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What to get


Tmart

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Hi guys, my name is Tim I'm new here and am looking to buy a mooney for my wife and me. She is an instrument-rated private pilot, and I fly for a living. We are moving to BVY Mass, and I was looking for something I can fly back and for to FRG for work. Should I just spend the extra money and get a J or a K? or go with an older F? Thanks guys

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BVY to FRG is a quick flight in any Mooney (im based at 7b2 and go into FRG now and then)

Either will do, from a speed perspective. I think your bigger issue is dispatch rate for work. How flexible is your commute?

Personally I'd focus on good avionics and redundancy. At least a 430w and reliable autopilot.

I have a M20R that is fiki. Icing may impact your dispatch rate a chunk of the year.

Just some thoughts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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The question is what can you afford. Or what is the budget.

C = Best budget Mooney
E = Hot Rod of vintage Mooneys
F = Only if you must have 5" in the back seat and can't afford a J :ph34r:
J = The best value in normally aspirated Mooneys (Best value East of the big river)
K 252/Encore = The best value in Turbo Mooneys (West of the river, you're gonna want one)

Shift Tax Brackets...
Bravo = Best value for Long Body Turbos (personal airliner)
Ovation = Long Body for the East Coast
Acclaim = Just because I can, or Money is no object

On the east coast, I'd recommend the best J you can find. Get one with a good autopilot, WAAS GPS, and HSI or Glass.

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The F and J are identical aside from some speed mods.  Not worth the extra money for J unless you need the extra 10ish knots. Many people think the J introduced a lot more (side windows, flush handles etc) but all those things were actually introduced in the F. 

 

-Robert

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Welcome Tim!  Not much to add that the others haven't said.  But, message me when you get to BVY, or before, as I live in Beverly and my '66E is based there. I regularly flew to central Jersey and it was, to me, a quick trip, so FRG would be even quicker.  There a number of other Mooney's on the field, not all on MooneySpace (that I know of).  

Regards,

Lance

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Tim:

I thought I would say welcome.  I am the owner of a highly modified F (now essentially a turbo normalized J, with modern avionics and manual gear). 

I am located in the westerns suburbs of Boston (Newton/Needham/Wellesley area.

Not knowing what your situations is, a turbonormalized F or J can be a great airplane for simplicity, maintenance and without compromising much else.

John Breda

 

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Occasionally a J or K model comes up that has inadvertent de-ice (FIKI not available on a J and only available on 28V K's with dual alternators). In that part of the country it would be nice to have just in case. On the used market the TKS adds a little to the price (10,000 - 15,000 ??) but how many times would you have to use it to get out of icing conditions to make it worthwhile?

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1 hour flight and backp plan to drive in the winter. Lots of nice options in the C, E, and F models. Lots of them highly modified too.  If this defines the mission profile and only 2 people, then I'd go with the C or E model.  If you are looking for best bang for the buck then look here. 

Edited by Bartman
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Tim, from the replies above you might get the impression that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (Except for Paul's entertaining, and pretty accurate, summary.) :)

For 2 pilots expecting to fly a lot of IMC in busy airspace I'd be looking at the panels more than the model suffix. Even the J was introduced 40 years ago so I'd would not be looking at anything that had not had a major panel upgrade in the past 8 years.

IMG_20160425_114528488.jpg

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If it's just the OP and his main squeeze why the need for the big back seat?  The vintage Mooneys give a LOT of bang for the buck.  Most of the speed for about half the price.  Though I suspect finding one with more than a bare bones IFR panel might be a chore.

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The F seams to be the most upgradable over time...

The O comes ready-to-fly...

The E is perfect for the retired set...

Any Mooney is great for that run.

A Fiki Mooney is the best for commuting.

Being familiar with Great Lakes related weather will be important.  Lots of water gets raised from The in-frozen lakes and dumped over Buffalo, to all the way out east sometimes...

Best regards,

-a-

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I met Tim and his wife yesterday at Beverly airport and would like to say they are both fantastic people that we need to help get into a Mooney of some sort.  There wasn't time for a ride, however, the offer is open for any other time.  They looked at my E, my hangar mate's E, and a J on the line.  We discussed some points, but only scratched the surface.

Tim - Let me know if I can fill in any more gaps in info.  I know I thought of a few other things to mention after we separated yesterday.  Of course MooneySpace has an incredible amount of historical posts with lots of helpful information too.

Regards,

Lance

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Would second what some of the others said about icing.  I picked up ice this weekend flying into Hanscom (KBED) at 11k on the decent.   Granted it was light and I didn't even turn on the TKS, as I was heading down - but it is still out there in June.  I am not familiar enough with FRG to know the altitudes that you will be traveling.

 

Brad

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