Considering Mooney Ovation purchase

[Jetman]

I am considering a 50% ownership of a 1999 Ovation.  I would like viewpoints. My partner bought it right $$. It has 1450 hours and needs a new Garmin $5500. Otherwise

it is ready to go. It flew 9 hours to our airport this week.  

What should I look for. God Bad, and Ugly.

Thanks!

 

[carusoam]

Last I checked…

1) Buy in immediately… they aren’t making new ones at any great pace…

2) Prices are increasing by the month…

3) Must have money to support a big flying habit.

4) Great to have a partner to share expenses with.

5) PPIs are best for protecting your wallet…

6) Transition training is best for protecting the other things…

7) Know that the Ovation is the fastest, factory built, four seat, normally aspirated, GA plane, on and off the planet…

8) Expect that it will make you want to read a lot… and watch YouTube videos… when able…

9) It will make you want to have an IR if you don’t have one already…

10) It will make your kids like you better, at the cost of traveling to cool places… with them.

11) Nothing NEEDS a new Garmin $5500… whatever that is… See if you can get a Garmin $4500 instead…

12) Check the price on preflown avionics you might find the Garmin $5500 for sale for 3.5 AMUs

A few things that came to mind…

Welcome aboard, Jetman!

Best regards,

-a-

[1980Mooney]

8 hours ago, Jetman said:

I am considering a 50% ownership of a 1999 Ovation.  I would like viewpoints. My partner bought it right $$. It has 1450 hours and needs a new Garmin $5500. Otherwise

it is ready to go. It flew 9 hours to our airport this week.  

What should I look for. God Bad, and Ugly.

Thanks!

 

 

4 hours ago, carusoam said:

Last I checked…

3) Must have money to support a big flying habit.

4) Great to have a partner to share expenses with.

5) PPIs are best for protecting your wallet…

 

Jetman - you show up on Mooneyspace as a "Newbie".  Are you new to flying, new to owning and maintaining any type/brand of plane or new to flying/owning/maintaining a Mooney?

• How long ago did your partner acquire the Ovation and has it gone through an Annual since he bought it? 
• How do you know the condition?.. the "Garmin that needs $5,500"?  Is he showing you the Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) that he paid for prior to acquiring the plane?  Or is he simply informing you?
• The first Annual after purchase the PPI can be 2 different things.  The first Annual after purchase can be shockingly high.  First the Annual will be more thorough - there will likely be more disassembly and inspection than the PPI that he paid for.  You will do oil analysis.  Your A&P will likely point out things that, although "airworthy" should be replaced (or will not likely last until next Annual) while you have the plane apart (belly off, inspection ports open, etc.).  Your A&P with the plane apart will likely spend more time looking for corrosion or other points of wear or stress.
• It is 22 years old and 1,450 hours - has the engine and prop been overhauled?  You could easily spend $40,000 on an engine overhaul.  Prop overhaul can cost you $3,000 - 4,000
• Seemingly small things like the "starter adapter" on the big Continental engine can cost you $2,000 - 3,000 for repair and overhaul.
• That's about 66 hours per year on average - if you look at the maintenance logs, has it been flown regularly each of the last few years? (i.e. - 60 - 100 hours per year?)  Or has it been more idle the last 2 years? -  A regularly flown plane will be in better condition usually.
• The reason I ask is although tires, batteries and the landing gear disks may have passed the PPI ("it is ready to go"), these things will fail with age - and idleness seems to exacerbate.  Look at the logs and see when they were replaced.  You will spend $1000's. Good tires can cost over $200 each and good Michelin tubes can cost $100 each.  
• I assume you know that regular "Massive electrode" spark plugs cost about $30 each times 12 plugs and "fine wire" plugs cost about $110 each times 12 plugs.
• Have the fuel tanks been resealed? - any sign or leakage?  You can spend many $1,000's chasing fuel tank leaks (as much as $11,000 for complete reseal) .  One Bravo owner commented here " 1999 was not a great year for tank sealing at Mooney, I hear."  Search "mooney fuel tank leaks"
• If you trust your partner and the PPI that he paid for, you can use it
• Otherwise as said above pay for your own PPI
• I would budget $6,000 ($3,000 for you) for the first Annual in addition to your Avionics issues. 

All the seemingly little stuff adds up fast.  As said above "Must have money to support a big flying habit."

Warning: This advice is worth what you paid for it....

 

[LANCECASPER]

18 hours ago, Jetman said:

I am considering a 50% ownership of a 1999 Ovation.  I would like viewpoints. My partner bought it right $$. It has 1450 hours and needs a new Garmin $5500. Otherwise

it is ready to go. It flew 9 hours to our airport this week.  

What should I look for. God Bad, and Ugly.

Thanks!

 

Just one comment on valuing the airplane correctly to save hard feelings later. Go into any partnership with the expectation that both of you will treat the other fairly. Expect to pay 1/2 of what it's currently worth rather than 1/2 of the original purchase price. Just like if the partner was the original owner and had paid $400,000 for it back then, it's only worth what's it's worth today. That works both ways.

[Jetman]

Thank you all for your experience and knowledge.

What do flight plan your fuel burn 62%, 65%? What seems to be the sweet spot cruise numbers?

Many Thanks!

Jet

[GeeBee]

65%, 12.3 LOP, 170 knots.

 

[StevenL757]

 

 

38 minutes ago, Jetman said:

Thank you all for your experience and knowledge.

What do flight plan your fuel burn 62%, 65%? What seems to be the sweet spot cruise numbers?

Many Thanks!

Jet

 

It depends on several factors...including, but not limited to:

• Whether TKS is installed
• Whether air conditioning is installed
• Whether you have the 310hp upgrade or not
• What type of prop is installed
• Atmospheric conditions
• Whether you decide to run lean of peak or rich of peak

Others will weigh in; however, I flight-plan generally for 174 KTAS, Lean of peak, 23" MAP (or wide-open throttle if above ~7000ft.), 2550RPM.  I have the Acclaim Type-S F7498 scimitar prop with an IO550N8B engine (2700HP native).  Depending on altitude, I see 54% - 64% power on the JPI.  The sweet spot (terrain and conditions-permitting) is 8000', 2550RPM, and lean of peak using Tempest iridium fine-wire plugs.  As MP drops below 23" above 7500-8000ft, you'll see obviously lower HP%.

Again, these are high-level numbers.

[Cruiser]

enroute cruise 7000' 

Full MAP, 2350 RPM. LOP 50°F, 12.8 FF KTAS 168 - 170

Flight plan for 15.0 gph on one to two hour trips.

[Jeff_S]

Here are my settings for different flight regimes.

General Cruise (+6000' or higher):  WOT, 2450 (just seems smoothest), LOP at 13.5gph or less depending on altitude = 175 KTAS +/- depending on how much weight you're carrying.

Lazy Cruise/Sightseeing: 20", 2400, 10.5 gph = 150 KTAS (sounds a lot like a J, doesn't it?!)

Hair on Fire Racing: WOT, 2650, 26 gph = 194 KTAS at about 1500' MSL and many victories on the Sport Air Race League circuit!