Considering This Airplane N11NZ...thoughts? Prebuy near Phoenix??

[hish747]

Hi All,

I've been lurking on this site for years and may finally have found the Mooney for me.

https://www.barnstormers.com/ad_detail.php?id=1550786&catid=20601

The airplane is currently in annual (10/2019)  and the issues I know of are as follows:

AD Hub

ECI Cylinders with 50hr inspections and need to be replaced in about 600 hours according to the last annual inspection entry.

Tanks are clean

2283 TT

458 SMOH

No Autopilot but decent instruments (standard six pack) avionics & interior. 

Is anyone familiar with this aircraft or could recommend a mechanic in the Mesa/Phoenix area for a prebuy? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Hish

[carusoam]

Read the logs... then go see it in person... if you like what you see, arrange for a PPI...

As you know... there are lots of steps involved to protect your wallet from mistakes...

Something in there describes when it got its hours...

If it last flew 20 years ago... that would explain the low hours...  total time since new...

The logs will be an interesting read.

Did you get any pics or other detail to go with that?

Why is the salvage business selling a whole plane?

Best regards,

-a-

[EricJ]

The pics look nice!   Looks good on paper. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1961-Mooney-M20B-2385-Total-Time-Lycoming-O-360-180HP-W-458-SMOH-Flying-ADS-B/352993680472?hash=item5230101c58:g:J~wAAOSwIuNeYWvA

 

[Kmac]

 

@hish747After selling my C I look at Mooney's and other aircraft all of the time.  I have been in contact with Arizona Air Salvage over the last few days about this aircraft.  I saw this aircraft on ebay last year and again recently.  It is listed for less on their website.  They sent a bunch of pictures but didn't answer any of my questions.  I was trying to see if anyone there actually flies the airplane and can tell me if it flies straight or not.  No autopilot or wing leveler but if it flies straight it's no big deal.  They did say the prop was filed after hitting a taxi light but it was not rebalanced.  Still waiting on the answers to the following:

 

• Bladder installation date with capacity and usable amount of fuel

• Year of the gear pucks/disc installation

• Weight and balance of the aircraft

• Damage history besides prop strike

• Noted corrosion on the airframe

• Does the aircraft have an alternator or a generator

• Is the intercom 4 place

• When was the vacuum pump installed

• Was SB208 complied with and, if so, when

[Nukemzzz]

I think I would be concerned about it running with an unbalanced prop. That’s quite a lot of material missing from the end. I also wonder why they have a spare laying around for you but they haven’t installed it themselves.   

[Kmac]

They also said no logs with the other prop.

[chriscalandro]

It’s priced appropriately if the other prop is ok.  Maybe even a little low if everything checks out. 

[hish747]

It's a moot point now as it seems they sold the aircraft out from under me. Thank you all for your input.

Hish

[carusoam]

Hish,

If that was your first attempt of buying a plane...

You have learned a ton...

Now... you know what you are looking for, the price that goes with it, and will be ready to rock when the next opportunity arises...

Normal for the plane buying experience...

Good luck,

-a-

[hish747]

I've bought two other planes in the past, but they were all New England and I'm in CT. This is the first long distance transaction I was working on. I did learn a lot but I do not think that what they did was right and I don't think the majority of sellers operate this way. Still, valuable points of view were shared about what to look for and what questions to ask with Mooneys which I really appreciate. Thanks again.

[carusoam]

Long distance plane purchasing is really challenging...

It is best done with...

1) higher bracket planes... (fewer surprises)

2) newer planes... (less opportunity for surprises) 

3) really reliable sales organization... (people that don’t launch surprises) there are a few that get mentioned around here often... Mooney sales organizations are few... the other guys don’t know enough about a Mooney to be very helpful.

4) Planes that you can easily visit...  (Helps to have a plane for this... )

5) I have only purchased two planes...

• one at my home drome... A spectacular CB special...
• one at All American 1knm away...

Have you seen the All American Aircraft website?  
 

PP thoughts only, not a plane sales guy...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[orionflt]

On 3/6/2020 at 5:17 PM, Kmac said:

They did say the prop was filed after hitting a taxi light but it was not rebalanced.

did they comply with the prop strike inspection procedures on the engine? it falls under that criteria if the had to file the prop due to damage, the prop should have also been removed and evaluated prior to filing out the damage.

Brian

[chriscalandro]

There is a large chunk removed from it if it’s the pictures I’m thinking of. There’s NO WAY it was airworthy. 

[BigD]

I actually made an offer on this plane last year when it was listed on a salvage website. My offer was less than 5k if I remember correctly. I did some research on it and saw that someone from this website called “Hawkeye” owner it back a few years ago, and I’ve included screen shots of the one discussion he started on this forum about N11NZ - something about his fuel gauges- if you search for posts by “Hawkeye” you will find entire thread but in case you can’t, I’m providing some screen shots. It was listed on air salvage site last year and was in Bermuda Dunes, KUUD (small airport south of Palm Springs)where it had struck a taxi light with prop and had been parked outside for some months. If a plane is going to be outside for any amount of time I certainly can’t have picked a better spot. I placed a bid but Arizona Air Salvage got it. I’m also including last known flight on FlightAware. 26 seems high to me,but I’ve never actually seen plane.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mooneyman12]

On 3/5/2020 at 7:44 PM, hish747 said:

Hi All,

I've been lurking on this site for years and may finally have found the Mooney for me.

https://www.barnstormers.com/ad_detail.php?id=1550786&catid=20601

The airplane is currently in annual (10/2019)  and the issues I know of are as follows:

AD Hub

ECI Cylinders with 50hr inspections and need to be replaced in about 600 hours according to the last annual inspection entry.

Tanks are clean

2283 TT

458 SMOH

No Autopilot but decent instruments (standard six pack) avionics & interior. 

Is anyone familiar with this aircraft or could recommend a mechanic in the Mesa/Phoenix area for a prebuy? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Hish

Looks like I'm a few years too late...I owned this plane from 2012 to 2015...such an amazing bird! Unfortunately the guy that bought it from me (former Navy rio pilot) said the logs were stolen from his office.  The logs were really cool...even had the original flight from Kerrville TX where it was built.  Many great memories in that plane...Hope you found something else that you're enjoying.  Cheers