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Pre-Buy Inspection in NW South Carolina


G-SLOT

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Greetings all.

Does anyone have any recommendations for an experienced Mooney mechanic who could potentially assist with an independent pre-buy inspection in the North Western part of South Carolina?

Still early stages of discussions but I'm trying to line things up ahead of time as I'm not local to the area.

The nearest Mooney Service Centers seem to be AGL Aviation (Morgantown, NC) and  Precision Air (Manning, SC).

Any recommendations/warnings would be much appreciated.

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41 minutes ago, G-SLOT said:

Greetings all.

Does anyone have any recommendations for an experienced Mooney mechanic who could potentially assist with an independent pre-buy inspection in the North Western part of South Carolina?

Still early stages of discussions but I'm trying to line things up ahead of time as I'm not local to the area.

The nearest Mooney Service Centers seem to be AGL Aviation (Morgantown, NC) and  Precision Air (Manning, SC).

Any recommendations/warnings would be much appreciated.

AGL is good, so is Joey Cole at Cole Aviation in Dalton, GA, KDNN.

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I'm in Greenville and used AGL when I bought my plane.  Not the best experience for me but my concerns were all logistics and customer service, not quality of work. I've talked with them since and would definitely give them another go if I need some work my local guy is not up to the challenge.

Anderson, KAND, also has a guy that is highly recommended.  He's not an MSC, but he does know the Mooney line pretty well.  I can't remember his name right now.

Where in NW SC are you located? 

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NW SC is awful specific for a machine with the range of a Mooney. When buying an airplane, assume the acceptable range for a pre-buy is anywhere within about two hours flying time. If the seller doesn't agree, that goes in the column of red flags on the deal.

For my money it would be AGL or Cole.

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What you'll do is ask the seller to transport the airplane to the location of the PPI.  You will be on tap for the seller's transport expenses, both for the flight and to get the seller back to his home base.  Joey will take a couple days and it'll cost you north of an AMU, can't say exactly on either number since it was a few years ago when I made the exact same inquiries.  If you can get the seller to agree, you can always pick it up at the MSC after getting the seller his payment and collecting the necessary papers.

That said, I wound up with a local mechanic who had never seen the airplane before.  Did a PPI right there and then, and given I've flow the airplane more or less trouble free (except my own pilot and owner induced squawks) I think I did OK.  Good luck in your search.

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Cole did my prebuy and has since performed all the annuals.  He knows a lot.  I could possible help you out with some transportation logistics as well. 

4 hours ago, MooneyPoor said:

If you need any help, I'm not far from NW SC--down in Thomson just outside Augusta. I like burgers from Greenville downtown:)

My Dad and I just went to the Runway Café on Father's Day.  Pretty tasty.  That $100 burger though, holy smokes it was huge!

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G-S,

Got step 1 all worked out...

Will you be getting Transition Training with that?

Will you be Flying it back over the pond yourself, or are you interested in a ferry service?

These are the usual questions people have when buying Mooneys... good luck with the next steps...

Best regards,

-a-

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On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 4:52 PM, jwilcoxon78 said:

My Dad and I just went to the Runway Café on Father's Day.  Pretty tasty.  That $100 burger though, holy smokes it was huge!

Greenville is my home base.  I alwasy admire the Mooney's sitting outside runway cafe when I'm at the airport. I guess I should start walking in and introducing myself and saying hello.  Oh well.

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I'd call Dillon's Aviation in Greenville NC (KPGV). Not a MSC, but I'd trust them as much as anyone. Make sure to request photos of the spar under the back seat as part of the PPI to make sure they actually look at it. The guy in the thread below paid good money for a PPI and they didn't find the corrosion because they must not've known to look there. 

 

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I'm in Charlotte which is South Central North Carolina.  That's East North East Of North West South Carolina.  Seems like Cole is South West of North West South Carolina and AGL is North of North West South Carolina.  I can't see it taking north of 30 minutes to get to AGL and maybe north of 60 minutes to Joey Cole.  Also, The Runway Cafe at GMU in North West South Carolina has the best burger east of the south east smokie mountains.

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22 minutes ago, eman1200 said:

I'm in Charlotte which is South Central North Carolina.  That's East North East Of North West South Carolina.  Seems like Cole is South West of North West South Carolina and AGL is North of North West South Carolina.  I can't see it taking north of 30 minutes to get to AGL and maybe north of 60 minutes to Joey Cole.  Also, The Runway Cafe at GMU in North West South Carolina has the best burger east of the south east smokie mountains.

we need to have a mooney burger run up there!

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2 hours ago, MooneyPoor said:

we need to have a mooney burger run up there!

I agree, but his directions have me confused!

--native North Georgian living in Lower Alabama, with family in Western North Carolina north of South Carolina and south west of North Carolina MSC . . . .

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I’ll probably get flamed for not calling out a MCS location, but Chris at KAND maintains a few Mooneys including mine and is great to work with, is thorough and does great work. 

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 If it were me, I would take it to an MSC for a pre-purchased inspection. Better assurance that they know what to look for so far as the known but sometimes hidden corrosion points on the airframe. What really strikes home for me is the time that I saw a late model J at Joe Cole’s shop that was there for a prepurchase inspection that had significant tubular corrosion from mouse urine. To look at the plane you would’ve never believed it.

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Thanks for the additional feedback. Things seem to be moving in the right direction and I hope to have Cole Aviation inspect the plane during the second week of July. All being well, I'll ferry back to the UK during late July. Wouldn't want to leave it much longer as I'd like to catch the best of the weather over the North Atlantic.

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