I'm dying here - should I buy the E :)

[phecksel]

With my absolute love of Mooney's, when I walked away a decade ago and added up over 10 years of expenses, said how stupid could I be?

 

Almost bought a C at Christmas, but strange twist of fate and a serious temp health issue kind of made that deal disappear.

 

Wife said a couple of months ago... maybe you should look into it again, but I kind of like having a small fortune   I know what getting into flying again will do with that!

 

Decided to wait about another year and look into K model... that is until someone I know well and trust came up with an E that actually looks good.

 

Positives

Garmin 430

KX155

Stec alt hold

O&N Bladder

Speed Brakes

 

Negative

Needs some typical mooney maintenance by a mooney shop.

 

Also, I have done nothing to get my medical or get current.

 

Need some additional info like time, paint/int condition. Asking price 50.  TN unknown right now.

[Hank]

1. Get a checkup.
2. If positive, inspect plane.
3. If good, get a physical. If you pass, give AME the number; if not, walk away, no harm done.
4. Negotiate, sign contract contingent on prebuy inspection, seller pays all airworthiness items, other TBD.
5. If all is well mechanically, BUY THE E!!

Have fun flying it. Expect some required dual due to time off, unless you've already been flying recently.

[carusoam]

Work on the class III immediately, the rest can be done later in the afternoon...

Get a lesson, make sure the temporary health issues or anything else doesn't effect your flying skills.

It's easy to buy a plane. (Sort of)

What will you do once you own it...?

Best regards,

-a-

Hank and I were typing at the same time...!

[Hank]

Hank and I were typing at the same time...!

 

And we both work in plastics, for roughly the same time frame; we both fly Mooneys; and we were almost neighbors . . .

 

Kind of frightening, isn't it???  

[phecksel]

Work on the class III immediately, the rest can be done later in the afternoon...

Get a lesson, make sure the temporary health issues or anything else doesn't effect your flying skills.

It's easy to buy a plane. (Sort of)

What will you do once you own it...?

Best regards,

-a-

Hank and I were typing at the same time...!

Medical issue should be a no brainer

 

I expect it will take quite a bit dual (duel?) time, especially on the IFR side.

 

Biggest question on the table and part of the procratination, what will I do with it?  Before, I did a LOT of business travel, which led to very current IFR.  Raced in 2-3 races per year.  $100 hamburgers at least once a month.  No business travel, unlikely to race again.  That leaves weekends away from home, $100 hamburgers, and joy of flying.

[Andy95W]

Medical issue should be a no brainer

 

I expect it will take quite a bit dual (duel?) time, especially on the IFR side.

 

Biggest question on the table and part of the procratination, what will I do with it?  Before, I did a LOT of business travel, which led to very current IFR.  Raced in 2-3 races per year.  $100 hamburgers at least once a month.  No business travel, unlikely to race again.  That leaves weekends away from home, $100 hamburgers, and joy of flying.

I hate to say it, but you could enjoy $100 hamburgers and joy of flying in a rental 172.

I suggest a C model. Almost as inexpensive as taking care of a 172 but you can still travel in it.

[Hank]

Love my C! But what's the difference in upkeep between E & C? I suspect it's all in the installed equipment, that varies from aircraft to aircraft anyway. AND the E will run LOP and save fuel compared to a C.

[carusoam]

Sometimes logic just doesn't apply...

Have you seen the R...?

One's for sale here somewhere....

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

That would be Birmingham. A good looking R. If only I had already sold a WV house and bought one down here . . . Priorities. Must. Have. PriORities . . .

[phecksel]

Love my C! But what's the difference in upkeep between E & C? I suspect it's all in the installed equipment, that varies from aircraft to aircraft anyway. AND the E will run LOP and save fuel compared to a C.

I ran my C LOP all the time.

 

The flight I should have done non stop Pontiac MI to Punta Gorda FL was LOP at 13k, sipping 6 gph with a 75kt tailwind.  Even three days later the flight home was BRUTAL

[phecksel]

Sometimes logic just doesn't apply...

Have you seen the R...?

I said SMALL fortune

 

I test flew the Ovation in KERV when they first came out.  Demo Pilot was NOT happy with me   Guess he wasn't a fan of checking stall speed during takeoff.  Actually wasn't a fan of the Ovation.  Too big, too easy, like driving an escalade.  Oh, and I didn't have several hundred thousand dollars laying around to play with.

[Hank]

I ran my C LOP all the time.

 

How so? I've tried WOT, slightly less to disengage the auto-enrich, and various amounts of carb heat, with no success. I did, however, make it run rough, and once I managed to fly fairly smooth about 10 knots slower.

[phecksel]

How so? I've tried WOT, slightly less to disengage the auto-enrich, and various amounts of carb heat, with no success. I did, however, make it run rough, and once I managed to fly fairly smooth about 10 knots slower.

Backed it off until it ran rough, richen until smooth.  I don't recall how many degrees LOP, but 15-20 sticks in my head.  Flew about 7 kts slower.  I tended to not want to give up and speed and ran ROP

[MooneyPTG]

My wife says "Don't buy something to enjoy and expect to get your money's worth out of it."

The joy of flying...priceless.

[bonal]

Sometimes it's just so cool to have an airplane. Today the wife had a doctors appointment and to drive would take around an hour and a half. By Mooney it's 14 minuets the FBO Sonoma Jet Center has a free curtesy car and then it was about 5 miles to drive. Plus some real good free coffee and excellent line service just makes for a great day. Any time you happen to be in the northern CA area drop in and enjoy a real first class operation there in Santa Rosa. FBO's are one of my favorite perks of flying.

