Help me buy a pre-J Mooney...thoughts on a 68C pease

[Brian E.]

This plane has been on the market some time too, but looks amazing and at the upper threshold for an E model:

66 MOONEY M20E CRUIS 160 K • $74,000 • PRICE REDUCED • Or 1/2 Partnership TT-5343. SMOH-143. All laser speed mods, cruises at 160 k 10 GPH. Penn Yann overall w/ new case, Newly designed glass panel w/ new avionics, Edm 730 engine monitor with all options, Aspen EFD 1000 pro PFD w/ synthetic vision and ADSB in/out, GDL 52 hardwired, target trend adsb, inflight weather, Garmin 796, Garmin 330-ES, 530-W, Garmin GMA 340 audio panel, gnc255-A database hardwired to 530W auto identifies frequencies and has database lookup, Flight stream 210 Bluetooth, paint has some oxidation, new baffling and sheet metal, Has 100 hr mooney, All hoses redone •  • Posted January 8, 2019

[neilpilot]

2 minutes ago, Brian E. said:

I called our local MSC today and they're booked out through April--for even prebuys...

This will be a long road.

First off, you may not need to use an MSC, so long as that shop has significant Mooney experience.  Secondly, the prebuy should be at or near the aircraft you want inspected, so long as it's not the shop used by the current owner.  Find a good prospect aircraft first, then maybe a shop or mechanic can be recommended by someone here.

[Brian E.]

Understand Neil--this was the shop I was going to use for the turkey and I didn't expect such a long wait for a PPI.

[rbridges]

5 minutes ago, Brian E. said:

This plane has been on the market some time too, but looks amazing and at the upper threshold for an E model:

66 MOONEY M20E CRUIS 160 K • $74,000 • PRICE REDUCED • Or 1/2 Partnership TT-5343. SMOH-143. All laser speed mods, cruises at 160 k 10 GPH. Penn Yann overall w/ new case, Newly designed glass panel w/ new avionics, Edm 730 engine monitor with all options, Aspen EFD 1000 pro PFD w/ synthetic vision and ADSB in/out, GDL 52 hardwired, target trend adsb, inflight weather, Garmin 796, Garmin 330-ES, 530-W, Garmin GMA 340 audio panel, gnc255-A database hardwired to 530W auto identifies frequencies and has database lookup, Flight stream 210 Bluetooth, paint has some oxidation, new baffling and sheet metal, Has 100 hr mooney, All hoses redone •  • Posted January 8, 2019

That is a nice plane indeed.  The only thing lacking that I would like is an autopilot.  This is probably a cash plane, however.  I don't think it would VREF for the asking price, and it's competing against some J models at its price range.  My C model has the 201 cowling and does a true 150-152 knots.  I bet this plane is probably hitting high 150s at the very least.  I don't know when the OH was done, but Penn Yann is a very reputable company.  

[steingar]

31 minutes ago, Brian E. said:

This plane has been on the market some time too, but looks amazing and at the upper threshold for an E model:

66 MOONEY M20E CRUIS 160 K • $74,000 • PRICE REDUCED • Or 1/2 Partnership TT-5343. SMOH-143. All laser speed mods, cruises at 160 k 10 GPH. Penn Yann overall w/ new case, Newly designed glass panel w/ new avionics, Edm 730 engine monitor with all options, Aspen EFD 1000 pro PFD w/ synthetic vision and ADSB in/out, GDL 52 hardwired, target trend adsb, inflight weather, Garmin 796, Garmin 330-ES, 530-W, Garmin GMA 340 audio panel, gnc255-A database hardwired to 530W auto identifies frequencies and has database lookup, Flight stream 210 Bluetooth, paint has some oxidation, new baffling and sheet metal, Has 100 hr mooney, All hoses redone •  • Posted January 8, 2019

Looks way better than the last offering.  To be honest, that looks like a nice panel with a Mooney attached to it. To duplicate it would take way more cash than that guy sis asking. The only bad thing is you might have trouble getting your money back out of it if you had to sell.  That, and if you're going to use that as the serious travel machine its was intended to be, it should have an autopilot.  That, and I really didn't catch in all that if it had ADSB out.  2020 is only months away now.

[jaylw314]

5 minutes ago, steingar said:

Looks way better than the last offering.  To be honest, that looks like a nice panel with a Mooney attached to it. To duplicate it would take way more cash than that guy sis asking. The only bad thing is you might have trouble getting your money back out of it if you had to sell.  That, and if you're going to use that as the serious travel machine its was intended to be, it should have an autopilot.  That, and I really didn't catch in all that if it had ADSB out.  2020 is only months away now.

It does mention ADSB In/Out through the Aspen, I'm not sure how that works.

It's worth following up on.  There's always the chance that the owner forgot to list the autopilot, it's hard to imagine he would install all that but not an autopilot...

[jaylw314]

45 minutes ago, Brian E. said:

I called our local MSC today and they're booked out through April--for even prebuys...

This will be a long road.

Holy smokes...I wonder if that has to do with the ADSB installs?

[rbridges]

10 minutes ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

 

I personally think short body Mooneys with the full Mod Works OEM "201" treatment, although rare, are some of the most aesthetically pleasing Mooneys out there.  

 

At times, I agree, but I was in Orlando this weekend, and my plane was parked around a few mid bodies and right next to an Ovation.  The shortness of my plane become really apparent.  It almost looked out of place next to the Ovation.

Due to the weight advantage, I would imagine the E model with the 201 cowl is arguably one of the fastest certified planes being pulled by a 4 cylinder. 

[Brian E.]

