smccray

The aircraft is routeinly flown over gross. I’m betting it’s a FIKI or at least a TKS equipped bravo. Useful load may include filling the TKS tanks. You may be able to gain some additional useful load by carrying less TKS fluid. The Bravo is a hell of a traveling airplane for one person, maybe two. Beyond that useful load is limited.

and that doesn't include insurance on the structure or property taxes (if any). That's $78 per foot for unfinished space including large doors. Any hangar of that size and price should at least include include water and sewer roughed in.

'78 J just listed in the classifieds. It's a wholesale deal though- so traditional approach to purchasing with a separate prebuy isn't in the cards. That's the type of deal where a deal is possible, but there are significant risks. For a first time buyer it may be too big a stretch. I've owned one J model and my recent purchase is my second plane- I'm not sure I know enough to get into a deal like that.

Any chance the fuel senders that are in the mail to me right now are being made in that video Edited to add: they shipped out of Bend on 10/16.. being delivered on Monday!!!

Taking about 5 min on controller I'd take a look at this: https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/27973073/1978-mooney-m20j Good P&I and interior. Engine will need to be redone soon but that's okay. Add a GTN750, 2 G5s and a GFC500 autopilot. Not much in Js out there right now. Search on the forum- I think I read bad things about deal terms with the seller. I may have them confused so I won't say anything else here. This K looks interesting: https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/27219961/1979-mooney-m20k-231 Good engine times and AAA-https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/19508001/1979-mooney-m20k-231 May be able to get some attractive pricing on avionics upgrades which I agree that it needs.

What model year are you targeting and how do you want the plane equipped? How important is Paint, Interior, and the Panel to you?

What are you looking for? What's your budget? Using a buyers broker, you're buying someone to help you evaluate the the airplane. What are you looking for from this guy? If you think he can help you find a deal, you're probably wrong. If you think he's going to let you avoid a prepurchase inspection by a mechanic, that's unlikely as well. About the only thing he can do for you is save you time 1) reviewing log books, and 2) traveling to see the airplane on your behalf before you make a trip to see the plane. Broker will do about the equivalent of a detailed pre-flight inspection- that's about it. In other words, the broker will save you time, and the broker will hopefully save you some money avoiding a PPI on a bad airplane. I used a buyers broker on my latest purchase. Whether or not it's worth it depends on what you're looking for. If you want to find a $60K J model, get a broker because you're going to be sorting through a lot of junk. I doubt a buyers rep worth the fee would help you buy a J at $60K. If you're looking for a $100K J, you can probably evaluate that yourself. If you're looking for a $130K+ J, you shouldn't need any help.

I'll take that bet. I anticipate there will be an alternative to the 10" TXI that combines with the G5 and some Garmin navigator. I'll also bet that it's integrated in a way that a GTN series (or whatever replaces the GTN) will be required.

Perhaps I’m the only one here, but I think Mooneys are built to too high a standard to be compared to a British vehicle. The Porsche has always made the most sense to me. Seating position low to the floor and relatively narrow in the cabin. Built around business (going fast) and quality.

That seals it for me. I’m adding the GCU 485. The GFC 500 isn’t an option for me.

That’s good advice. I hate it! 2 step process: 1) what do you want to fly? 2) Can you afford it?

I did my ifr in my J without GPSS. The heading bug worked just fine. I’ve never had GPSS so I didn’t know anything different. Personally I wouldn’t look at a used converter at this point. The G5 hsi will provide GPSS. The price point is higher but at least you get rid of the future overhall cost of a king HSI.

You can lookup the STC paperwork on the FAA website. All the info is public. Seeing the information on the STC does not give you permission to use it. Garmin has the STC- when you buy a G5 there is paperwork involved where Garmin sells you the right to install equipment using their STC. It’s my understanding that this is the case with any STC, not just Garmin.

Owning is more expensive than renting... unless it isn’t. You won’t find a deal when you buy a plane, unless you happen to find one. Capital cost / loss is almost irrelevant. Own a plane for 5 years and fly 100 hrs per year. If you overpay by $2-3k, or the loss on the upgrades is bigger than anticipated, it’s a rounding error. Estimate $200 per hour for 100 hrs per year. That’s $100k down the drain over 5 years that you won’t recover when you sell the plane. The big number is operating cost. Base at a big airport with expensive hangars and expensive fuel (or buy fuel at big airports) your cost is going to be higher. Base at a smaller field with a cheap tie down and cheap fuel, and only fly to places with cheap fuel, the numer will be a lot smaller. 2 rules - I should call them theorems as I can’t prove them, but i’ll argue them with anyone. 1) pilots are cheap bastards- and we’re all a little crazy. We buy (some) tools harbor freight to work on $6 figure flying machines. We bitch and moan about how expensive maintenance is, never mind that the hourly rate is substantially cheaper than we pay for car maintenance. 2) in pilots minds real world economics and aviation economics have completely different standards. We question pricing of products all over, then spend thousands on upgrades to planes. Jump on in- the water is fine!!!

