Best Mooney shop in Fla.

[Bravoman]

I was wondering what folks thought about the best place to take a Mooney in the Sunshine state for service and annuals. I have a 98 Bravo and have a place in St Augustine so we are down there quite a bit. I have heard about shops in Avon Park, Daytona, and of course Premier in Lauderdale. It would also be helpful to know bad or less than good experiences at the various shops, which shops have fair pricing, etc.

Thanks for your collective advice!! Regards, Frank

[flyboy0681]

Phil Jimenez (PJ Aircraft) in Avon Park does good work and comes highly recommended. He only works on Mooney's. If you pick him up he'll take you home and fly the plane back to his shop.

 

954.868.3319 is the last number I have for him.

[ArtVandelay]

I have used Daytona Services for both annual and specialized Mooney maintenance, no issues

[Danb]

Premiere..Iv flown over 1000 miles for some speciality work...they did my long range tanks..I developed a leak in them after I got home and they sent up a mechanic and he worked in my hanger..in Delaware no charge...impressive they stand behind there work.

[FloridaMan]

+1 for Phil. I considered his prices to be very reasonable as well. 

[FAST FLIGHT OPTIONS LLC]

+1 for phil

[Nathan Peterson]

+1 for Ray Bysiewicz at Premier @FXE  (954) 334-2393

[IvoryM]

I don't have enough good things to say about PJ (Phil Jimenez) he has worked on my plane for the last two years and never once has he tried to sell me anything I didn't need. He is very thorough and does great work. His prices are very good and so is his turn around time. He will always take your phone calls and if you leave him a message he calls back promptly. You should really consider this guy

His phone number is (863) 873-9999.

You'll be glad you called him!

[mike_elliott]

I was wondering what folks thought about the best place to take a Mooney in the Sunshine state for service and annuals. I have a 98 Bravo and have a place in St Augustine so we are down there quite a bit. I have heard about shops in Avon Park, Daytona, and of course Premier in Lauderdale. It would also be helpful to know bad or less than good experiences at the various shops, which shops have fair pricing, etc.

Thanks for your collective advice!! Regards, Frank

Frank, today I flew from new port richey, fl. To Longview Texas to take a bravo to don maxwell. Another acclaim owner at fa40 also takes his plane there. There is a reason. Don is honest and runs a very competent shop, I know it doesn't answer your question about competent shops in Florida, but competent Florida Mooney guys like Bob and Mark Meier, Ivan James work out grass strips, and Bruce Jaeger who winters here doesn't do IA/A&P work.

[Bravoman]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I find it very helpful. I used a msc in Venice, Florida flight Maintenence, for my prebuy/ annual earlier this year. Actually dropped the plane off there in mid December and didn't get it back until mid February. Very poor communication, and took way too long. The seller was out of ft Myers, and had I been armed with better knowledge I would have definitely brought it elsewhere. I brought it there since it was billed as a msc and it is close to ft myers. Luckily no big surprises as the plane had been well taken care of. I think there have been big changes of personnel at that shop and not even sure it is really still a msc.

Thanks again

Frank

[philiplane]

Premier is hit or miss. The locals here do not take any planes to Premier unless they are in warranty. Premier tends to take far too long and cost far too much money, and you still have to bring the plane back to get things fixed that they missed, or that they broke. They are especially bad on Diamond aircraft. 

[jetdriven]

I had a customer with an Acclaim, Premier changed the shock discs, said they were bad. A year later, changed them again after flying 50 hours that year. 9K for an annual, the aircraft was 250 hours TT since new. He was really pissed.

[fantom]

I've been a Mooney owner for twenty years in SoFL and I would never use the above, local MSC. Their specialty is selling planes, not fixing them.

[ArtVandelay]

I had a customer with an Acclaim, Premier changed the shock discs, said they were bad. A year later, changed them again after flying 50 hours that year. 9K for an annual, the aircraft was 250 hours TT since new. He was really pissed.

Why did he give them permission to replace them, annuals are not a blank check for them to do whatever they want?

[jetdriven]

He found out when he showed up to get the plane.

[Parker_Woodruff]

I flew my plane from Central Florida to Don Maxwell for both of my annual inspections when I had my M20K and lived out there.

 

Phil is great as well.  He did most of the the non-annual inspection maintenance for me.

[Hector]

I've heard folks here mention a shop in Leesburg before. Don't recall the name of the shop but do recall the name of the guy that runs it ( Arnold).

[David Mazer]

I used a guy at my field for my last three annuals.  Always professional and reasonably priced.  Each year the cost went down as there was less to deal with.  His name is Chris Reilly - 407-288-3215, ksfbamc.com.

[Garyonthebeach1]

Arnold helped me purchase my M 20F from the owner. He was VERY knowledgeable as well as helpful. If I lived locally, I Would not hesitate to use him for my annuals or MTX

[Mike A]

Premier is hit or miss. The locals here do not take any planes to Premier unless they are in warranty. Premier tends to take far too long and cost far too much money, and you still have to bring the plane back to get things fixed that they missed, or that they broke. They are especially bad on Diamond aircraft. 

 

+1 on avoiding Premier for service.  I was extremely underwhelmed at the pre-buy and maintenance they performed when I purchased my 231.  I had another mechanic call them out on saying they performed work they clearly didn't concerning the magnetos. 

[ArtVandelay]

Daytona is the only MSC I would take my plane to in Fl.

[FloridaMan]

Update:

 

I had Mike at Double-M at KLAL install my EDM-900 last month ( http://doublemaviation.com/).  I was on a tight time constraint and I needed the EDM-900 install, the 500 hr mag service and prop reseal done. They were able to turn the plane around in a week; the EDM-900 was done in three days  . He also took care of a lot of other items, worn alternator bolts, replaced old CAT hoses with SCAT, and, most impressively, he diagnosed and fixed an oil leak that the previous owner and I had been chasing for years. Their labor rate is slightly more than Phil's and the time estimate was a few hours more as well, so the "freebies" may have just fallen into him running ahead of schedule and wanting to win my business. 

 

He also came and picked me up to get my airplane in his Cessna 180 for the price of fuel. 

 

In short, after having a number of bad experiences with mechanics, I'm glad to have both Phil and Mike available here in Florida. 

[fantom]

 

In short, after having a number of bad experiences with mechanics, I'm glad to have both Phil and Mike available here in Florida. 

 

Won't need to concern yourself with that, flying for American

[FlyWalt]

In short, after having a number of bad experiences with mechanics, 

 

I am soooo glad to know that I am not the only one. After two miserable experiences with A&P shops I was starting to consider selling and getting out of general aviation completely.

 

Joe Cadiz in Titusville does my annuals and is very thorough. We use 3D aviation in Deland for avionics and between annual items. I could not be happier with either of them.

[jwhitaker74]

I read all these posts about annuals taking weeks and dont get it. The only reason an inspection should take more than 3 to 4 days is if parts are slowing the process. I do my own inspections and for a thorugh run though takes me two full days. I also constantly work on my plane though so there arent any surprises.  This year has almost been a progressive. Started with getting all my injection components OH and then moved to going through the gear donuts and bushings. If you use a local IA on your field you get better servicce and a quicker turn but you must make sure they have the ability to run through the gear. Lots tend to merely swing gear and emergency op and call it good. Do not let your landing gear get neglected as many do.