Wanted - Mooney 201J (I think)

[OBX-Pilot]

I have not had a traveling airplane in 10 years. That's when I sold my very roomy very nice A36...and bought first a J-3. Then a Great Lakes biplane ... and then retired. Recently I have had a relapse with the traveling airplane bug. It became acute with a flight to Oshkosh. 

 

Two candidates. An RV-8 or a Mooney. Both fast and efficient. With an 8 maybe sell the biplane and do acro in the 8. But I love flying a biplane (and so does my granddaughter). And sometimes there may be 3 of us. And rarely 4(two grandchildren).. My 3 sons are grown and mostly not under my roof so I don't need space for 5.

 

When I had the A36 I would sometimes just go up and bore holes. I like to fly. But boring holes at 16 gph always made me feel a little guilty. The IO-360 in my GT-1A-2 averages about 10 gph. No guilt.

 

There were times I could have used a turbocharger in my Bonanza ... but not often (I'll land at Denver instead of Leadville and rent a car). So I think the J model is the one. 

 

I think I want one with the OVHL by a reputable shop in the 1st 1/4 of it's TBO. I would like a WAAS IFR certified GPS but I'll settle for a non WAAs certified GPS. Nice paint and interior a plus(for the wife...mostly). HSI a plus. I do not plan to fly low IFR but I've seen how that can go to heck in a hand basket. Useful load is a factor. And I want to keep it under $100,000. 

 

Am I just clueless or does this sound within reason?

[KSMooniac]

You're in the right ballpark, certainly! Your budget should find a nice J. Have you flown one before?

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[Hank]

A Mooney should fill your traveling bug. Most any Mooney . . . Fs and Js are a little bigger than A-E, the J has extra aerodynamic cleanup work, which has often been added to one degree or another to the pre-J crowd. It's all about useful load, fuel burn and speed.

Lots of information here about the various models, and what to look for when buying a Mooney. Get a good pre-purchase inspection!

[ArtVandelay]

A quick check of controller.com shows 10 possible candidates, there has never been a better time to buy...

[OBX-Pilot]

You're in the right ballpark, certainly! Your budget should find a nice J. Have you flown one before?

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Yes but it's been some time ago. A fellow that had a 201 wanted to get his Instrument rating. I don't like instructing in an airplane I haven't stalled or landed so I did most of the iterations of those two things.( I thought it was pretty benign compared to power on stalls in a Be58.) That said I got a lot out of the BPPP put on by the American Bonanza Society (there's no such thing to me as learning too much about what your flying.) and would like to do the same kind of thing in the Mooney I get. I tend to be pretty demanding of myself...

[The-sky-captain]

OBX pilot- PM sent

[Hank]

You're in luck! MAPA puts on their PPP about a half dozen times annually, moving around the country for each one. They make regular appearances at Chattanooga and Atlantic City, probably the closest to the Banks. Went to Niagara for my second one, and had fun outside of the event, too.

[OBX-Pilot]

A Mooney should fill your traveling bug. Most any Mooney . . . Fs and Js are a little bigger than A-E, the J has extra aerodynamic cleanup work, which has often been added to one degree or another to the pre-J crowd. It's all about useful load, fuel burn and speed.

Lots of information here about the various models, and what to look for when buying a Mooney. Get a good pre-purchase inspection!

 

As they say the devil is in the details. I have always used my mechanic that worked on the helicopter I flew for pre-buys and he has taken care of a couple of Mooneys and flew one for years. He has kinda lost interest since he retired and I understand I really need a Mooney savvy mechanic ... so I'm looking for one of those too. (I have heard horror stories of missed items on pre-buys.)

 

 

A quick check of controller.com shows 10 possible candidates, there has never been a better time to buy...

 

Yes but plenty of good deals can be a problem too (a good problem) because each is mutually exclusive of the others. I have friends with airplanes who will take me to see airplanes within 500 miles ... and my wife and I drag an RV out to AZ each winter ... so the potential "looking area" is pretty big. Te good thing is I'm not in a big hurry ... I can always take my time and fly my biplane places ... 

 

I'm about 60 miles South of Norfolk, VA so a lot of the East is in range ... and the SW is where I am January thru April ... 

[eman1200]

Just a little closer to charlotte and u got partner-potential

[laytonl]

See what jimmy garrison has at All American Aircraft. He is the go to guy for Mooneys. Lee

[gsxrpilot]

+1 for All American

[OBX-Pilot]

Well darn. I thought I had found the "perfect" airplane meeting all my needs and wants ... at considerably less than I thought would be required .... and was just informed the seller has been given a deposit on it ... 

 

Still a lot out there. I guess patience will be required ... 

[KSMooniac]

Patience, yes, but you must be ready to pounce when the right plane comes along.  The really nice ones, even at a premium price, don't last long on the market.

[OBX-Pilot]

Patience, yes, but you must be ready to pounce when the right plane comes along.  The really nice ones, even at a premium price, don't last long on the market.

 

Yeah, I was a bit amazed when I found this one ... and it wasn't too far away. I fired off an email immediately ... and got the response promptly. Glad the seller had the courtesy to respond. Sad about the nature of the response.

 

I looked for my J-3 for a year ... and ended up buying the first one I'd seen ... at what I had offered a year before. I looked for my Great Lakes for 5 years ... but when I went to see it I took my mechanic along to do a pre-buy and made an offer the next day. I have not regretted the time I took on those two one bit.

 

To be honest I can and have done trips in my biplane. My wife loves the "sight-seeing" aspect of it ... and as a pilot with 2,000 hours in Hueys 100 knots doesn't seem so terrible...  

[OBX-Pilot]

Dang. Found another "good deal" and wrote the seller only to get a reply back this morning that there was a sale pending. I've moved money into my checking account for a deposit ... but am preparing for a long process. Plenty of airplanes out there at about 10K more than the two I've found and lost so far ... 

 

Time to put a GPS panel dock in my biplane and just use it as my temporary traveller. It will be twice as fast as driving ... 

[KSMooniac]

If the +10K planes are on the market for a while, then they might be receptive to -10K offers.  

 

At least you have something to fly while you continue the hunt.

 

FWIW, I use a clamp-on glareshield mount for my 496 and it works great.  Easy to install or remove.

[OBX-Pilot]

If the +10K planes are on the market for a while, then they might be receptive to -10K offers.  

 

At least you have something to fly while you continue the hunt.

 

FWIW, I use a clamp-on glareshield mount for my 496 and it works great.  Easy to install or remove.

 

I watched the biplane I bought come down $20,000 over a year on TAP. That was in the 2008 recession. There was another thing too. The PO was a former fighter pilot ... and he had put the GL on it's nose over-braking. Every time he saw that airplane it reminded him he had screwed up. Our egos can be a terrible thing.... but in this instance a good thing for me. 

 

 

I think I'll run over to the hangar and see if one of those clamp ons would work on my bipe. I'd put one on my J-3 ... but then it would take the same time as driving (unless I had a headwind) ...