Abandoned Mooneys

[Raptor05121]

If you've seen them, post them up, along with any details you have. Give them some glory before they decay into nothingness.

Northwest Alabama Regional Airport- KMSL. 1963 M20E N5570Q. Last registration change in 2006. Tie down has been paid monthly, the owner refuses to sell. Hasn't flown since 2006 and a parking lot has been constructed around it since. Aircraft is listed as being geared-up in 1968.

[Aron Peterson]

Just utterly awful!!!


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[Candy man]

Have you spoken to the owners os is this a they say "he won't sell"?

Lawrence

 

[co2bruce]

I don’t look at it as owning a plane, I consider myself a caretaker for the next owner. It’s up to us to keep these birds in the best condition we can for the next generation of pilots. 

[Browncbr1]

There is a 231 tied down at DKX...  has been there for years.   Was nice at one time, but just rotting away.  Let me know if you need local assistance help investigating. 

[rbridges]

3 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

why do people refuse to sell these things, is it just to say "I own a plane".  Always strikes me as ludicrous.  We have a couple of dead Birds at Elstree, ones a Lake Amphibian and ones a Rockwell commander Twin.  With a little bit of TLC they cold be brought back to life.

I don't get it either.  I guess it's the "I'll eventually get it flying" mentality.  

[steingar]

4 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

With a little bit of TLC they cold be brought back to life.

The sad truth in this is if you were given these airplanes for free you would have to spend more than they're worth to get them airworthy.  Unless you were an A&P of course.  Then you'd still spend more than the airplane is worth, but not quite as much.

[MyNameIsNobody]

9 hours ago, Raptor05121 said:

If you've seen them, post them up, along with any details you have. Give them some glory before they decay into nothingness.

Northwest Alabama Regional Airport- KMSL. 1963 M20E N5570Q. Last registration change in 2006. Tie down has been paid monthly, the owner refuses to sell. Hasn't flown since 2006 and a parking lot has been constructed around it since. Aircraft is listed as being geared-up in 1968.

Sad.  Likely "newer" than '63 with those windows.  What a shame.

[Mooneymite]

1 hour ago, rbridges said:

I don't get it either.  I guess it's the "I'll eventually get it flying" mentality.  

I live in a fly in community and can think of several airplanes that have sat for years....like 20 years in the case of one particular airplane.   One neighbor just sold all three of his which had been hangared for 16+ years without flying.  Two of them were purchased by a mechanic who has a shop nearby.  The reports are the airplanes were in remarkably good condition.  +1 for a nice, dry hangar.

I suspect most of the un-hangared airplanes will be sold as scrap when the owners die?

 

[rbridges]

16 minutes ago, MyNameIsNobody said:

Sad.  Likely "newer" than '63 with those windows.  What a shame.

good catch.  Has to be '65 or newer.

[RobertGary1]

2 hours ago, co2bruce said:

I don’t look at it as owning a plane, I consider myself a caretaker for the next owner. It’s up to us to keep these birds in the best condition we can for the next generation of pilots. 

I couldn’t care anything less for the “next owner”. It’s my plane. 

-Robert 

[Andy95W]

3 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I couldn’t care anything less for the “next owner”. It’s my plane. 

-Robert 

Boy, do I disagree with this mentality. Disposable planes for a disposable society?  *Sigh. *

[Marauder]

6 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

why do people refuse to sell these things, is it just to say "I own a plane".  Always strikes me as ludicrous.  We have a couple of dead Birds at Elstree, ones a Lake Amphibian and ones a Rockwell commander Twin.  With a little bit of TLC they cold be brought back to life.

I'll tell you why. For any of us who have had distractions in our lives (ex. dealing with an SI, failing health, etc.), giving up the plane is a major life change. Like watching your kids leaving home for good. There is always hope that things will change and it will be like it was...

[RobertGary1]

3 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

Boy, do I disagree with this mentality. Disposable planes for a disposable society?  *Sigh. *

Where did you read “disposable” planes in that?

-Robert

[rbridges]

3 minutes ago, Marauder said:

I'll tell you why. For any of us who have had distractions in our lives (ex. dealing with an SI, failing health, etc.), giving up the plane is a major life change. Like watching your kids leaving home for good. There is always hope that things will change and it will be like it was...

unfortunately, a great number of people end up being wrong, but hindsight is always 20/20.

[Andy95W]

You were responding negatively to a post that described being a caretaker of his airplane. Came across sounding like a "use it up" with no regard for the future. 

[StevenL757]

22 minutes ago, Marauder said:

I'll tell you why. For any of us who have had distractions in our lives (ex. dealing with an SI, failing health, etc.), giving up the plane is a major life change. Like watching your kids leaving home for good. There is always hope that things will change and it will be like it was...

Totally agree, and as steingar noted earlier, it probably would cost a ton to bring it back to life; but wouldn't the journey be less about the money and more about the experience?

