Better Than New: The Full Refurbishment of N205J

[1964-M20E]

Sweet.

If someone was to go to you for that treatment what would it cost?  Ball park numbers

 

 

 

[Browncbr1]

Money can do anything!

[HRM]

1 hour ago, Browncbr1 said:

Money can do anything!

If I hit the lottery I would fly The Mistress to Kerrville, toss them the keys and tell them "Make her like new, and give her an Ultra interior and panel. Spare no expense."

[Rmag]

I have not priced it out but it's probably going to be somewhere around 150 AMUs on just the SureFlight stuff.  This is more than I paid for the plane itself  

I have what amounts to a brand new 2017 M20J if such a thing existed.

If I add in the aircraft acquisition cost and engine work I'm well into the upper 200's which is still less than half the price of a new Mooney or Cirrus, etc.   so only in that respects am I ahead  

But I am not sure if a market really exists for what I just did   For similar money you can get a nice used Cirrus with the fancy avionics, nice interior and parachute, or a good used Baron, etc.   I would assume most people that have that budget to spend is not looking for an 80's Mooney to do what I did.

I did not go into this thinking I could make a profit.  I wanted to use the all talents of a company I helped build and create something special.

But certainly if someone wants us to replicate, We would be obliged

[AndyFromCB]

Simply stunning. Love it.

[Roger O]

What a fantastic job and a gorgeous plane!  If nothing else, it is a great advertisement to what your company can do for others.  The only thing I differ with you is that the J is (was) a fantastic plane, and I really don't think that any other out there compares, especially for the price that it costs to make it "better than new"!

As an aside, I'm sure you and most here realize, the Cirrus needs a chute because the aircraft wouldn't meet the spin recovery requirements of 14 CFR 23.221, not because it's cool or a safer plane to fly.

Congratulations!

Roger

[Rmag]

4 hours ago, Sherman18 said:

As an aside, I'm sure you and most here realize, the Cirrus needs a chute because the aircraft wouldn't meet the spin recovery requirements of 14 CFR 23.221, not because it's cool or a safer plane to fly.

Yes, they turned it into a marketing win though.  I still generally think that people with mid 200 AMU and up budgets are probably looking for different aircraft than what I did.  If you forget about Cirrus and look at Mooneys, you can get a Ovation2-3 GX or Bravo GX with G1000's that was built in the mid 2000's for what I have in this bird.

I guess the only way to know is if I tried to sell it, but my gut tells me people are looking at the above if they are looking for a Mooney at that budget.

I'm obviously a fan of the M20J, it really hit a sweet spot in efficiency and I think we took N205J about has far as you can go with it.

[M20FanJesse]

21 hours ago, Rmag said:

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

Here are a few videos I figured I would share as well.  They didn't really belong in the original post...

The first is doing a gear swing test..

 

 

Please take lots of videos and pictures! You should start an instagram with that Mooney it would be a hit.

#dreamplane

[Jeev]

12 hours ago, Rmag said:

I have not priced it out but it's probably going to be somewhere around 150 AMUs on just the SureFlight stuff.  This is more than I paid for the plane itself  

I have what amounts to a brand new 2017 M20J if such a thing existed.

If I add in the aircraft acquisition cost and engine work I'm well into the upper 200's which is still less than half the price of a new Mooney or Cirrus, etc.   so only in that respects am I ahead  

But I am not sure if a market really exists for what I just did   For similar money you can get a nice used Cirrus with the fancy avionics, nice interior and parachute, or a good used Baron, etc.   I would assume most people that have that budget to spend is not looking for an 80's Mooney to do what I did.

I did not go into this thinking I could make a profit.  I wanted to use the all talents of a company I helped build and create something special.

But certainly if someone wants us to replicate, We would be obliged

Well said...  It shows when you do things for the right reason you get extraordinary results and even some great advertising for what your shop can do .  Nice work!

[Rmag]

On 4/20/2017 at 7:02 PM, M20FanJesse said:

 

Please take lots of videos and pictures! You should start an instagram with that Mooney it would be a hit.

#dreamplane

I use YouTube for vids.  I gave my Dad his first ride in N205J today. 

 

[carusoam]

That was a fun Mooney ride.

Thanks for sharing that video.  

I was hoping to see the airspeed readout on the G500 display while having the birds-eye view out the windshield.

What POV camera were you using for that?

Best regrads,

-a-

[M20FanJesse]

What an awesome video, yes thank you! I'll be subscribed for more on youtube!

[Rmag]

1 hour ago, carusoam said:

That was a fun Mooney ride.