Regardless--the sexy red E model is just out of my cash range.  

Further updates--called about 5 planes today and all are pending sell.  Specifically, the pineapple express (F model) has a 4 person waiting list, the gray one in Lubbock is sold as well.  Haven't called on sexy red E...we'll see.

Drove by the airport to look at the turkey C model that started this thread--he does have a cover on it

More to follow.

[Bob_Belville]

46 minutes ago, rbridges said:

At times, I agree, but I was in Orlando this weekend, and my plane was parked around a few mid bodies and right next to an Ovation.  The shortness of my plane become really apparent.  It almost looked out of place next to the Ovation.

Due to the weight advantage, I would imagine the E model with the 201 cowl is arguably one of the fastest certified planes being pulled by a 4 cylinder. 

The paint scheme can help with the perception of length. I wanted our short body E look as look longer.

[MikeOH]

I bought my first plane in November 2017, a 1970 M20F.  I had been shopping for quite a while (years, in fact) and had looked at many dogs; that “C” is just the kind of plane I RAN FROM many times.  The “F” is worth looking at, but seems overpriced at nearly $47K; I paid a lot less for mine and it had been owned and flown regularly by one owner for the past 13 years.

Do NOT be in a rush...that is the way to buy a plane you shouldn’t.

Recent use, stored inside, well maintained is much more important than hours on the engine, IMHO.

Good luck!

[Brian E.]

Thanks MIke-- regrettably the F is sold.

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, Brian E. said:

Thanks MIke-- regrettably the F is sold.

Don’t have regrets!  There are plenty of good planes out there.

Just be ready to pull the trigger (with cash, if possible).  I lost out on several deals becuase I wouldn’t make a decision fast enough.

I showed up to the plane two days after the ad appeared (I called and made the appointment the evening the ad showed up). The seller had emailed the logs which I had reviewed before I showed up to look at the plane. Having looked at countless planes over more time than I care to admit, I knew this was one worthy of an offer.  I made a cash offer contingent on a pre-buy at a nearby MSC; he had 4 other buyers in the wings, but “bird in hand cash offer’ won the day. (Deal was made with a handshake and no deposit.  Others may freak-out at “no contract” but it worked for us)

The seller flew the plane to the MSC, plane checked out OK, and a week later I wired the money and escrow closed

[steingar]

16 hours ago, Bob_Belville said:

The paint scheme can help with the perception of length. I wanted our short body E look as look longer.

Bob, some day you're gong to have an opportunity to show a photo of that gorgeous airplane of yours...and you're not going to do it.  At that point in time I may fall over forma heart attack from the surprise.

[mike_elliott]

16 hours ago, Bob_Belville said:

The paint scheme can help with the perception of length. I wanted our short body E look as look longer.

Ah yes, 10" envy....

[Bob_Belville]

16 minutes ago, mike_elliott said:

Ah yes, 10" envy....

Now, now Mike. For what I have invested in my little flying roadster I could have had those 10" if I thought they were worth having, don't you think? ISTM, Al Mooney's vision went the way of the Ford Thunderbird, getting fatter and fatter as the years went by.

[Bob_Belville]

30 minutes ago, steingar said:

Bob, some day you're gong to have an opportunity to show a photo of that gorgeous airplane of yours...and you're not going to do it.  At that point in time I may fall over forma heart attack from the surprise.

But, but, but, MS continues to attract new players who have not seen it... 

[Marauder]

But, but, but, MS continues to attract new players who have not seen it... 

Indeed! As well they haven’t seen your panel in a while. Come to think of it, mine either.






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[NJMac]

Be thankful for the ones that get away. It's narrowing your selections down.

Ive only read part of this. What's your budget? I told my wife 40k max. We're into ours for about 90k now. I'm still not sure where the money came from but it makes me sad when I'm not flying. Once you're high its all good.

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[MinneMooney]

1 hour ago, NJMac said:

Be thankful for the ones that get away. It's narrowing your selections down.

Ive only read part of this. What's your budget? I told my wife 40k max. We're into ours for about 90k now. I'm still not sure where the money came from but it makes me sad when I'm not flying. Once you're high its all good.

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I assume from your half of the divorce settlement?

[Skates97]

1 hour ago, NJMac said:

Be thankful for the ones that get away. It's narrowing your selections down.

Ive only read part of this. What's your budget? I told my wife 40k max. We're into ours for about 90k now. I'm still not sure where the money came from but it makes me sad when I'm not flying. Once you're high its all good.

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Are we still talking about flying?

[NJMac]

I assume from your half of the divorce settlement?

Bwahaha. Nah. Happily married still. I make enough she hasn't noticed

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[NJMac]

Are we still talking about flying?

Only high I know

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[Niko182]

I would recommend creating a want and need list.
considering you stated that you wanted a good IFR
platform. That means at the least an autopilot and
a GPS. I wouldn't look for anything older than a
GNS 530 or 430. That gives you the option to upgrade
to an avidyne in the future. figure out exactly what you
want in an aircraft and the moment you see it, jump
on it quickly. most of the time it takes a while.
rarely it comes quickly. I was looking for about a year
and a half when I finally found my current bird. I called
the day I saw it and got the logs. when I met the guy to take
a look at the at the aircraft, it had a waitlist of about 20 people.
Good mooney's priced right sell extremely fast. when I say extremely fast,
I mean they're usually gone within days.

[Brian E.]

Thanks to all of your for your feedback.  I'm working on a deal to secure a C that's been hangared with a very low time engine and very clean inside.  Basic plan that's flyable, reliable and ready for avionics upgrades when I'm ready.  Will update you later.