I would expect the ovation to be cheaper to run than the bravo. Lower fuel burn, cheaper engine, less complex (or on par) than the bravo. Capital cost is similar between the two. Acclaim fuel burn (LOP) is less than the bravo as well. Capital cost is of course higher. When I was looking at turbo Mooneys, 150 hrs per year was within spitting distance of bravo cost vs acclaim borrowing the difference in cost. Back of the envelope only- I may be way off.

Your long body numbers look high. Bravos have been trading at Rocket numbers and below. $190K is getting into the range (albeit the extreme low end of the range) of a well equipped FIKI Bravo. $190K will buy a 2000 era low time very well equipped Bravo without a G1000. I don't have first hand knowledge of the Acclaim market, but I would expect the standard Acclaims are in the 300s with the Type Ss in the high 300s low 400s. The right hand side doesn't look quite right to me unless it includes capital cost of the airplane.

Could be- tough to compare colors on a monitor. I think that photo makes them look a little darker than they look to me in person, but I wouldn't call them Ivory. I don't know the manufacturer as there isn't a label on them, but they're a quality product. They're real sheepskin and they're lined on the back. $550 for a set... I'd sell this set for half price.

Paper on the cover is there to perhaps better show the color. I bought these used but they're essentially brand new. The 205 has a different seat profile, but they look like they would fit an earlier J model seat.

I have a set of sheepskin covers for a J sitting here next to my desk. Would love to sell them- probably the sand cover advertised on the aerosheep website. Send me a PM if you're interested...

Piloto served that up- figured I'd take it... What does it mean that I'd rather have the Acclaim?

WAAAAY too much maintenance.... I suspect operations would be fun (at least at first).

Problem is the owner of that plane is likely a business owner who needs access to a plane without dealing with the risk of scheduling difficulties of partners. Add to that- 4 people is too many- there isn’t enough cost savings going from 3-4 people to deal with the challenges of adding another partner. Prior tax law requires a new purchase to get 100% of the purchase price deducted on taxes. New tax law allows any plane, new or used, to be 100% deductible which I expect to cause some challenges in selling new planes, but we’ll see what happens.

That’s a better answer than I could have give. I knew the gross weight increase was available when I bought the plane- I paid DMAX and got it done. When looking at flight performance I think I had a digital copy of an early MSE that I used for performance data. I tended to have three different profiles- and keep in mind none of these were at short fields. I’m based at a busy field so I typically kept speed up as long as possible slowing down at the last second. If I was on the higher end of weight I was looking for 70-75 on short final. If I was lighter I was looking for 65-70- 70 kias was my default and I made adjustments based on how the wing flew. If I encountered really gusty crosswinds, I would land with intermediate flaps (the 205 has an intermediate flap setting), 80 kias on short final, and run the plane onto the runway. Never force a Mooney to land- and if you bounce, go around and try again. I’m not advocating any technique, nor would I suggest that my approach (no pun intended...okay maybe a little) is a good one, but it worked for me. My plane loading was very consistent (solo plus the same bags) generally landing with 20-50 gallons of fuel. As a result I didn’t see a lot of variation in aircraft performance.

My ‘87 came with the 2740 gross weight with the appropriate POH numbers for gross weight. The 2900 lb gross weight was a paper STC. I can’t say for certain but I believe all of the 205s were delivered with a 2740 gross weight.

I have flown my old 205 at 2900 lbs- she flies about the same as she does at 2600 lbs. She’s a little slower to climb, and a little slower at cruise, but not a lot. I stressed about flying at heavy weights, but then I did it... no big deal. Wait for the plane to be ready to fly on takeoff. Don’t force the plane onto the runway when landing. Don’t yank and bank in the pattern. Have to respect the change in the airplane at the heavy weights, but it’s very manageable Not a bad idea to go up with an instructor heavy. I’m just a private pilot.