J0nathan225 Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Hello all, I wanted to briefly introduce myself: Jon. Davis, I'm a commercial w/ instruments Blackhawk pilot who recently added ASEL private pilot privileges and am currently renting a A22 Valor S-LSA. My short term plan, within the next 2 years, is to own a Mooney C or E. I'm still learning a lot about this air-frame and what to look for before buying through this forum, which I greatly appreciate. What I currently THINK I want is a sub $45k plane, with the hopes of eventually installing a G5 attitude indicator and HSI, a WAAS GPS, ADSB in/out transponder, Engine monitor and Autopilot w/ alt hold. Ideally the aircraft would have 2+ of these features prior to purchase, I know WAAS and Auto pilot are probably the most $$,$$$. Well back to reading all the posts I can, hopefully this becomes more than a dream. -Jon. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Hello all, I wanted to briefly introduce myself: Jon. Davis, I'm a commercial w/ instruments Blackhawk pilot who recently added ASEL private pilot privileges and am currently renting a A22 Valor S-LSA. My short term plan, within the next 2 years, is to own a Mooney C or E. I'm still learning a lot about this air-frame and what to look for before buying through this forum, which I greatly appreciate. What I currently THINK I want is a sub $45k plane, with the hopes of eventually installing a G5 attitude indicator and HSI, a WAAS GPS, ADSB in/out transponder, Engine monitor and Autopilot w/ alt hold. Ideally the aircraft would have 2+ of these features prior to purchase, I know WAAS and Auto pilot are probably the most $$,$$$. Well back to reading all the posts I can, hopefully this becomes more than a dream. -Jon. Welcome Jon! Our usual Walmart greeter (carusoam) appears to be napping again.As you already have discovered, lots of information here. Ask if don't find it.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonal Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Welcome Jon, flying Blackhawks makes me think your in the military and for that I thank you for your service. With just me and my wife with a rare third we find the short body to be a great fit. Your budget suggests a C but what's really important is to find one that will not beat you up financially on your first annual getting a good pre purchase inspection is a big help but not a guarantee this will be the case. We are dealing with 50 plus year old machines so much to be aware of. Was interupted by my puppy demanding attention. To finish my thought make the search something fun and don't get impatient it may take several candidates or you might find on the first one. There are lots of posts here about model types and different missions you have for your airplane. One nice thing our very basic D/C has is a nice autopilot but it's pretty basic that said we have taken it on some really nice cross country flights. A Garmin 296 and Foreflight on the iPad are nice low cost additions. Good luck with your search Mooney space is a great source of information I wish I knew about before We bought ours even though it needed a lot of fixes after w got it turned out to be a very good flyer and a joy to fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooneyMitch Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Marauder said: Welcome Jon! Our usual Walmart greeter (carusoam) appears to be napping again. That's because he stays up much later than us LeftCoasters, prowling around MS, and adding his much appreciated knowledge and insight! And yes, of course welcome, welcome, welcome JOnathan225, and thank you for your service to America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbridges Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 2 hours ago, J0nathan225 said: Hello all, I wanted to briefly introduce myself: Jon. Davis, I'm a commercial w/ instruments Blackhawk pilot who recently added ASEL private pilot privileges and am currently renting a A22 Valor S-LSA. My short term plan, within the next 2 years, is to own a Mooney C or E. I'm still learning a lot about this air-frame and what to look for before buying through this forum, which I greatly appreciate. What I currently THINK I want is a sub $45k plane, with the hopes of eventually installing a G5 attitude indicator and HSI, a WAAS GPS, ADSB in/out transponder, Engine monitor and Autopilot w/ alt hold. Ideally the aircraft would have 2+ of these features prior to purchase, I know WAAS and Auto pilot are probably the most $$,$$$. Well back to reading all the posts I can, hopefully this becomes more than a dream. -Jon. If you can swing a little more $$$, it would be nice to get a plane spec'd out the way you want. It is muuuuch cheaper and you don't have to deal with the down time. Joey Cole has a mooney service center in Dalton, GA, but there are several members in Georgia, myself included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar Avalle Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Hi Jon, Thank you for your service and welcome to our group!!! I bought my C model around 2002. I have flown her for more than 800 hours, down to Central America, up and down the East Coast and to he Middle West. It is a great plane to operate. Not expensive (as you know there is nothing cheap when it comes to aviation). Be patient and look around. You will find the right one. I believe that in the current environment the best thing to do would be to try to find a plane with an autopilot and a WAAS GPS (430...). You could then expand the avionics by getting a portable ADSB system and streaming the information from the GPS to your IPAD. This would give you a significant amount of information. Further down the road you could then add other features like a JPI etc. Ask about anything, airplane, life etc. and you will get not one a bunch of friendly responses. Once again welcome aboard. Oscar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBDiagMan Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Welcome! I am a recent owner. You will find MS invaluable. Look forward to following your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 I paid $65k for a F with all that installed except for ADS-B and WAAS GPS (but have a IFR GPS). My advice is to buy the plane with everything you need already installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 Welcome aboard Jon. Sorry I was late. We have a few heli pilots around here. More and more each year. I started with an M20C. A great Xcountry machine. It is a classic Mooney. Moving up the line from there is fun. That is when you have to decide on more speed over more efficiency... more capability over more simplicity... Thanks for your service! Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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