Thanks for sharing that video.  

I was hoping to see the airspeed readout on the G500 display while having the birds-eye view out the windshield.

What POV camera were you using for that?

Best regrads,

-a-

Yes it was.

You're welcome.

I need multiple cameras   I only have one so I use wide mode to get most in the shot.  100 downwind, 90 base, 80 final, just over 70 or so over the numbers.  On the ILS after the FAF I was 90, slowed to just over 70 over the numbers.  I seemed to float a bit on the landings at that speed.  I was light on fuel less than half tanks.

GoPro Hero 3+ in wide mode clipped to my hat with a ND filter lens which blurs the prop so you don't see those goofy prop artifact lines in the video.

Best regards to you as well!

 

[carusoam]

Way cool.  The prop was missing from the video.

Learn something new every day at MS! 

Best regards,

-a-

 

[mike_elliott]

10 hours ago, carusoam said:

Way cool.  The prop was missing from the video.

Learn something new every day at MS! 

Best regards,

-a-

 

That's because he pulled it out of the hangar by the prop

 

[kevinw]

Great video. N205J has to be the best looking J I've ever seen. A work of art.

[Marauder]

That's because he pulled it out of the hangar by the prop
 

And I thought it was because he was flying "LOP" -- Lean of Prop.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[gsxrpilot]

It's a good video. But you should wire the camera in for sound. That way we can listen in on the comms and don't hear the noise in the cockpit.

It's a gorgeous plane by the way.  I hope to ultimately have the same sort of full refresh on my 252.

[Rmag]

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

It's a good video. But you should wire the camera in for sound. That way we can listen in on the comms and don't hear the noise in the cockpit.

It's a gorgeous plane by the way.  I hope to ultimately have the same sort of full refresh on my 252.

I have a Lightspeed PFX headset and I downloaded the FlightLink app and recorded the audio during that flight.  It says it is supposed to record incoming and outgoing comms and intercoms, but it did not work. All I got was engine noise and me talking faintly in the background.

[gsxrpilot]

17 minutes ago, Rmag said:

I have a Lightspeed PFX headset and I downloaded the FlightLink app and recorded the audio during that flight.  It says it is supposed to record incoming and outgoing comms and intercoms, but it did not work. All I got was engine noise and me talking faintly in the background.

I've done a ton of GoPro videos and the best way is to use a patch cable from the camera into the audio. I'm assuming you've got rear seat jacks in that brand new J of yours ;-) You could easily run a cable from the camera to the jack in the back seat. You can buy the cables on line.  Or @"Chocks" can make you a custom one to the right length, and coiled so stretchy. That works best if you're wearing the camera.

You'll have no engine noise and all the comms clear as they are in your headset.

If you're gonna get a second and third cameras, think about the GoPro Hero4 Session. They are the right size to stick to the horizontal stab for beautiful outside shots and also on the tail skid to get the gear action which is the shot you want for landings and take offs.

[Rmag]

@gsxrpilot I just talked to Lightspeed support.  Apparently in the app you can toggle the recording source and the app recorded my iphone mic the whole time instead of the headset, thus nothing but ambient noise.  I'm going to test it again today.

EDIT - The app worked fine when I tested today.  So I can record radio and intercom audio on my iPhone through a bluetooth connection to the headset.

[Rmag]

I ordered a FAA records search on N205J and just got the CD today.  Shows who owned the aircraft since new, and also all the airworthiness paperwork filed with the FAA.

I found some interesting paperwork from Mooney regarding N205J.  Serial Number 24-3002 It was one of the two first prototypes for the Mooney 205's (the other being 24-3001).

The paperwork detailed all the changes Mooney made to the 205's.  It also states that N205J started on an experimental airworthiness certificate to conduct Market Surveys, Sales demonstrations, and customer crew training.  .pdf file attached.

I thought that was pretty cool.  I wonder what Mooney would think of their sales demonstrator now?  

Mooney205.pdf

[VLFarms]

Top notch example of a mooney restoration! I noticed P1D slipped a glimpse of your plane in his latest video, look forward to see what you do with his as well.

[carusoam]

Including the Bob Kromer original document.  Very nice!

Best regards,

-a-

[steingar]

One of the two best ways to own and airplane.  First is dump money into it, make it new or better than new.  Yeah, you have more in it than its worth, but you have a new airplane for a fraction of the price of a new airplane.  Only down side is you might have trouble insuring it for what its really worth.

Or course, the other way is to buy the airplane from the person above.