M20F

And check out all the people quoted in the article. I am just sharing information but certainly share the opinion that the factory route is the most expensive and generally the worst option.

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182826-1.html

Electric, manual gear is 1-2 seconds if that.

http://www.concordebattery.com/flyer.php?id=38

The distinction with the FAA is not payment but compensation (a free flight can in some circumstances be considered compensation). There are specific and complicated rules governing all this. For example if you take a flight and bring a colleague along you cannot claim reimbursement (http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2009/mangiamele%20-%20(2009)%20legal%20interpretation.pdf). If you and your boss are looking to get an airplane for company use would reccomend seeing both a lawyer and accountant that specialize in that area. If you intend to fly for work as a PPL in any capacity find a good CFI versed on the rules to cover what you can and cannot do. The Internet is a great source for many things but in cases like this you will be better served getting professional advice.

Tim - You are losing me a bit in your posts. You are indicating $50k as a budget but then you reference "owner"? Are you looking at a partnership, what is total budget, etc.? Can you explain your budget, mission, etc. a bit more?

Has anyone ever done a chance comparison or know of a chart that looks at cruise climb speed (120 in my F as example) versus Vy? In just general I don't notice a whole lot of extra FPM going with Vy versus cruise climb and if I am going above 9k I would need to level to get oil temp down to where any initial savings are eaten up by the break in climbing.

I get about 2 knots when I push my seat all the way back in cruise aft CG definitely brings the speed and on long trips I will ballast the baggage. For everyone saying they fly WOT for power settings that doesn't tell much. Are you flying WOT at 2000 feet, 5000 feet, 9000 feet, etc.

There was a post here awhile ago that said windshields were a group buy (think it was 10). I could certainly be wrong but it certainly isn't as cheap or easy to mod like it was 20-25yrs ago. Given there are a ton of modded E's out there really can't see the reason why anyone would try these days in any case. As FYI Russell passed and SWTA is temporarily closed. http://www.swta.net

It is fairly difficult if not impossible to get a lot of the mod's you see on older Mooney's. The old SWTA cowling I don't believe is around anymore, nobody makes the window for the J windshield conversion, etc. There are things like the Lopresti cowling (very expensive) and Sabermech on these forums is working on an STC for one now. In short very expensive and not practical to turn an E into a J these days. That being said there are plenty of nice E's out there which are already modded and will outdo a J model, the ones with Rayjay's will come close to K speeds. Talk to Dave at All American Aircraft they are in TX and specialize in finding/selling Mooney's. I got mine from them.

The induction on the J is a much better design than the previous models so the ram air as you point out doesn't really do much (it was in earlier models to essentially correct a bad induction design). Personally I would skip the overhaul and just do the bottom, spending a couple of grand to overhaul the cylinders when the only have 300hrs doesn't really do much for you.

He clearly says neither he nor his son are considering training anyone else in the airplane and the need is solely so his son can practice solo in the right seat.

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182826-1.html Without seeing the OP's logbook and what parts went into the bottom nobody can really assess its condition. My suspicion though is it was done properly to where you are going to take a bunch of 400hr parts and toss them in the trash or just look at them for no reason if you split the case. The fact you do the bottom and the top separate in no way makes a difference. You just split up the cost but the work is the same. If I had 4 good cylinders and needed a bottom I certainly wouldn't overhaul the cylinders just to write the word overhaul in the log book. Likewise if I had a good bottom I wouldn't pull it for a snapped valve if I didn't need to. People get way too wrapped up in words like remanufacture, overhaul, TBO, etc. My only concern in the OP's situation is getting all the valves replaced as 2000hrs and a lot of years is to long. The fact all 4 cylinders were done at 1000hrs probably relates to somebody feeling it "needed to be done" as generally you don't just have 4 cylinders crap out all at once. If there was abuse you would tend to see the cylinders all replaced at differing and shorter intervals. This is the biggest area where people just flush money down the toilet. In the case of the OP he has a $5-8K option or a $25-$30K option. The latter I don't think based on what he has shared does him anything other than lighten his bank account.

