Today

[NJMac]

I've heard it said the 2 greatest days in owning a plane are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. 

Today I'm closing the chapter on my Mooney ownership and it's more bitter than sweet, and really not a happy day for me.  It will be for the buyer but I'll be sad to see him fly my(his) plane away.  

We all need to take a moment and appreciate the remarkable planes we fly.  Crazy fast, efficient, and economical (relatively speaking). 

Mooney's are uniquely special and having one that is fully sorted out and ready to fly when you are is simply a joy.  I'm sad for that joy to end for me and happy for the next individual to enjoy this pleasure. 

 

[eman1200]

hear hear.

[MIm20c]

Please stick around and update us on your new adventures with the A36!

[NJMac]

  On 6/25/2021 at 1:40 PM, MIm20c said:

Please stick around and update us on your new adventures with the A36!

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As long as I'm welcome, I'll be here.  It's in annual now and A&P is saying the engine times were misrepresented on the beech I bought.  I looked at the logs but didn't read the cursive, guess it's my fault ultimately. The beech fun begins. :-/

[aviatoreb]

  On 6/25/2021 at 2:07 PM, NJMac said:

As long as I'm welcome, I'll be here.  It's in annual now and A&P is saying the engine times were misrepresented on the beech I bought.  I looked at the logs but didn't read the cursive, guess it's my fault ultimately. The beech fun begins. :-/

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Of course you are welcome!  And I hope you keep that lovely emoticon for your avatar picture.

Life's a beach.  Did you post a picture of your new ride?

[N201MKTurbo]

When I sold my first Mooney, I watched the new owner fly away. It was a sad moment, but as soon as I got home I got a call from the new owner. He didn’t feel comfortable flying around our mountains. I drove him to the big airport so he could catch a flight home. The next weekend I got one last long cross country with my old friend.

[N9201A]

  On 6/25/2021 at 12:23 PM, NJMac said:

I've heard it said the 2 greatest days in owning a plane are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. 

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Although this may be true with boats, I can’t think of an airplane owner l know who was actually happy to part with their bird. 
 

Glad you’re replacing it with another terrific machine, and staying flying! 

[NJMac]

  On 6/25/2021 at 3:42 PM, N201MKTurbo said:

When I sold my first Mooney, I watched the new owner fly away. It was a sad moment, but as soon as I got home I got a call from the new owner. He didn’t feel comfortable flying around our mountains. I drove him to the big airport so he could catch a flight home. The next weekend I got one last long cross country with my old friend.

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Spent a few hours this evening helping him get comfortable landing.  As he and his CFI are about to take off at dusk, they hit a bird just as they are pulling nose wheel off the ground.  I end up taking them to waffle house with my wife and 15 month kid at 23:00 and dropping them off at hotel for the night.  Oh the joys of GA flying. 

[carusoam]

Yikes…

Anyone is allowed to join MS…

Its kinda like Hotel California….  

 

Always welcomed back… even if it is years down the road…

Somebody will leave a light on for ya…

Best regards,

-a-

[NJMac]

  On 6/26/2021 at 3:31 AM, carusoam said:

Yikes…

Anyone is allowed to join MS…

Its kinda like Hotel California….  

 

Always welcomed back… even if it is years down the road…

Somebody will leave a light on for ya…

Best regards,

-a-

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I told the buyer this evening, I'll be back in a Mooney on the other side of child rearing and my flying SUV days are over.  It's a special airframe. 

[NJMac]

Little dude was clapping for the new owner but confused why he didn't get to get in. 

[Guest]

  On 6/25/2021 at 2:07 PM, NJMac said:

As long as I'm welcome, I'll be here.  It's in annual now and A&P is saying the engine times were misrepresented on the beech I bought.  I looked at the logs but didn't read the cursive, guess it's my fault ultimately. The beech fun begins. :-/

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Did the time miscalculation result in lower or higher engine time?

Clarence

[NJMac]

  On 6/26/2021 at 11:40 AM, M20Doc said:

Did the time miscalculation result in lower or higher engine time?

Clarence

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Higher unfortunately, by about 3-400 hrs. 

[David Lloyd]

  On 6/26/2021 at 2:48 PM, NJMac said:

Higher unfortunately, by about 3-400 hrs. 

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A couple years after my engine was overhauled, cylinders were pulled off and sent to Sal's for some reason.  When reinstalled, they picked up a number from the work order and entered it as the TSMOH.  I see what they did.  Don't know why it was never caught.  About 250 hours, not in my favor.

Cars, trucks, airplanes have come and gone over the years with no fanfare.  The Bonanza I had for almost 24 years was different.  I flew it to New Orleans for the new owner on the condition the take me to Jackson, MS to meet with a customer.  I caught the airlines home.  One last trip in the Bo, told the buyer and his CFI everything I could think of, bought their lunch in Jackson and went back to the airport.  I couldn't go into the FBO, I couldn't take one last look. That would have been too tough.  Said goodbye, put my head down, looked at my feet and walked to the airline terminal to get my rental car. No, it wasn't a happy day, there were far too many great memories, friends, places, deeds involved with that airplane.

[NJMac]

  On 6/26/2021 at 3:34 PM, David Lloyd said:

A couple years after my engine was overhauled, cylinders were pulled off and sent to Sal's for some reason.  When reinstalled, they picked up a number from the work order and entered it as the TSMOH.  I see what they did.  Don't know why it was never caught.  About 250 hours, not in my favor.

