Jump to content

Mooney M20J owner experiences


CMartin

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone,

I have a couple questions for you 20j owners. Just looking for straight up answers of what you all have experienced the last several years on these two items. I know there are many variables that can change everything, just want to know what you guys have experienced.

1 What do you constantly see in your fuel burn?

2 What have you seen on average for your past several annuals?

 

Thanks guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, CMartin said:

Hi everyone,

I have a couple questions for you 20j owners. Just looking for straight up answers of what you all have experienced the last several years on these two items. I know there are many variables that can change everything, just want to know what you guys have experienced.

1 What do you constantly see in your fuel burn?

2 What have you seen on average for your past several annuals?

 

Thanks guys!

1 - I burn 8.2-8.5 gph at 140 KIAS.  I tend to go slower than others because my main mission is 700 nm flights, so it gives me more reserves on arrival.

2 - My annuals have been relatively benign, the first one about $2500 and the last two around $1700 with no major issues.

The big expense was a prop that got condemned on IRAN (I'm still steamed about that), so I suddenly had to buy a new prop.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

78 J. Cruise at my favorite altitudes of 8500 or 9500. Fuel burn of 9 to 9.5 gph and cruise speed of about 155 to 158. Annuals cost about $2000.

Power lost to drag is proportional to velocity squared, so you'd need to burn 21% more fuel to go 10% faster.  Nice to see that physics works in real life! :D

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I should have bought a J?!  My annuals have been $3k, $9k, $3.5k, & $3k.  Not including 2 new cylinders in between annuals.  I haven’t been able to owner assist which could save some $$, but the maintenance manual calls for about 40 hours to annual my F, and my AP/IA is $90/hour, so... I think I’m getting a discount at that!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I guess I should have bought a J?!  My annuals have been $3k, $9k, $3.5k, & $3k.  Not including 2 new cylinders in between annuals.  I haven’t been able to owner assist which could save some $$, but the maintenance manual calls for about 40 hours to annual my F, and my AP/IA is $90/hour, so... I think I’m getting a discount at that!

 

Annual cost is also highly dependent on the area you’re in and if you do or do not use a MSC or shop.  The big name MSC’s in california come in at ~$3K for just the annual, where as some A&P IA’s (at least in Oregon) will do one on a Mooney for ~$1800.

I haven’t seen shop that will do an annual for less than ~1800 on the west coast, although I’ve seen posts like the ones above that claim 1200-ish.  I’m assuming those people did owner assists and are operating with a known and trusted A&P IA... basically a resource/relationship that would need to be built up over years of time.  Not sure if that’s something that would be available commercially, or practically, to everyone.

I’d say if you can find an A&P IA that will do the annual under $2000, you’re doing very well from a cost standpoint.  If you’re paying 3K, you’re probably at a MSC or a larger shop.

My Missile, which is basically a J that takes more oil has had annuals ranging from $1800 to 9K.  The 9K one required engine removal to refurbish the engine mount and fabrication of some heat shields along with some cowling work.  Labor intensive stuff.

90/hr seems like a fair average rate in my local area.  At the bigger airports/shops in California and Oregon, rates seem to be over $105/hr based on my subjective exploration.  I think LASAR charges $110/hr.

Edited by M016576
Link to comment
Share on other sites

77 J stock. LOP 8.5-9.3 GPH 149-151 kts usually     1 quart oil per 7 hrs.  

Annuals have varied. I’ve had two almost 8k annuals.  The first was the prebuy annual which I paid for the inspection and the previous owner paid for airworthiness items.  The other things fuspensive annual was gear pucks & a new windshield. Most of my annuals have been around $3k averaged. Some cheaper some more expensive.  My last annual was about 4K at a reputable and fair MSC... muffler chewed itself up and my gear preloads were significantly out which required re rigging the gear from step one.  Other minor aw items. 

Id say across the fleet MSC annuals probably are about 1:5-2.5 AMU for the inspection and then airworthiness items are on top of that. .  If you’ve ever done the work you’ll understand it takes about half a day to pull it apart half a day to put her back together and day or two for the inspection (about 30  hrs labor).   

There are many opinions about MSC vs independent IA/shops.  You can find pearls and duds in both categories.  Caution large FBO / corporate shops where some apprentice who may have less experience than me turning wrenches is the person working on my plane.  One thing I will advise is to be the owner / operator / fleet manager in a professional capacity for your n=1 Mooney.  Being involved means you get good value for the work you are paying for.   Always strive to have a professional relationship with your mechanic and value what he does for you because it’s super important.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Owner assisted annuals should really drop the cost. Removing and reinstalling all inspection panels, cowling, nose cone and belly pans takes about six to eight hours. Probably 800 or so screws. No mechanic in his right mind should complain if you volunteer that service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.