[Gone]

I own an E model and the big difference between the C and E, in terms of maintenance cost, is the cost of jug replacement.  That is about it. Carburetor versus fuel injector should not be much difference in maintenance costs (watch a real maintainer prove me   wrong :-) and the rest is the same between the two airframes.  I bought four jugs over the first five years of ownership and they were $2,500 apiece.  

 

Performance differences between the two are the reason I own an E, instead of a C.

[PTK]

What's the matter guys?

Are you in denial or are you too afraid to call that thing what it is: a 200$ greasy burger!

The days of the 100$ burger are long gone with the 3$ avgas!

Phecksel, have you considered a J?

[Bob_Belville]

Well, I think I understand where you're coming from. I had not flown for over 20 years and was 68 when a friend tempted me back into aviation. (I owned a '66E for over a decade back in the '70s/'80s) After passing a Class III easily and flying a few times in my friend's Archer II I had a BFR and was VFR legal. A little more time to get IFR currency sign off but before I had that completed I knew I needed another E. I found a '66E similar to the one you're looking at, lots of mods, STEC50, bladders, speed brakes, Stormscope, HSI, IFR GPS... Seller was asking $60k, (That was Jan. 2012, I think the market has softened since then.) I offered him about 10% less and he accepted. The plane was in decent shape but within the 1st year I replaced the exhaust, repaired older radios, etc. No big surprises. Then I decided to splurge on a glass panel. The last made it my man-toy forget about any investment charade.

 

 

Like you I don't have a lot of places to go but opportunities come along, grandsons in MA and GA are good for a few trips a year, Kerrville for MAPA, SunNFun, give a friend a lift, take another couple to the beach for a weekend, fly every few weeks to stay reasonably current. Then there's puttering around in the hanger replacing interior, install new door seals, fix the annoying squawks,  

 

A little expensive with hanger, insurance, annual... but owning an E... priceless. I'm 71 and when I bought the plane I assumed I might be lucky to fly another 5 or 6 years. I'm optimistic that I might stretch that some. (Owning a plane is great incentive to get/stay in good shape and lose weight!)

 

Go for it and keep us posted!

[chrisk]

Get your medical.  Then find a good partnership.

[Marauder]

Well, I think I understand where you're coming from. I had not flown for over 20 years and was 68 when a friend tempted me back into aviation. (I owned a '66E for over a decade back in the '70s/'80s) After passing a Class III easily and flying a few times in my friend's Archer II I had a BFR and was VFR legal. A little more time to get IFR currency sign off but before I had that completed I knew I needed another E. I found a '66E similar to the one you're looking at, lots of mods, STEC50, bladders, speed brakes, Stormscope, HSI, IFR GPS... Seller was asking $60k, (That was Jan. 2012, I think the market has softened since then.) I offered him about 10% less and he accepted. The plane was in decent shape but within the 1st year I replaced the exhaust, repaired older radios, etc. No big surprises. Then I decided to splurge on a glass panel. The last made it my man-toy forget about any investment charade.

Like you I don't have a lot of places to go but opportunities come along, grandsons in MA and GA are good for a few trips a year, Kerrville for MAPA, SunNFun, give a friend a lift, take another couple to the beach for a weekend, fly every few weeks to stay reasonably current. Then there's puttering around in the hanger replacing interior, install new door seals, fix the annoying squawks,

A little expensive with hanger, insurance, annual... but owning an E... priceless. I'm 71 and when I bought the plane I assumed I might be lucky to fly another 5 or 6 years. I'm optimistic that I might stretch that some. (Owning a plane is great incentive to get/stay in good shape and lose weight!)

Go for it and keep us posted!

At the Latrobe get together I met a Mooney owner from Pottstown, PA. He is 85 and still going strong. There is hope for all of us!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[1964-M20E]

_{Not to pry into your medical issues but the title says “I’m dying here” and I do not want to be insensitive.  I’m assuming and I hope that the intent of the title is that you are really really wanting to get a plane to go flying.  Otherwise even if you can get your class III I’d skip buying a single plane and buy time in as many different fun planes I can and enjoy flying them.  Either way you can reduce your small fortune to nothing relatively quickly.}

[pinerunner]

Get your medical.  Then find a good partnership.

Its nice if you can afford to get an E without a partnership. But its hard to put the hours on it that it deserves, unless you're retired I suppose. I think a good partnership could really add to your flying experience; the trick is getting a good one though. I wish I had a wife with the savy youys has.  

 

Don't die when you can fly.

[phecksel]

No, I'm not actually dying... well we're all dying, but hopefully not anytime soon

 

I think I wrote about my health issue, it's all better now and some informal conversations I've had, the last medical report that said I'm all good should be the ticket.  I hear the AME I'm planning to see is pretty good about navigating the mine field.

 

WRT to a J, it's kinda of a tweenie.  Seeing some decent values in a K, but can't buy one without bank assistance.  After being rightly chastised for considering loans, took a step back and re-evaluated.  J is less easily affordable...  Not that much of a step above a J into a K.

 

Clarifying something about the plane right now, it may only have been flown about 10 hours per year for the last 4 years... that's a concern.

[scottfromiowa]

I'm dying for you to buy it already...or just keep talking about it.

[takair]

Having an airplane (any airplane) will give you far more memories than a pile of money in the bank. If you ever really need the cash, you can sell your plane then. Don't grow old wishing you had bought it.