[RobertGary1]

50 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

You were responding negatively to a post that described being a caretaker of his airplane. Came across sounding like a "use it up" with no regard for the future. 

I can't imagine why anyone would spend anytime worrying about the guy who will own their plane next.  I certainly am not going to keep hours off it to avoid "using it up" for the next guy. 

-Robert

[Mark89114]

7 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

why do people refuse to sell these things, is it just to say "I own a plane".  Always strikes me as ludicrous.  We have a couple of dead Birds at Elstree, ones a Lake Amphibian and ones a Rockwell commander Twin.  With a little bit of TLC they cold be brought back to life.

This rotting away process isn't unique to planes, just closer to our hearts.  Look at any boatyard, old classic cars, houses, etc.  I think it is just human nature and part of first world living.  We have too much and can't take care of it all.  

 

[Immelman]

Sad? Yes, a little... but this isn't a dying person. Its not even a sick dog; its a machine.. a collection of parts. And life happens for people: Births, deaths, illness, relocation, divorce... stuff happens that takes a much higher priority over taking care of a machine or selling it. Lets face it even liquidating something takes some time and effort. Perhaps some day the airplane will be liquidated and parted out, to keep the rest of the fleet going for a while.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Immelman

[N6758N]

19 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I can't imagine why anyone would spend anytime worrying about the guy who will own their plane next.  I certainly am not going to keep hours off it to avoid "using it up" for the next guy. 

-Robert

He's not referring to using it up as in putting time on it or flying it often. Hes referring to riding it hard and putting it away wet. Not caring for it, using poor maintenance practices, keeping it outside without protection, etc.... Like the guy who routinely patches his fuel tanks himself instead of having them professionally resealed. Or the owner that doesn't keep on on preventative maintenance and wonders why his planes breaks down. Its good for the airplane and good for resale value of the fleet to take care of it like it was your own.  

[Mooneymite]

39 minutes ago, Mark89114 said:

This rotting away process isn't unique to planes, just closer to our hearts.  Look at any boatyard, old classic cars, houses, etc.  I think it is just human nature and part of first world living.  We have too much and can't take care of it all.  

Quite a few of the "static display" airplanes at our home-drome were victims of the great recession.  When times got better, the owners had found new interests and the planes just sat.  Some sat in hangars, others just sat outside.  We have a community of about 100.  We probably have 10 airplanes that have not been flown for years.  That's a pretty high percentage, but it's just a guess.

The owners probably didn't want to sell their toys in the face of the great recession,  but the reality is that the planes are worth even less now.    In some cases, much less.  One C-182 had just had a new engine installed when the owner's life hit a bump.  That plane and new engine have been sitting outside for 15 years, the engine probably doesn't have 30 hours on it.

 

[RobertGary1]

21 minutes ago, N6758N said:

He's not referring to using it up as in putting time on it or flying it often. Hes referring to riding it hard and putting it away wet. Not caring for it, using poor maintenance practices, keeping it outside without protection, etc.... Like the guy who routinely patches his fuel tanks himself instead of having them professionally resealed. Or the owner that doesn't keep on on preventative maintenance and wonders why his planes breaks down. Its good for the airplane and good for resale value of the fleet to take care of it like it was your own.  

I don't see how that relates to anything I said.

-Robert

[steingar]

The real problem in all of this is many of our airplanes are no longer being made.  When they go out of the world they're gone, no one is ever going to make a replacement.  They're more than just a collection of bolts and aluminum, a lot more.  But it takes some degree of irrationality to bring them back.

Some degree.  Thing is, if you do a complete restoration on an old airframe you'll spend more than it would ever be worth.  On the other hand you'll not spend anywhere near what a new aircraft costs, but an essentially new airplane is what you'll get.  The only down side is you'd best restore an aircraft that you really like, because you'll be flying it for awhile.  You'll take a bath when you sell it, but os what?  If you sell it when you're too old to fly it and have been doing so for a couple decades, who cares?

[gsxrpilot]

7 minutes ago, steingar said:

The real problem in all of this is many of our airplanes are no longer being made.  When they go out of the world they're gone, no one is ever going to make a replacement.  They're more than just a collection of bolts and aluminum, a lot more.  But it takes some degree of irrationality to bring them back.

Some degree.  Thing is, if you do a complete restoration on an old airframe you'll spend more than it would ever be worth.  On the other hand you'll not spend anywhere near what a new aircraft costs, but an essentially new airplane is what you'll get.  The only down side is you'd best restore an aircraft that you really like, because you'll be flying it for awhile.  You'll take a bath when you sell it, but os what?  If you sell it when you're too old to fly it and have been doing so for a couple decades, who cares?

This was part of my rationalization in moving from a C to a K. I'd love to have a new Mooney, but don't want the OpEx associated with a big bore long body. What I'd really like is a new 252 Encore. So I went out and found the best candidate I could and over time, hope to bring it back to "like new" condition.