AGL review, a Famous Guy, and 1st year of ownership

[eman1200]

I’m not a big fan of long posts, so I apologize in advance for this long, three-part thread.

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AGL Review

"Go to AGL", he* said...

"You gotta go to AGL", he* said...

"@AGL Aviation is where you have to bring your plane to", he* said, again and again and again (more on 'he' later).  You've seen the threads and posts.....

Well, I brought my plane to AGL for her first annual since I've owned her, but NOT because he* said it over and over and over.  I did so because they are a local-ish shop to me here in NC, a recent mooney service center, and I wanted to start building a long term relationship with people I could trust to keep my plane in the best condition possible.  Also, they did the pre-purchase and I felt like I had a good experience with them for that.

Well it's done and I had the first 51nm 'test' flight back home.  And she purrrrrred, as she did pre-anual.  During the annual I had the Whelen Orion 650's put on and those look great.  The only delays we had were 1) weather and 2) had to order a part for the exhaust, which had a crack in it.  Otherwise they pounded it out pretty darn quickly.  The morning I dropped her off, I couldn't get a ride back until late afternoon, so I got to see Lynn, Nathan and Ron attack my plane like a bunch of fire ants who just had their ant hill poked with a stick.  It was both impressive and scary, being a new owner and not liking ANYONE touching my plane, to see her in pieces that quickly.  If I had to guess, I think they would have had everything done in 2.5 days if we didn't need to wait on parts.

So I guess this write-up is both a follow up to my video, which was just meant to show how anxious and nervous I was as a first time owner going through the first annual, as well as to give AGL the shoutout they deserve.  I really don't have anyone else to compare an annual to, but I'm happy with their work and service.  Tamara is so responsive with any/all questions and oh yeah, her dogs didn't bite me so that's another positive.  Also, we had a great pizza lunch the day I was there.  I mean, who else is gonna do that?  Don't get me wrong, it's not part of the annual service, so don't tell them "but eman said you'd order pizza!".

Anyways, here's my shoutout to AGL and the great service they provided.  Honestly I think if you were looking for a place to get some work done, you'd be foolish not to take them up on their October discount and give them a shot.  I think you'll be happy.

a Famous Guy

*Ok, moving on to 'he'.  The he I'm referring to, in case you've been living under a mooneyspace rock for the last 6 years, is none other than the infamous @Bob_Belville.  Bob made his way into the office and introduced himself, and we chatted for a while.  Then I had the pleasure of checking out the world renowned E that sits in his hangar.  Man lemme tell you, what a sweet looking plane that is.  Much better to see it up close and personal.  You can tell he's put a lot of thought and work into that plane, she's a real looker.  It was really a pleasure to spend an hour or so with Bob, what a nice guy.  It was nice to put a face behind the 'shameless promoter of AGL' who is mooneyspace's own Bob Belville  Hope you made it out to Texas and looking forward to seeing you again soon!

First year of ownership

I've rambled enough, but I feel like I still need to give a shoutout to @oldn0tded, who is my plane's former owner (not sure if he comes around here anymore, but it's worth a shot).  Also a real standup guy and I believe did his best to maintain this plane while he owned it.  When you hear people mention to do a 'pre-buy' on the owner of the plane you're considering purchasing, I can't stress enough how important that really is.  He was extremely helpful and also remained flexible during the purchase process and did his part to help make the purchase go as smooth as possible.  I know when we swapped money for keys, I owned all issues with that plane from that point forward, but even though I felt horrible doing it, when I txt'd him a few times after the purchase to ask questions, he was more than willing to answer them in as much detail as he could.  I really couldn't be happier with how everything worked out.  So yeah, thanks John!  He isn't too far away from me, and we've recently discussed the possibility of doing some IR training together.  We shall see.

As for the plane, this mooney continues to put a huge smile on my face EVERY time I get in and turn that key.  Anyone on the fence about purchasing, I say short of getting yourself into a financial hole you can't dig yourself out of, find a way to make it happen, find a GOOD plane, and you will NOT be disappointed. 

OK thanks for listening to me ramble, bye.

[daytonabch04]

Agreed with all.  @AGL Aviation did the annual on the plane I just purchased. It was in annual when we did the contract and felt confident enough in their work I didn't need to do a separate pre-buy.  Everyone there is great and their reputation is top notch along with the shop they run.  Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

[Bob_Belville]

Yeah, but did you get the T Shirt?

[eman1200]

Yeah, but did you get the T Shirt?

The “I got to see Bobs plane and all I got was this lousy tee shirt” shirt?

[J0nathan225]

I had a great experience with my first annual at @AGL Aviation too! Great shop and very helpful for a first time owner.  @Bob_Belville was instrumental in helping me get my '65 E from @DrBill and to AGL while I was still over seas, I cannot thank them enough. I have over 85 hours and my IFR add-on logged in just over 3 months of ownership.