+1

Lycoming allows for some fairly large pieces/quantity of metal to be present in the screen/filter. Assuming the valve parts are found or you are confident they are out of the engine why would you spend $25K plus to take a 400hr case off the plane and break it apart? That's a lot of money and what it gets I am not sure is anymore piece of mind than just flushing out the engine/governor/etc. The cylinders were done at 1000hrs but the valves and seats were reconditioned, not replaced. Here is where I would definitely be concerned because those valves are 2100hrs now. Overhauling the cylinders definitely needs to be done. If you spend $30-35K+ to overhaul you won't get that back out of the sale price and probably wouldn't have to discount much if anything if you did the 4 cylinders. It also depends on how it gets written into the logbooks. If you looked at this plane and it said cylinders overhauled 1000 and valves reconditioned, case overhauled 1600, cylinders overhauled at 2100 in the book for a total time of 2100 would you run from it?

No, and replacement of exhaust valves is required for a major overhaul on a Lycoming along with a lot of other things. As Jetdriven points out there is no such thing as a "top overhaul" it is just vernacular used when the cylinders are redone together at same time but the case is not done.

0 SMOH is something written in a log book and certainly can impact resale value with a lot of people. Your bottom was overhauled 430hrs ago if there is nothing wrong with it why go through the expense of doing it (and the bottom is where the expense is) given it is not even 25% to 2000hrs? The issue is the cylinders. If you intend to keep the plane then a repair and return is just as safe. Once you start doing things to the engine total time means a lot less. You have 430hr bottom and 1040 top, 2100 again doesn't really mean anything other than that is the total time on the engine. Make sense?

The engine has 2100 SMOH (and total time) and in order to be a major overhaul you have to comply with several things. Because they didn't do all these things when they did the bottom they can only write it as a repair and return. This is a paperwork thing, for all practical purposes the lower end went through the same process it would have if a full major had been done. Thus you have a 430 bottom and a 1040 top, the 2100 is totally irrelevant at this point and means really nothing. Given the case was just done I personally wouldn't pull the engine out and do a full overhaul. The cylinders are mid-time and they didn't put new valves in, you lost one. I would personally overhaul the 3 on there and get a new one to replace the trashed one. The issue you may have is if the mechanic doesn't want to return it to service you are sort of stuck.

I agree hence the word piggy. The laminar flow wing is great for Mooney's but it certainly doesn't fly slow like a big fat winged Bonanza.

I would also add that stalling with maximum aft CG and maximum weight is going to be a whole different kind of ride than being light and doing some stalls with just you and an instructor sitting up front with half tanks. I encourage everyone to practice a bit with CFI or somebody who knows that they are doing across the entire flight envelope. Mooney's aren't the best slow flight planes in the world to begin with but when they are slow and heavy they are really piggy.

It certainly climbs slower, flies slower, etc. when heavy but not noticeably a lot worse. You will certainly notice the change in stall speed and generally if you are at max weight you are at aft CG limits as well so you have to as Ross points out be a lot smoother and more shallow in the controls, particularly when landing.

To be useful really need to include altimeter setting, IAS, temp, FF or EGT, weight, and power settings or it is going to be all over the place. In the what is the best RPM thread you have people climbing 25/25, 26/26, WOT/25, etc. which obviously makes a big difference. Overall I find my 67F to be pretty close to book numbers in terms of rate of climb.

Not a mechanic either but believe Iron would be a sign of lifter wear and not the cam which is steel.

FL230 but the performance of the control surfaces, cooling, etc. just make it not very worth it. I keep meaning one day to see what absolute service ceiling is (guessing after RVSM but interested in trying). I find my sweet spot 190-210 if the winds warrant it. Without a good wind the additional TAS doesn't really offset the climb time to make it worthwhile. When you can get those 50+ knot tail winds though it is awesome!

Have you asked your CFI for a reccomendation?