ooking at buyin a MooneyM20B. First time aircraft buyer!

[DXB]

It's in Puerto Vallarta.  Someone here's gotta bring her home, presumably after a serious misadventure...

[Alan Fox]

I spoke to the owner at length , The plane is 15 K  , it is currently inspected and flying , He has lost his medical , he is very knowledgeable about Mooneys and especially the B model , If he is a scammer , he is really really good , He owns a Hotel in Puerto Vallarta and has offered to put me and my wife up for free if we come down to look at the plane...... It is tempting...

[cliffy]

Would the owner fly back to the USA in the airplane if you bought it?

Might be better to transfer ownership at first USA airport!

Might also be cabatage rules to get around. The listed crew and pax going down won't be coming back so

you would need to check to make sure you don't get nailed on that one.

[cliffy]

Just thought of something else  you can't change ownership and fly the airplane back on a temperary pink slip.

Can't go international until you receive the actual registration from the FAA and then you have Customs to deal with, same airplane different owner than who went out of country with it.

My suggestion on making absolutely sure a Customs dog won't indicate on the plane when it crosses the border

still prevails. I know how they used to load up our Boeings when we went out of the country. Every little panel had to be checked before departure. I know of one 727 caught in DCwith the underside of the baggage pit floors loaded with coke. 

[Alan Fox]

I would have to check , but I might be legal with the Dealers Registrations I have , as far as transfer is concerned , It doesn't matter where the transaction takes place....Also as far as stuff hidden in the airplane you can visually see anywhere in the airplane with mirrors and a screw gun in less than 30 minutes.....  He says it is a VFR flight plan to leave Mexico , and also that it is a single set of tanks to get to Texas , he says all the scary stuff you hear about is near the border in certain towns.....  It has an AD prop....It seems to be a 20 to 25 K plane....

[bonal]

This thread could prove to be very interesting as the tail unfolds. I'm curious what has happened to the original poster no follow ups as we normally see with this kind of beginning. With the right amount of embellishment this could make for a good movie.

Note, I think it would take a lot more than 30 min's to remove and inspect every access panel and plates

[gsxrpilot]

You're gonna need a PPI. But just have your mechanic meet you at the Port of Entry. Since Customs and Border Patrol is going to have every inspection panel off anyway, do the PPI at the same time :-)

[Browncbr1]

sounds like they've packed the wings full of coke and weed and need to find a pilot to get it into the states...   haha

[cliffy]

You will also need to learn how to file with eAPIS for the border crossing. If you don't know about it AOPA has a great tutorial on their on theirwebsite. It can be done VFR. Don't even think of doing it if you don't know eAPIS. You will need to check out of Mexico at a POE and stop of course at the first USA POE crossing NB.