Cars, trucks, airplanes have come and gone over the years with no fanfare.  The Bonanza I had for almost 24 years was different.  I flew it to New Orleans for the new owner on the condition the take me to Jackson, MS to meet with a customer.  I caught the airlines home.  One last trip in the Bo, told the buyer and his CFI everything I could think of, bought their lunch in Jackson and went back to the airport.  I couldn't go into the FBO, I couldn't take one last look. That would have been too tough.  Said goodbye, put my head down, looked at my feet and walked to the airline terminal to get my rental car. No, it wasn't a happy day, there were far too many great memories, friends, places, deeds involved with that airplane.

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I'm hoping thats how this Bonanza turns out for me.  It started otherwise but I'm trying to find a way to make lemonade from lemons. The ABS endorsed mechanic doing the annual now combed thru the logs and said somewhere they counted different numbers but he worked off the airframe and caught the math.  I'm sure (want to believe) it wasn't malicious intentions.  The fact is it still have 300 hrs on a top.  I doubt the seller would have done a top 300 hrs ago if he knew the engine was at TBO. 

 

Ive decided to do the D'Shannon 550 conversion, new prop, and tip tanks to get an extra 450 useful.  Beechtalk is saying 2022 for new 550s.  My hope is the 520 I have now makes it until the new engine is available.  Guess I find myself in the midst of another project plane.  Don't let my wife see the receipts

[Guest]

  On 6/26/2021 at 4:02 PM, NJMac said:

I'm hoping thats how this Bonanza turns out for me.  It started otherwise but I'm trying to find a way to make lemonade from lemons. The ABS endorsed mechanic doing the annual now combed thru the logs and said somewhere they counted different numbers but he worked off the airframe and caught the math.  I'm sure (want to believe) it wasn't malicious intentions.  The fact is it still have 300 hrs on a top.  I doubt the seller would have done a top 300 hrs ago if he knew the engine was at TBO. 

 

Ive decided to do the D'Shannon 550 conversion, new prop, and tip tanks to get an extra 450 useful.  Beechtalk is saying 2022 for new 550s.  My hope is the 520 I have now makes it until the new engine is available.  Guess I find myself in the midst of another project plane.  Don't let my wife see the receipts

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Unfortunately, it seems to be a somewhat common error brought about by a poor logbook system that relies on hour meters and math, from my experience with USA log books.

I much prefer the journey log book we use in Canada, where every flight is recorded.  It doesn’t eliminate math errors, but it does make them easier to spot.

Clarence

[0TreeLemur]

  On 6/26/2021 at 5:29 PM, M20Doc said:

Unfortunately, it seems to be a somewhat common error brought about by a poor logbook system that relies on hour meters and math, from my experience with USA log books.

I much prefer the journey log book we use in Canada, where every flight is recorded.  It doesn’t eliminate math errors, but it does make them easier to spot.

Clarence

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I've not heard of a "journey log book".  Is that a book that stays in the a/c?  I have a little notebook that lives in the plane in which I record the origin/destination, tach/hobbs times at shutoff, and note any squawks, oil added, vor check, etc. related to that flight.  The place where I learned to fly had all renters do that, and I always thought it was a good habit.  A quick cell phone photo of a filled out page serves as a good record of what's happened.

[MIm20c]

  On 6/26/2021 at 4:02 PM, NJMac said:

Ive decided to do the D'Shannon 550 conversion, new prop, and tip tanks to get an extra 450 useful.  Beechtalk is saying 2022 for new 550s.  My hope is the 520 I have now makes it until the new engine is available.  Guess I find myself in the midst of another project plane.  Don't let my wife see the receipts

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Sounds like a good excuse to fly the wings off from it over the next year. Free hours although the 520 with new cylinders could go another 1k hours. 

[Guest]

  On 6/26/2021 at 6:46 PM, 0TreeLemur said:

I've not heard of a "journey log book".  Is that a book that stays in the a/c?  I have a little notebook that lives in the plane in which I record the origin/destination, tach/hobbs times at shutoff, and note any squawks, oil added, vor check, etc. related to that flight.  The place where I learned to fly had all renters do that, and I always thought it was a good habit.  A quick cell phone photo of a filled out page serves as a good record of what's happened.

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It’s a Canadian thing, required by regulation.  It has columns for departure and arrival airport, pilot, time up, time down, flight time and total time, plus a number of other optional items, signature spot for PIC. As well all maintenance is recorded in it.  A side from this we have another full set of technical logs, with sections for airframe, AD’s and S/B’s, engine, propeller, and a dynamic component log for helicopters

Its only as accurate as the pilot’s ability to fill it out.

Clarence

[Schllc]

  On 6/25/2021 at 12:23 PM, NJMac said:

I've heard it said the 2 greatest days in owning a plane are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. 

Today I'm closing the chapter on my Mooney ownership and it's more bitter than sweet, and really not a happy day for me.  It will be for the buyer but I'll be sad to see him fly my(his) plane away.  

We all need to take a moment and appreciate the remarkable planes we fly.  Crazy fast, efficient, and economical (relatively speaking). 

Mooney's are uniquely special and having one that is fully sorted out and ready to fly when you are is simply a joy.  I'm sad for that joy to end for me and happy for the next individual to enjoy this pleasure. 

 

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Heard that about boats too...    

After owning boats and planes I can honestly say I was very sad every time I sold one.   
I think people who are happy when they sell (if they are happy it’s gone not because of a forced sale or you bought a lemon), probably weren’t suited for ownership, or couldn’t afford it in the first place. 
I’ve said before, but buying a large discretionary item for me has to have a somewhat romantic attraction. 
What I mean is if it gives you joy to tinker, fix up, improve, use, and makes you smile when you think about it or look at it, then writing all those checks won’t cause resentment, hence no joy when it’s gone. 
I have loved all of my boats and airplanes and didn’t enjoy selling any of them, even though most of the sales were for something bigger or better!