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Still buy a Mooney?


Brad H

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I was narrowing down my choice of plane to buy to an M20J....and then the factory closed.  I was hoping to own the plane very long term.  How much additional risk/cost is associated with owning an older Mooney now that the factory is closed?  Will the parts supply dwindle to the point where they're too scarce/expensive?  How many critical parts only come from the factory?  How good is the scrap parts supply?

Sorry if this is redundant with other posts - I searched the factory closing thread and didn't find much info.

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Others on this board know far more than I do about this topic, but I think the risk is little changed from a year ago. Most of us have never purchased a part from the factory, and the few parts that aren't available from third party manufacturers are pretty easy to find in salvage. 

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It seems someone always comes to rescue Mooney. Let’s keep fingers crossed. Most of the parts can be easily fabricated and come from vendors that are still in business. Companies such as Lasar have been key in keeping the aircraft viable for at least my lifetime.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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One other point...in some ways it’s an advantage for the factory to be closed...if original parts are available, my AI has insisted that they be used...when original parts are not available, my AI has allowed me to make or modify my own parts (as it makes sense). Factory parts cost about 4 to 5 times what they are worth.

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I own an M20J that I plan to keep for the foreseeable future and from my perspective it is a total non-issue if the factory stays closed forever.   There are other sources for many parts (e.g., Lasar), and there is always the option to create owner-produced parts when needed.   Given that CAD tools and fabrication services are within reach of far more people today than ever, it only really takes one person who makes a part and is willing to share the CAD files to make it pretty easy for everybody else.

I don't think it's going to be a big problem.   There are a lot of airplanes flying around that have not had factory support for decades.

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2 hours ago, larrynimmo said:

One other point...in some ways it’s an advantage for the factory to be closed...if original parts are available, my AI has insisted that they be used...when original parts are not available, my AI has allowed me to make or modify my own parts (as it makes sense). Factory parts cost about 4 to 5 times what they are worth.

Remember the cheap route is completely valid if factory parts are prohibitively expensive.  You as  owner / operator / flight department manager get to make that call.  

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There are plenty of airplanes that the manufacturer has gone out of business, stopped production or support for some models. There’s still plenty of used parts to support the airframe along with the fact that if there’s enough demand, someone will make the parts. 
David

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I don't see a problem, just  like the rest of us. I owned 20C, then 20J, total Mooney ownership time is 7 years.  The only time I bought something from the factory was RPM cable. My mechanic told me there is an alternative cable that costs 4 times less, but it would take 3 weeks more to get. Since it was the end of the annual and I desperately wanted to fly, I opted for OEM equipment. Other than that, most parts that owner has to replace in his plane are either interchangeable or have alternatives manufactured by the third party.  IMHO, the only time you need something from Mooney itself is when you replace parts of the fuselage, gear or some actuators. Even that is not an issue, 20J aftermarket part realm is alive and ticking, parts are available even on Ebay. Go ahead and own 20J,  I promise you will not regret your decision

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welcome aboard Brad...

I did the same thing!

I was looking at buying an M20J when the factory didn’t look like it was going to be open very long...
 

I bought an M20R Instead...

I bought an M20C, 20years ago, when the factory wasn’t open...

 

Hold on tight...

If you want to own a plane whose family tree is in tact...

It probably won’t be any brand name you recognize or can afford.  Not even the experimental airplane companies are immune...

You have a valid question.

You have to find the answer that fits your situation.

Use the search function... there is a program called Google that can help...

Put your question in there...

See if any of the answers that come out, make sense to your situation...

Around here... there is a certain bias... :)

People that want Mooney performance, make it happen... they buy Mooneys.

Some hard work, extra time, or additional financial skills may be required... with or without the Mooney factory being open...

This is a redundant answer, to match the redundant question....  know there are many threads that have Several answers for you...

there aren’t going to be easy answers that match everyone’s needs... But searching A thread probably won’t meet anyone’s needs...

Best regards,

-a-

 

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Just though I would throw out there... do not forget about repairs and  "owner produced parts"  The regs can be quiet lenient when it comes to repairing a part or for an owner to make his own parts FROM SCRATCH .  An A&P can essentially use ANY bit of the old part, make the rest of it brand new, meeting specs, and put it on the aircraft.  Mike Bush has a great webinar on this, I believe it is titles "the lost art of repair"

 

Found it.... https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Savvy+aviation+lost+art+of+repair

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Piper lost all the tooling for Comanches in a flood.  Certain pieces are unobtainium but these planes sell at a higher price then their comparable Mooney counterparts.  While the factory is closed at some point somebody will buy the stiff that matters.  Personally I like Comanches better, but too expensive and I am cheap. 
 

In short wouldn’t let it be a deciding factor. 

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Sadly, but usefully, the fleet of flying airplanes from our stock of 6000 (is that the right number?) flying examples will continually shrink, through disuse, or crashes, or neglect.  From these there will be a certain fraction of donors that continually produce usable salvage for those remaining flying examples.  It will go like this as long as avgas remains available, for 5, 10, 20, ...50? years, until the last drop of avgas gets burned in the last working piston engine cylinder.

Then by then I am sure I will be flying something else.

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Edited by aviatoreb
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Don't even worry about it. If you had a new Acclaim Ultra... yeah, bummer. I have never needed the factory for anything due to the plentiful used parts with more coming available daily for C-J airframes. Many parts are shared. Basically likely to be a non-issue from my viewpoint. Grab the mooney you want and never look back. 

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