VAFlyGuy

Quote: garytex Partners can be great or a real PITA. Halving the fixed costs can be great. Best match is one partner flys for business during the week, other for fun on the weekends. Both partners need to have the outlook that they want to contribute a little extra in the things they are strong on, and thats after they have satisfied the letter and intent of the partnership regs. Get a grownup, and you have to be a grownup. And by that, I mean someone that understands how to get along. Good partnerships are just about as rare as good marriages. The AOPA sample partnership regs. are pretty good. In your shoes I would look hard at the C models, I've seen some pretty good buys lately on a bang for the buck basis and they are in your price range.

Quote: DaV8or Not trying to scare you, just like piloting, you need to plan for the worst and leave yourself a way out.

Are manual gear Mooneys more reliable than electric gear?

Roger that and thanks all. Can someone who uses manual retracts tell me how it works and at what speeds you're retracting and deploying them at? TYVM!

Quote: jwilkins If money is no object for you an Ovation would be nice if you are primarily staying East Coast. If I was still back East and had the money it is what I would like. On my budget 477T was a perfect plane for me. Highly modified it was less of an investment than a 201 and much nicer equipped and cosmetics than any 201 in the same price range. It was a little slower in cruise than the 201's claim, but not a lot. Again, my personal opinion, I would not buy a turbo to use around the East coast. I only went above 14,500 twice in the F on the East coast and I probably didn't really need to. Out here based at 5K MSL and Summer DA frequently above 8K, turbulence over the desert in the Summer, and mountains between me and CA, I like the turbo. The most fun I ever had was local flights in the C puttering around at 23 /23 and using about 8GPH. The manual gear was a hoot and easy to use. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, but the K seems more suited to get-there, get-back trips which is afterall, why I bought it. Jim

Thanks everyone for the replies. That is great info! A couple of things: a) I won't have my PPL for another 3-4 months (taking my time). My vehicles will be paid off in the next 12-18 months, so I have time to find a plane. That said, I am interested in hearing about the Mooney that someone said was just "North" of me. No engine or not, I'd still be interested. That said, I don't want mechanically retracts. I like the idea of a standard retract get knob

Hey all, I just signed up yesterday. Let me tell you a few things about me and then you can hammer away, toss insults, yell, scream (hey, that'd be like family!) or what not I took flying lessons in the mid 90s but never finished as I ran out of cash right around cross-country time came up. Initially I took lessons at MCAS El Toro (where I was a FA/18 hydraulic mechanic for four years) but my flight instructor was a hard-core grumpy and former Gunny SGT. Him and I didn't get along though he was a good instructor and he had me soloing after 10 dual hours. I then transferred over to Sunrise Aviation at John Wayne Airport (Orange County, CA) where I found probably the best flight instructor ever. As I mentioned, I could not finish as I ran out of cash Fast forward oh 17-18 years later, I moved to NOVA last year for a great job and back in Sept I decided it's a good time to finish up and finally get my license. Once again I ended up with an instructor I wasn't getting along with (common factor here is me I suppose). I flew 25 dual hours with this instructor before he would let me solo. When he did, it was just 30 minutes of pattern work. I was going over the school's syllabus and it said I should have soloed at 10 hours (at instructor's discretion) and that I should have had a check with a Sr. CFI. Finally got that done about a week ago. The instructor said I was fine and he asked if I was happy with my instructor (I wasn't. Good guy, but his teaching methods don't work on my pea-sized brain). The Sr. CFI set me up with a more "student orientated" instructor (read: Isn't trying to be a commercial pilot). I'll begin flying with him in a couple weeks (just moved into a new house to trying to settle in). So why am I here? Plainly put, the second I get my license I am going to start looking for a Mooney. I have had a fascination with Mooney's since I first started taking lessons in the 90s and I know that at some point I want to buy one. I guess why I am posting here is I was trying to find out what the average cost of a Mooney C, E or J model would be. I know engine rebuilds are expensive as are annuals and such but I was trying to figure out what the cost would be and if it's feasible. Sorry for the lengthy message. Just hoping to tap into some of you experienced pilots. At this point I am not opposed to getting into a "fly share" type of deal. Thanks!