*SOLD* 1993 TLS for $99,000

[LANCECASPER]

Ok, it was me  : )
The more I kept thinking about it I realized that this might be a good plane for me. I am saving up for a hangar/home and will be selling my 2000 Ovation (glass panel, air conditioning) to help fund it. This will still give me a great airplane which I can gradually turn into the airplane I want it to be.
I had a pre-buy done and went and looked at it myself. It was a one owner with all the records, hangared since day one, 574 TT, etc. Everyone I talked to at the 3 shops that had worked on the airplane said what a great guy that the owner Jaime Fontane was and that N134JF was his baby and he took good care of it. (One example: the logs showed that he had never gone over 25 hours for an oil change, usually about 15 hours.) I got a chance to get to know his widow Lynda and she really wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. They had many good trips together in the airplane and it was definitely part of the family. I wish I had known Dr. Fontane. From what I hear he was an incredible guy. (Picture of him below.)
This was his third Mooney. His second one, a 252, was lost in hurricane Andrew. So he ordered this one the way he wanted from Mooney and took delivery in January 1993, with the same paint scheme as his 252. 
The compressions were great, all in the 70's, even though it hasn't had the Bravo conversion. I ferried it home non-stop yesterday, and the temperatures were all good. The only way I made it non-stop is because it has the Monroy Long Range tanks, which is an option I had on the other Bravos I owned. They help make the airplane a true cross country machine. Even with 25 kt. headwinds I had plenty of reserve.

[carusoam]

Way to go Lance!

Best regards,

-a-

[donkaye]

4 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Ok, it was me  : )

The more I kept thinking about it I realized that this might be a good plane for me. I am saving up for a hangar/home and will be selling my 2000 Ovation (glass panel, air conditioning) to help fund it. This will still give me a great airplane which I can gradually turn into the airplane I want it to be.

I had a pre-buy done and went and looked at it myself. It was a one owner with all the records, hangared since day one, 574 TT, etc. Everyone I talked to at the 3 shops that had worked on the airplane said what a great guy that the owner Jaime Fontane was and that N134JF was his baby and he took good care of it. (One example: the logs showed that he had never gone over 25 hours for an oil change, usually about 15 hours.) I got a chance to get to know his widow Lynda and she really wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. They had many good trips together in the airplane and it was definitely part of the family. I wish I had known Dr. Fontane. From what I hear he was an incredible guy. (Picture of him below.)

This was his third Mooney. His second one, a 252, was lost in hurricane Andrew. So he ordered this one the way he wanted from Mooney and took delivery in January 2003, with the same paint scheme as his 252. 

The compressions were great, all in the 70's, even though it hasn't had the Bravo conversion. I ferried it home non-stop yesterday, and the temperatures were all good. The only way I made it non-stop is because it has the Monroy Long Range tanks, which is an option I had on the other Bravos I owned. They help make the airplane a true cross country machine. Even with 25 kt. headwinds I had plenty of reserve.

Slightly confused.  If the plane was new in 2003, how was it that the engine was not a Bravo?  Mine was converted in 1997, so if the plane was new in 2003 it had to have had the Bravo engine.  Was it new in 2003?  It looks like the '89 Paint Scheme.  What is the serial number?

 

[Bob_Belville]

1 hour ago, donkaye said:

Slightly confused.  If the plane was new in 2003, how was it that the engine was not a Bravo?  Mine was converted in 1997, so if the plane was new in 2003 it had to have had the Bravo engine.  Was it new in 2003?  It looks like the '89 Paint Scheme.  What is the serial number?

 

'93: 

http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N134JF

[Raptor05121]

On 9/26/2015, 8:21:38, mike_elliott said:

 My point is that you can get a rust bucket from San Jose as well as one from Florida, or you can get a great plane from either place. Some of the best maintained Mooney's I have flown in and seen live in Florida, and the worst came from dry Arizona.

It kind of helps that we have 30,000+ pilots (second highest number behind California) here compared to most states barely breaking into the teens. Lots of good planes, lots of bad ones.

Congrats to the new owner. GNV is just south of me, I've been there many times.

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, donkaye said:

Slightly confused.  If the plane was new in 2003, how was it that the engine was not a Bravo?  Mine was converted in 1997, so if the plane was new in 2003 it had to have had the Bravo engine.  Was it new in 2003?  It looks like the '89 Paint Scheme.  What is the serial number?

 

It's me that gets confused. I used to laugh when people would be off by a decade - now I'm doing it. It's a 1993 with an '89 Paint scheme.

Serial #0150. I owned #0007 and #0209 now I'm in between with #0150.

[Piloto]

Lance 

Glad to know that you are happy with N134JF. I knew Jaime since he bought the plane new. He had a hangar close to mine at KFXE. Coincidentally we were both from San Juan, PR and had a lot of common interests. Last time I met him at GNV we had lunch and took the picture of him and his plane. Keep us posted on N134JF.

