I have the opportunity to buy into a quarter ownership of a '63 M20C, and wanted to run it by you guys to see what you thought about this Mooney. Never been a plane owner. I have a little over 300 hours (over a 40 year period, having flown about 80-90 of that in the past year or so, commercial certificate, instrument rated, and 63 years old for whatever that's worth. I currently belong to a flying club that charges $75 an hour wet for a well-equipped 180HP C172, with a $70 a month fee. Buy-in was $400. Probably about 30-40 members in the club. I'm a weekday flyer mostly so the plane is pretty available if I want it, but a little harder actually using it for a several day trips unless you book out at least 3 weeks in advance, but there is a 2 hour minimum per day. I'm including that info as a contrast to what the Mooney would be costing me and availability.
First about the '63 M20C. It has a nose cowl mod that looks more like a J Mooney. "The aircraft was re-manufactured at the Mooney factory in Texas in 2003. The engine, prop, panel, fuel tanks, and the interior were all re-done. The exterior was also repainted as well as the inside of the fuselage. It has all the gap seals and all J model mods." Panel is modern with modern layout and modern yokes. Looks really good.
TT: 4800 or so
TBO: 2699+. This was about a year ago. Owner said the has a $15k line of credit for emergencies and if a new engine is needed, the difference between that $15k and what the engine cost would be split among the other 3 owners. Sounds like he knows the engine with need an overhaul sooner rather than later and willing to cover 15k of it because of that. Of course all these details would be discussed thoroughly and understood before buying in.
AvionicsGarmin 430 non-waasKing 155 nav/comKing HSI
King glide slope indicatorKing transponderStec-50 autopilot (3 axis and approach mode)
ADS-B compliantEngineTT:2699, oil changes every 50 hours and oil analysis. All Compression 73 or better last annual.No ADs.
PropTT:2699, has a slight grease leak on one bladeNo ADsLast annualFresh tires on all gear.Prop governor was overhauled.AD for gear rigging was performed. Gear rigging was intolerance.New cable for the cowl flaps due to old cable fraying.SquawksOne of the prop blades has a grease leak around the hub.Altitude hold on the autopilot will not work below degrees 40F.
That was a little over a year ago when I first began talking to the seller. Current annual and maintenance done:
"There were three major items that were discovered and allcorrected. Item one was engine mounts sagging. Replaced those. Item 2 corrosion inside the roll cage. It was about a quarter inch of corrosion. Repaired that and no further corrosion was found. The major item was a crack between the spar and flap assembly. We think someone stepped on the flap and damaged it. That was a very costly fix. Other items they replaced were,Fuel caps assemblies Gear lock mechanism
But since then we have a failed servo for the GPS function on the autopilot (asked about this and said the heading and altitude still work, but the nav function doesn't). Heading, approach, and altitude mode still work. Also had the main fuel pump fail. We replaced it with a remanufactured one. Still running strong on the same engine. No issues other than the fuel pump.
Said the plane is flown a few times a month. Can take it on trips as long as I want, which is the main reason I would want it. I have a couple of 10 day or so trips I'd like to do a year, and trips of 2-4 days from time to time. And time building. I'd like to get a 135 job or something similar. Just a dream right now. It may or may not pan out.
Buy in $7.5k. $135 a month, and haven't reverified this, but $35 an hour.
The seller may even be a member here. No ill will here. This is an important decision for me. Don't have the funds to own a plane by myself, so a partnership is the way to go for me. Just getting the advice of people more experienced than I am. My main concern is the engine.
So first, how does the plane sound? And second, the buy-in seem reasonable, and how does this compare to the way I am renting now? I know nothing about buying a plane in case you were wondering, which you probably can tell already.