a few!