Mooney Parts Consortium ???

[Kenfen]

Fellow Mooney Pilots & Owners,

I am inquiring into the interest of a group of us forming a non-profit Mooney Parts Consortium.

This is in response to various Service Centers suddenly going out of business and the propensity of Service Centers to double/triple/quadruple prices knowing they have the last available few parts.

The goal would be to provide part orders to the Mooney Factory in sufficient quantity to make it economical for Mooney to produce a manufacturing lot.

This would require an interest from a sufficient number of you for certain parts and/or tooling, along with an investment by “charter members”.   Also, a small annual fee to cover internet and management expenses.

I had a few parts I was already interest in purchasing:

GSE 030007        MAIN GEAR RIGGING TOOL
GSE 030010        NOSE GEAR SHOCK DISC COMPRESSION TOOL
A10-85                 NO-BACK SPRINGS REPLACEMENT KIT

Please respond to this posting if interested.

Ken

Edited December 20, 2019 by Kenfen

[mike_elliott]

I dont get it...Mooney is not out of business, Mooney Service centers are not going out of business nor are double/triple/quadruple prices,, at least the 4 or 6 I have dealt with in the past few years are not. The Mooney Factory only sells to MSC's...are you suggesting to become a MSC to buy parts at their discount? Do you know what their discount is? I do, and don't believe it would be worth your time to even begin to submit a PO the size Mooney would require to become a Mooney Service center, nor maintain a service center with trained A&P's for the paultry discount the MSC's get. Yes the prices are high for what amounts to boutique items they are liable for, but to eek out a measly 10% from the MSC's profit and commit to what you have to commit to, lacks economic substance from what I know. Perhaps I don't understand the problem entirely or perhaps you  have recently been hosed by a MSC. Care to share details?

 

[Guest]

I own a shop that provides factory authorized service for Cirrus, Damond and Mooney.  Only Mooney doesn’t offer a pricing structure for their service centres.   All of the others offer different discounts on parts depending on who you are.

I guess a shop making a modest profit on parts seems to really rub some people wrong.

Clarence

[carusoam]

See if I can be of assistance... I don’t have the experience of these two fine gentlemen above... plus, I’m only a PP. 

Welcome aboard, or congrats on your first post, Ken.

When it comes to buying spare parts...

1) Contact your closest MSC... they have been in operation longer than the last two renditions of the Mooney Corporation...

2) Some MSCs carry a fair amount of parts in stock... 

3) As far as your list goes... order when you are ready... Most wear parts you will ever need probably don’t come through the Mooney factory unless you want them to...

4) Looks like a warehouse full of spare parts for Mooneys would be very similar to what an MSC does as part of their normal business...

5) Another thing to consider regarding Mooney tools... there are many available used at great prices... and some are manufactured as an identical copy... not too hard to find if you are looking...

6) We have three people on MS that are in the business Of storing pre-owned parts...

7) When it comes to owning specialized tools... some people like to do that... others bring their plane to the guy who has the tools... that can work really well...

8) Last I checked... Mooney is still in business. Mooney Service Centers are still open for business. When you buy a new Ultra, the factory can recommend a few great CFIIs for transition training... many of them are MSers.

See if you can bring us up to speed where the advantages of your Mooney Parts Consortium are...

What would be the costs involved?

How would this all get paid for to maintain?

I have an incredible open mind for this kind of stuff... just looking for the upside to any of it... and what it might not cover...

PP thoughts only, not an airplane parts sales guy... 

Best regards,

-a-