Looking for pre buy shop in southern California area

[manoflamancha]

Looking at a really nice Mooney Rocket located in southern California area and need good recommendation for reputable Mooney shop near John Wayne (SNA) airport in Orange County.

 

Thanks!

Scott

[mooneygirl]

I would have them fly it to Top Gun in Stockton or LASAR in Lakeport, they are both Mooney service centers

[kortopates]

CrownAir in San Diego is a lot closer (1/2 hr by Mooney) and also a very good Mooney Service Center. There is another MSC in LA area, Foothill, that I have no first hand knowledge of.

[kmyfm20s]

CrownAir in San Diego is a lot closer (1/2 hr by Mooney) and also a very good Mooney Service Center. There is another MSC in LA area, Foothill, that I have no first hand knowledge of.

+1 for CrownAir in SanDiego

[manoflamancha]

Thanks! CrownAir sounds like the best bet. It's a very nice Rocket with G500 glass cockpit and new leather interior owned by former NASA astronaut and scientist.

[bonal]

One thought, it looks like your in the Sacramento area even though the plane is in the south if you do buy it it's a good bet you will end up at Top Gun or LASAR for its service and annuals. If they do the pre buy then you will be miles ahead because they will already know your mooney

[manoflamancha]

True I can negotiate having the prebuy done at Top Gun. I would imagine only would take 2 hours to ferry a Rocket from SNA to SCK for the prebuy inspection.

[kmyfm20s]

True I can negotiate having the prebuy done at Top Gun. I would imagine only would take 2 hours to ferry a Rocket from SNA to SCK for the prebuy inspection.

If it take 2hrs for that flight in that Rocket, I would pass on it:)

[LANCECASPER]

Dave Gill is the Service Manager at CrownAir on Montgomery Field in San Diego. Great operation - I did a pre-buy there and it was well worth it. I had him follow the items on the attached pre-buy and told him to look for anything else as well. Obviously there will be a few other things to look at with the Rocket Conversion.

 

P. S. If you're buying the airplane from Gary at Santa Ana, tell him hi from Lance in TX. He's a good guy - did everything he promised.

 

 

ENCORE PRE-BUY.pdf

[JohnB]

I would highly recommend LASAR in Lakeport for pre-buy. They will take the time and diligence to really go through your airplane so you know everything about your airplane. Top Gun is not as thorough and i would not recommend them. Havent heard glowing recommendations from Crown or Foothill, except for Lance's above.

 

Yes i know LASAR is further than the others and might be more expensive, even just to get there and back, but this one is an important inspection for your new investment. Whatever shop you decide on, best of luck and early congrats on your new Mooney!

[manoflamancha]

Thanks you guys are awesome! Indeed the Rocket should easily be able to make the kessel run from SNA to LASAR or Top Gun in 1.3hrs cruising at 220kts. The one I flew we were at 210kts at 7500' barely pushing it due to favorable winds. It's hard deciding between a 252, Rocket and older Bravo. The fuel economy is better in the 252 but prices are holding steady on the market compared to Bravo and Rocket markets. I do see a few nice 252 for sale nearby in Stockton so I'm going to check those out as well.

-Scott

[kortopates]

This is probably heresy on a list like this. And of course many have their own favorite Mooney MSC they prefer for maintenance. But unless you intend to turn the PPI into an annual, there is no maintenance associated with an PPI. And as an inspection it only scratches the surface of full annual inspection yet may include items that an annual would not e.g., pulling a cylinder to inspect internals for corrosion for an engine that had been sitting or not flown much the last few years and closely examining the condition of the tank sealant.

So personally any good knowledgeable Mooney MSC has the experience to look the plane and its maintenance logs over and then advise you.

More important in IMHO than where you take it, is being pro-active about what the inspection will include. There is no official PPI inspection checklist, so no one does them exactly the same. Therefore its really important you go over the details of what and how thorough of an PPI you want to accomplish with whomever you select to do it. Better yet, go in with a list of items, such as Lance's list he posted as a starting point and review the Mooney annual checklist (downloadable from the factory website) to see a full range of possibilities. But that's still incomplete. Since you don't yet have any flying history with it like current owner its just as vital to have someone that knows that model well that can fly the plane and evaluate its avionics; especially its Autopilot which can't be checked on the ground. Seemingly little things like that can get very expensive to repair.  

[Guest]

You're correct in that there are no standards for what a "PPI"should entail. In my opinion The "PPI" should be far more detailed than an "Annual inspection" Every panel or cover which is removable, should be removed and everything inspected, along with all logs and paperwork 337's, STC's, weight and balance etc. for the aircraft.

Clarence

[manoflamancha]

Does MAPA provide a PPI checklist that A&P can use? I'm planning to join MAPA based on the benefits to Mooney pilots.

I'm planning to negotiate an annual as part of the PPI especially with turbo components in the Rocket, Bravo and 252 that a basic prebuy might not uncover. I'd hate to spend 100K plus and then have an expensive turbo go tits up on me flying it home.

-Scott

[bonal]

I'm not 100% sure on this but when LASAR does a pre buy they actually do it as an annual and keep you informed of any issues that come up when done the plane is then signed off with a fresh annual. Anything that comes up as a deal breaker the process is stopped at that point. And believe me they check everything. Some say they are more expensive but as the saying goes you get what you pay for. Plus they will let you assist in the work so you see it for yourself.

[JohnB]

Totally agree with you Bonal, my pre purchase inspection at LASAR was much more detailed than an annual done by Top Gun previously, and they even picked up items that were missed on the previous annual. They have an extensive checklist, tell you of all of the airworthy items that you can use to make decisions on price and buy no buy, then all of the other things you could get repaired if you wanted to. Money well spent.

[manoflamancha]

Bummer my offer was rejected on the Rocket. I'm headed to look at couple of nice 252 closer to home today. These 252 are less expensive than the Rocket for sale and I have better chance to work a deal on one for under 120K. Plus the 252 was maintained at Top Gun so have good feeling on it. I'm still going to have a prebuy done on it at LASAR either way.

-Scott