José 

[Bravoman]

5 hours ago, Piloto said:

Lance 

Glad to know that you are happy with N134JF. I knew Jaime since he bought the plane new. He had a hangar close to mine at KFXE. Coincidentally we were both from San Juan, PR and had a lot of common interests. Last time I met him at GNV we had lunch and took the picture of him and his plane. Keep us posted on N134JF.

José 

Jose, I didn't know you were from PR. My wife's mom is from Cidra and like Dr. Fontaine my wife is a psychiatrist. I would love to take a trip down there sometime in the Mooney!

 

regards, Frank

[Mcstealth]

Lance is up there in the  number of Mooney's owned.

TLS, Ovation, Encore (or 252, don't remember) Bravo, Bravo

Am I missing one Lance?

 

DF

[LANCECASPER]

Ok, it's a sickness. I think in 20 some years there was a also 231 in there to begin with. Then it progressed from there. Thankfully I've never caught the Acclaim flu.

[Mcstealth]

Six long body Mooney's

GOODNESS!

 

[Marauder]

Thankfully I've never caught the Acclaim flu.

Yet...

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[Tony Armour]

Should be a great airplane ! Another 93 model 

[LANCECASPER]

It just came out of an extensive annual and I'm in the process of having Hector at Aero Comfort work on the interior.

[kmyfm20s]

Did you do the Bravo conversation while in annual?

[LANCECASPER]

On December 7, 2015 kmyfm20s said:

Did you do the Bravo conversation while in annual?

 

 

The temperatures were good on the way back. The compressions were good on the pre-buy and annual. When it comes time for a top on the engine I'll do the Bravo conversion.

[LANCECASPER]

An update to what's been done to N134JF since I bought it.

Exten$ive annual 

New shock discs, oxygen bottle with boss gasket, new mag, new exhaust pipe, vacuum pump (preventive), Concorde battery, fix the Trim indicator, send the JPI off for rebuild (LEDs were starting to go), etc, etc.

The JPI-EDM700 rebuild was the deal of the century. The original was a 2-1/4" and the LEDs were going bad. It was put into a 3-1/8" hole with a spacer around it.

I called JPI to ask how much to replace the display in mine ($275) and then how much to upgrade to the larger one ($300), but she told me that if I upgraded the whole cost would be $300 plus shipping both ways. Done deal!. (Now i just need to find some little black plugs to pop into those small holes at the corners.)

The interior was pretty faded, and the plastic was getting yellow.

So Hector from Aero Comfort has re-done the interior - just getting ready to install. All panels are covered in very light gray ultra-leather, new carpet, seats, windlace, placards, recovered glareshield, etc, etc.

 

Here's the old panel just as it was from 1993:

Here's the new panel (Avidyne IFD540, AXP340 Transponder, MLB 100 ADS-B in, New Bluetooth audio panel

The engine needs new baffle material and at some point the left tank will need to be stripped and sealed. (EDIT: It turned out that all the left tank needed was a patch. Dugosh did that for me)

 

 

[Piloto]

Very nice transformation. 

José

[Marauder]

An update to what's been done to N134JF since I bought it.

Exten$ive annual 

New shock discs, oxygen bottle with boss gasket, new mag, new exhaust pipe, vacuum pump (preventive), Concorde battery, fix the Trim indicator, send the JPI off for rebuild (LEDs were starting to go), etc, etc.

The JPI-EDM700 rebuild was the deal of the century. The original was a 2-1/4" and the LEDs were going bad. It was put into a 3-1/8" hole with a spacer around it.

I called JPI to ask how much to replace the display in mine ($275) and then how much to upgrade to the larger one ($300), but she told me that if I upgraded the whole cost would be $300 plus shipping both ways. Done deal!. (Now i just need to find some little black plugs to pop into those small holes at the corners.)

The interior was pretty faded, and the plastic was getting yellow.

So Hector from Aero Comfort has re-done the interior - just getting ready to install. All panels are covered in very light gray ultra-leather, new carpet, seats, windlace, placards, recovered glareshield, etc, etc.

 

Here's the old panel just as it was from 1993:

Here's the new panel (Avidyne IFD540, AXP340 Transponder, MLB 100 ADS-B in, New Bluetooth audio panel

The engine needs new baffle material and at some point the left tank will need to be stripped and sealed.

 

 

Please adopt me.

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[flyboy0681]

Frank, ask your wife if the DSM lists a condition called "Mooney Envy".

[Bravoman]

16 hours ago, flyboy0681 said:

Frank, ask your wife if the DSM lists a condition called "Mooney Envy".

I'm sure it does since it lists everything else!

[tls pilot]

Nice transformation to that panel.

How did you fix the trim and flap indicators?

[LANCECASPER]

How did you fix the trim and flap indicators?

 

 Like this

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by LANCECASPER

[LANCECASPER]

Before:

After:

Edited February 13, 2016 by LANCECASPER

[aviatoreb]

10 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Before:

After:

Wow - that looks great.  What did you do specifically, and who did it?