peott

I was thinking about the idle time on the engine as well and at first I was thinking that could be an issue but, then I started to remember the last time I flew the plane....January 2011 before it went out of annual....and the weather we have had in Kansas since then. We have had probably less than 6" of rain since January and one of the hottest, driest summers in history. I really doubt that being ran once every four or five weeks in the last eight months, given the weather we have had is really going to put the engine in danger. If it had been sitting in Florida or up north where they had record rainfall and the higher humidity that goes along with it, I might be concerned. You couldn't have stored the engine in a better environment than we have had here in Wichita this year. Every time we changed the oil.....it looked like new since it essentially was. The plane has started within one revolution each and every time that I started it. Again, I would hop in it and fly it anywhere....well...maybe not to Europe but, anywhere in the US and not give it a second thought.

That plane is one nice M20F. It has just about everything that mine has and more. The different engine is a huge factor as are electric gear and flaps. That puts this plane in the same catagory as a 201. I should have gone ahead and put electric gear and flaps on my plane but, I ran out of energy and got tired of having the plane in pieces before we thought of that. I would take the advertised plane over my plane any day. If you have ever flown with the Johnson bar, you know just how annoying it is. Let's all try to pay attention and see how long All American has that M20F on the market. You can try to sell something but, until it is actually sold and you have money in hand, it doesn't mean anything. Just because they have it priced at $79k doesn't mean it will bring that much. And, if it sits there for a year before the owner decides to take less.......you know what I mean.

My initial thought was that the experimental crowd might go for the autopilot but, I am probably wrong there. You can buy autopilots that are way better than an S-Tec for way less money if you have an experimental. That is a major component and of course would have to bring $6500 to $7500 for my numbers to come out. As of today, I have only had two calls on the engine and neither of them wanted to pay more than core value. I think the cold hard truth is that there just isn't a lot of money being spent on older general aviation airplanes right now. You know the old saying that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear....I think it is just a fact of life that you can take a 1968 Mooney M20F and do anything and everything you want to it but you will still just have a 1968 Mooney M20F. It will never be a 201 or a 231. It will never have electric gear or electric flaps. If you ask the same money for a '68 M20F as people can buy a nice 201 or 231, they will take the newer airframe and more modern systems any time. I knew I ran this risk when I over improved this plane but, it is one damn nice plane to fly and I have enjoyed every minute of flying it. I might end up just putting it up for sale, as is, and see what happens or I might just get it annualed, have my son who is an A&P install the one piece belly STC, just to get it installed, and fly it a few more years and see if the market for small planes improves.

Quote: DaV8or Somebody with $55K go get this plane. His plan is tragic. When I saw the pictures in the gallery, I thought it was the usual proud owner showing off all the cool mods and I was really admiring it. I had no idea it was headed for the chainsaw!! Were all these mods done by A & Ps with filed 337s and STCs? Of course all the mods were done with STC's and 337's. We did the mods in two big projects, the first one about seven years ago and the last one about four years ago. I have a friend that is an A & P with I/A and he did all the mods with my assistance on some of the grunt work. I have been flying the plane since about December 2007 when the last of the mods were installed. It is fast and a dream to fly with the autopilot and two GNS430W's. Too bad Mooney can't make planes like mine and sell them at a reasonable cost.

Yea, I meant the elevator, not the wing. The elevator on the passenger side got pushed up against the hangar wall during a wind storm. Nothing else was damaged but the elevator needs to be re-skinned or replaced with a different one. If anyone has one around, let me know. It has smooth skins both top and bottom.

No...there is no damage history of any kind to this plane...except the right elevator was recently damaged by a windstorm. That is being fixed by insurance. I guess going out to the airport once in a while and taking a part off the airplane seems like a fairly simple thing to do or.....I can pay my son a hundred bucks to spend a Saturday out there and strip it down to the point where we can sell the hulk for scrap. I have plenty of space to store parts and truly believe that once the Mooney factory shuts down for good these old Mooney parts are going to be worth some $$$.

If anyone is interested, the insurance guy was just here and they will take care of reskinning the wing. Some people believe it would be better to annual the plane and sell it rather than parting it out. The insurance adjuster just told me that in his experience, older planes bring more money by parting them out than selling them whole. He has been in the business a long time and knows the value of planes and plane parts. He indicated that getting parts for Mooney's is starting to be an ordeal with very long lead times. If anyone knows of a right elevator for sale for a '68 M20F, let me know. I get that fixed no matter what I do with the plane. For those of you that think it would sell for a lot more than parting it out, give me $55000 for it, just as it sits (with the elevator fixed) and turn around and re-sell it and make the profit you think you can make. It is all easier said than done. Once the engine is sold, I can take off all the parts I think will sell and store them in a shed. Cut up the fuselage, empanage and wings and sell that scrap aluminum and be ready to sell Mooney parts. If the factory goes completely under, those old parts that I have will be worth their weight in gold.

No damage history at all except for a little hangar rash on the right elevator. That elevator is going to be reskinned in the next week or so. It happened when the plane got turned in the hangar by a storm. Fortunately, only the elevator was damaged. No corrosion. This plane has been in the midwest almost it's entire life and was inside a hangar for many, many years. It has been in a shade hangar for about the last 10 years and the paint is still pristine. This plane is in great condition and flies like a new one. I wish I had time to sell it rather than parting it out but I just don't.

I am asking $55,000 for the plane, as is. It is nine months out of annual and I don't plan on getting it annualed. I would give someone copies of the logbooks so they could check it out but that is about it.

I have decided to persue parting out my 1968 M20F. Here is what I have and if anyone has any interest in anything, let me know. Selling the engine will be priority one and everything else will follow. Lycoming IO-360-A1A Less than 50 hrs. SMOH by Chuck Ney in Tulsa Hartzell 2 Blade Scimitar Prop HC-C2YR-1BFP/F7497 Less than 50 hrs. SNEW 2 ea. Garmin 430W 1 ea. Garmin Transponder GTX327 1 ea. PS Engineering Audio Panel PMA8000B 1 ea. JPI 930 Engine Monitor 2 ea. Fully Articulating Front Seats (I can get P/N's for these) 2 ea. 201 Yokes 1 ea. STEC 30 Autopilot 1 ea. CO2 Guardian Model 452 1 ea. Powerflow Exhaust System 1 ea. Lo Presti Cowl All Flight Instruments Of course, I will be selling landing gear, tires/wheels/brakes, control surfaces, entry door, baggage door, back seats and anything else that can be removed from the airframe. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this plane and I flew it regularly until about three years ago when I seemed to no longer have time to fly much. If you want something from this plane, send me an e-mail and I will make a list. Like I said, I am not going to start disassembly until I get the engine and prop sold. After that, everything is fair game. I also have a one piece belly that has not been installed on the plane for sale. The part I have is PMA'd and I bought the STC paperwork to allow installation. I have all that as well. I don't know what you would have to do in the current regulatory environment to install this on your plane but, all the parts, instructions and paperwork is available.