Buying first airplane...things to consider with M20J

[BigAirHarper]

Hey everyone, I've decided upon the M20J to be my first airplane purchase. I have thought over a year about my needs and this fits me perfectly. Sadly I have never even sat in a mooney:( hopefully that will change soon tho. My question is besides the major mooney pitfall of leaky fuel tanks, what other things should I be looking for when looking at a M20J specifically....thanks in advance for any words of wisdom, I'm a newbie to owning but love to do thorough homework and research before diving in with both feet!

[Jeff_S]

Well, the J is a good choice for your first airplane to own. The best tradeoff between speed and efficiency, reasonable load, and fairly simple to maintain. If you search these forums there are MANY threads that will help to answer your questions. I'm sure, being the pontificators that we are, this group will be happy to lay them all out there again for you.  The short version of things to look for would include:

 

1) Firewall forward. Exhaustive review of logbooks to really get to know how it was treated.

2) Corrosion in the wings and airframe, especially around the wing roots if it's been kept outside.

3) Landing gear biscuits. Make sure they are not too old (7 years max).

4) Wing tank leaks...check for history and current status.

5) Avionics to your liking.

 

If you join MAPA they have a pre-buy checklist that you can use as you are investigating. Probably most of us have a copy, but it defeats the purpose of MAPA if we give it away.

 

Good luck and have fun...searching for an airplane is one of the most enjoyable parts of the process. You get to see a lot of different options and ultimately decide what you want.

[MyNameIsNobody]

All of the above. These things are not specific to the J, or to aircraft in general. Mooney tanks are wet wing. There is no bladder from the manufacturer. The sealant has a life span. It breaks down with aromatics in fuel. Mooney tanks WILL seep over time. Seeps can be more of a cosmetic nuisance than a safety of flight issue. There are dedicated tank repair vendors that will get them better than new for $5AMU's per wing. Budget for this. Bladders (weight penalty, but likely won't ever leak again) are a second "option".

Fire wall Forward: Engines get hot. Cylinders and accessories (Oil Coolers, Magnetos, Plug Harnesses, Oil Lines, Alternators, Mufflers etc.) ALL have a service life. If the engine has more than 1,000 hours or ten years plan on some of this stuff needing replacement/repair. If the engine was overhauled did it get new/overhauled accessories? What was not done? New cylinders?

Landing gear biscuits wear out. This is NOT a big deal if your tanks are already seeping and they aren't falling out of the gear (loose) J's although medium body don't have the weight of later long-body Mooney's. This is a detail vs. a deal-breaker on your J Model.

Avionics: Latest and greatest is...Great. Let someone else put in the Garmin center stack and wizz bang engine monitor with fuel flow. You can get these (Installation is expensive) for .50 cents on the dollar installed. ADSB is coming....A few thousand to get compliant.

J specific wants: -Later planes had enclosed wing tips, speed brakes, removable rear seats vs. a bench. Can take one or both seats out or fold them down. THIS IS AN AWESOME FEATURE THAT I WISH I HAD...Plus the cabin extension that the F also has.

If your J has lived in Florida (and many have) an extensive inspection of the airframe for corrosion is a MUST DO. THIS is the kiler of Mooney's...Benign neglect.

Later J's have a much improved overhead ram air supply for passengers/crew.

Buy a well maintained mid-80's to newer J after having it inspected and choosing the corrosion free Garmin Wass'up equipped airframe with the paint that says "you" on it and watch the ground go by at 150+ knots on 10GPH....

Enjoy the hunt!

[Bob - S50]

Personally, I don't like the '77 model because it has the fuel selector valve in a place that is difficult for an old man like me to reach (between my feet).  In '78 they moved it between the seats.  I also prefer the vernier prop and mixture controls vs the airline type levers.

 

Best of luck.

 

Bob

[Bob - S50]

Almost forgot my usual warning.  Always ask about useful load.  It can vary from under 900 lbs to just over 1000 lbs.  It can make a huge difference for the occasional times when you want to carry 4 adults.  If you know that you will NEVER want to carry more than 3 then it shouldn't be an issue.  Personally, when we looked for ours, we were not interested if the useful load was not at least 950 lbs.

 

Bob

[Jerry 5TJ]

Keep in mind that the planes you're seeing are 35 or more years old. 

At this point each plane's condition is unique depending on how it has been flown, stored, upgraded and maintained, or not maintained over the decades.

[BigAirHarper]

Thanks for all the tips so far! I'm taking notes! I sort of like the airline style throttles but that is not even on the list of things when I'm comparing planes as it really doesn't matter, fuel selector being between the seats makes much more sense though. Bob I have noticed the useful load is all over the map! I've never seen so much variation.

Question on the back seat. I know that the ones I'm looking at 1977-1980ish have all had the bench seat. Will it fold down as one piece of just not move period? I definitely see the advantage of those split folding seats...

[BigAirHarper]

Other than the fuel selector and throttle body change, anything else that made a difference between the '78 and '77 model years?

[BigAirHarper]

Great info Jim. Thanks!