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Running a Rocket in the UK


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Hi All

I am new to the group after seriously considering purchasing a Mooney. So far I have been told by my usual [very competent] maintenance partner at Horizon St Athen (EGDX) that parts are both rare and costly.

I want a fast bird for travelling in the UK and to Europe for business and the Mooney ticks all the boxes. I must say they just look and sound tremendous... I am looking at something like this: https://www.ataviation.uk/listings/mooney-305-rocket/#

If I fly 100 hours per year what the servicing and maintenance cost would work out per year over a 5 year average? Also, people have mentioned lots of down time due to searching for or waiting for parts. Is this a thing? I owned an Archer 2 for a number of years so I know that servicing and ad-hoc work can be nasty. I just want to establish if I can truly afford to run this through my VAT registered business without it being a total liability?

Any thoughts welcome!

Thanks, and best regards.

Ian

 

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Welcome aboard, Ian...

Got good news for you...

The rumor regarding parts being rare is somewhat unfounded... costly, on the other hand... they are airplanes...

What used to be a problem... the Mooney factory was closed a decade ago... it is now open... and producing parts (and new planes) if needed...

Wear items are not typically plane specific... so the parts needed can be found by their manufacturers....

One challenge you may encounter is some things are more plentiful in the US...  the closer to Texas you are... the more Mooney services you can find....

The Rocket is a fully modern airplane.  Rocket Engineering still supports the plane....

Find the search box and do some searching... I think you will find some interesting answers...

Compare this to owning other modern airplanes... if you bend a wing around a pole... it will take a lot of time and money to make right again... :)  so insurance is still recommended...

PP thoughts only, not a sales guy...

Best regards,

-a-

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  • 1 year later...

28 hours of flying per year average over the last 6 years. As far as rockets go, Iwouldnt be too concerned. They are not maintainance hogs. You gotts maintain them, but nost things are predictable if they need replacement or not.

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On 2/16/2019 at 6:12 AM, HighEnergyManoeuvres said:

Hi All

I am new to the group after seriously considering purchasing a Mooney. So far I have been told by my usual [very competent] maintenance partner at Horizon St Athen (EGDX) that parts are both rare and costly.

I want a fast bird for travelling in the UK and to Europe for business and the Mooney ticks all the boxes. I must say they just look and sound tremendous... I am looking at something like this: https://www.ataviation.uk/listings/mooney-305-rocket/#

If I fly 100 hours per year what the servicing and maintenance cost would work out per year over a 5 year average? Also, people have mentioned lots of down time due to searching for or waiting for parts. Is this a thing? I owned an Archer 2 for a number of years so I know that servicing and ad-hoc work can be nasty. I just want to establish if I can truly afford to run this through my VAT registered business without it being a total liability?

Any thoughts welcome!

Thanks, and best regards.

Ian

 

I couldn't guess what maintenance practices and costs are like in the UK.

But I can say that the rocket is a standard Mooney M20K with an otherwise very common engine bolted on the front - the TSIO520NB is a very common engine found in the Cessna 414, and 340 and there are tons and tons of them out there, and lots of general mechanic know how to maintain them.  And the TSIO520NB is very much similar to the TSIO520VB that is found in the Cessna 402 that is a transport and mail work horse.  

Parts are available.  Mechanics are used to these systems.  And I have not found it to be specifically a maintenance hog and if something needs to be done I never have had a situation of down time waiting for parts.

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On 4/2/2020 at 4:12 PM, aviatoreb said:

I couldn't guess what maintenance practices and costs are like in the UK.

But I can say that the rocket is a standard Mooney M20K with an otherwise very common engine bolted on the front - the TSIO520NB is a very common engine found in the Cessna 414, and 340 and there are tons and tons of them out there, and lots of general mechanic know how to maintain them.  And the TSIO520NB is very much similar to the TSIO520VB that is found in the Cessna 402 that is a transport and mail work horse.  

Parts are available.  Mechanics are used to these systems.  And I have not found it to be specifically a maintenance hog and if something needs to be done I never have had a situation of down time waiting for parts.

Thanks Aviatoreb. :)

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