Joe Zuffoletto Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 Fellow Mooniacs, I’m retiring this summer and decided to sell my Acclaim. The buyer and I close on Friday. It’s been a great run over the past 33 years. 100 hours in the J, 850 in the K, and 310 in the TN. What a great ride it has been! My wife and I have flown through snow, ice (thank you, TKS), rain, hail and everything between. Lots of turbulence, mountain waves and rotors, too. But our Mooneys always delivered us safely to our destinations, which are too many to count. I owned the Acclaim for 7 years. During that time it was based in Denver. From there it took us to Kansas City, Arkansas, Dallas, Austin, El Paso, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Salt Lake, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Vegas, and many others. It also carried us round trip from Denver to Cabo 6 times. There’s nothing sad about this; my wife and I have just decided to move on. We have both lost our taste for making long cross-country flights in the Mooney, and I’ve lost my taste for anything but short flights in day VFR in perfect conditions, after flying IFR for 25 years. To that end, I have a beautiful RV-8 that I’ll be moving to Northern California to fly on beautiful days. The Mooney community has always been amazing. That includes all of you. But I would like to give a special shout out to a few people: First, to Don Kaye, who made me a very competent Mooney pilot, IFR or VFR. Second, to Bruce Jaeger, for the very same reason; he also made me more competent than most in the Acclaim, and I flew that plane with a lot of confidence thanks to him. Jolie Lucas also deserves mention; she’s the greatest Mooney ambassador of all. I had the privilege of meeting her at Oshkosh. And, finally, Carusoam, Dave Norinsky, gsxr and Mr. Muncie, who are fantastic contributors to MS. There are obviously many more and I’m grateful to you all. My Acclaim is going to a great home and I hope the new owner will become a valued member of this community. As for me, I will continue to lurk, and if I can offer any information of value I will gladly do so. Keep the blue side up! Thank you all. Joe Zuffoletto, Jr. 303-330-9199 mobile jj@zzmail.me 23 2 Quote
bonal Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 Congrats on the sale Joe, we saw it parked at Lampson and I asked about it and was told it was there for a PPI which sounds like it went well. Good luck with your RV perhaps we will meet somewhere around the beautiful VFR state of California. Maybe you could post a photo of it so we might spot it on the ramp one day. One last look Quote
Joe Zuffoletto Posted June 21, 2018 Author Report Posted June 21, 2018 Bonal, Thank you for the "one last look" photo. That's probably the last time I'll see it. The closing will take place in CA but I'm stuck in CO for very good reasons. What a beautiful airplane! Here's my RV-8. I hope we meet someday. 8 1 Quote
Hank Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 Congratulations, Joe! Enjoy your retirment, you have certainly earned it. Quote
1964-M20E Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 Good luck my friend. We all love our Mooney but any real aviator loves anything that flies. That's one good looking RV8. 1 Quote
KSMooniac Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 Last time I flew into KAPA I saw you taxiing but didn't get to meet you. We're flying there tomorrow and I had hoped to catch a glimpse again...oh well! Blue skies to you! You'll certainly enjoy the RV on the nice days in CA.Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk Quote
Jim Peace Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 18 hours ago, Joe Zuffoletto said: I’ll be moving to Northern California to fly on beautiful days. Please teach us how one can move TO California for retirement. 3 Quote
Joe Zuffoletto Posted June 21, 2018 Author Report Posted June 21, 2018 12 minutes ago, Jim Peace said: Please teach us how one can move TO California for retirement. 1. Buy a house in CA 21 years ago. 2. Rent house until mortgage is paid off. 3. Sell Mooney. 4. Sell business. 3 Quote
M20S Driver Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 18 minutes ago, Joe Zuffoletto said: 1. Buy a house in CA 21 years ago. 2. Rent house until mortgage is paid off. 3. Sell Mooney. 4. Sell business. 5. Buy a beautiful RV-8 I updated your procedure!! Quote
Skates97 Posted June 21, 2018 Report Posted June 21, 2018 16 minutes ago, Joe Zuffoletto said: 1. Buy a house in CA 21 years ago. 2. Rent house until mortgage is paid off. 3. Sell Mooney. 4. Sell business. My strategy is slightly different, but that's because I am trying to eventually escape this place. Buy house outside of CA. Rent house until mortgage is paid off. Sell current house in CA. Keep the Mooney. Funny story, I went to my AME yesterday to renew my medical. We were talking about the crazy taxes, politics, etc... of CA but how incredible the flying weather is here. He said he had told his wife that he wanted them to leave CA because of the taxes. Her response was "The hell we are, you have the money, just pay the taxes." 4 Quote
Bravoman Posted June 22, 2018 Report Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Skates97 said: My strategy is slightly different, but that's because I am trying to eventually escape this place. Buy house outside of CA. Rent house until mortgage is paid off. Sell current house in CA. Keep the Mooney. Funny story, I went to my AME yesterday to renew my medical. We were talking about the crazy taxes, politics, etc... of CA but how incredible the flying weather is here. He said he had told his wife that he wanted them to leave CA because of the taxes. Her response was "The hell we are, you have the money, just pay the taxes." That’s the California mentality, so long as someone else is payin... Quote
carusoam Posted June 22, 2018 Report Posted June 22, 2018 Some of the best advice comes through MS... You meet some of the Best people through MS... You can take the pilot out of a Mooney... But... You can’t take the Mooney out of the pilot... Congrats Joe! (and Roya). Hope you stay around MS. Best regards, -a- Quote
kortopates Posted June 22, 2018 Report Posted June 22, 2018 He said he had told his wife that he wanted them to leave CA because of the taxes. Her response was "The hell we are, you have the money, just pay the taxes." Never been anywhere that compares, so I've always felt the sunshine tax was well worth it! Thank goodness not everyone agrees but a lot do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 1 Quote
rbridges Posted June 22, 2018 Report Posted June 22, 2018 What a beautiful plane. Congrats on the retirement! Quote
Mcstealth Posted June 26, 2018 Report Posted June 26, 2018 On June 21, 2018 at 12:17 AM, Joe Zuffoletto said: Bonal, Thank you for the "one last look" photo. That's probably the last time I'll see it. The closing will take place in CA but I'm stuck in CO for very good reasons. What a beautiful airplane! Here's my RV-8. I hope we meet someday. I got to fly front seat in an "8" The climb was eye opening to say the least. I know the pilot was showing off but it was still impressive. First time I felt 3000 ft per. I wouldn't want to cross the US in it, but I wouldn't kick it out of bed . Quote
Seth Posted June 27, 2018 Report Posted June 27, 2018 Congrats Joe! Glad you have the RV-8 to scratch the flying bug. Thank you for all the great information on both airframes. -Seth Quote
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