M20J parts availability

[RideOrFly]

Hello all. I've been looking seriously at purchasing an M20J. I've heard a lot of negatives about the Mooney from a lot of people, including some guys I respect a lot but I'm hoping to get some first hand answers from people with current experience. I'm not worried about the plane being cramped, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to figure out how to plan a descent and get my airspeed right on approach. The one thing that does give me a little worry is concerns about parts availability when something breaks considering that relatively few of these planes were made and they're not in production any more. What have your experiences been as far as this goes? I would be pretty bummed to invest in a plane only to have it down for months at a time looking for parts, but is this a real issue or another one of those overblown myths?

I really appreciate any honest feedback you can offer. 

[anthonydesmet]

Yeah there are those “some guys” that prefer to pay for a less aerodynamic airplane that burns more fuel with rising fuel costs…..but who’s to judge…. 
as far as parts go….. it depends on what’s broke.  Right now for some engines you have a three month wait for oil filters….engines are common across multiple airframes so a part there will also effect non Mooney owners equally. Same with most avionics.
 

when you get to Mooney specific parts (gear, switches, cables there are plenty of resources to tap into and MS is a great start.  Also helps if your mechanic has Mooney experience who can also tap into the resources or fabricate. Are there as many parts as a Cessna, Bonanza or Piper….depends on model but maybe not quite as many

im sure there are folks who will weigh in having had issues but in eight years of ownership I don’t think my flying has slowed down because of parts availability.

[EricJ]

I have an M20J and I don't think it's any better or worse than most airplanes.    Most older airplanes have trouble getting older parts, like voltage regulators or such, regardless of who made the airplane.   Comanches seem worse when it comes to airframe parts.

A good thing regarding the M20J is that there are few ADs and no serious recurring ADs.

 

[KSMooniac]

I had my ailerons and elevators re-skinned last year (hail repair) with new skins from the factory. Also got outboard wing skins and upper vertical stab skin as well... Parts like that are available, but maybe not for immediate delivery.

I can't really think of much to be worried about... Maybe no-back springs for newer gear actuators, intake boots for vintage models, etc that are really difficult right now.

If a J suits your needs, then go for it. It is a forever plane for many of us. If I had to replace mine today, I would very likely get another, or perhaps a long body or a K. I'm not worried. The market will find a way to fill needs.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

[201Mooniac]

I've had my M20J for 27 years now and my MSC has rarely had an issue getting parts.  The ones that took the longest typically weren't coming from Mooney anyway.  While I think that some part lead times for Mooney specific parts can be long occasionally, good planning and preventive maintenance can really help to limit any downtime.  I'm not really seeing any of this be any different than my friends with other brands.

[KB4]

1 hour ago, RideOrFly said:

I've heard a lot of negatives about the Mooney from a lot of people

Ok good for you not to just take their word, do your own thing, find something that suits YOUR mission. Were the Negative Nancy’s owners?  So list the negative opinions.  You can check out Mike’s video on YT about the 201 dispensing with many myths. 
 

 

 

[WaynePierce]

Yea, you need friends with better taste in airplanes! I own a J and have never had an issue with getting parts. Well I take that back I did need a landing light breaker switch and it's evidently made out of the same material as a Bonanza's V tail... unobtanium. My A&P found another rocker switch to take it's place. I had to have an elevator reskinned because of a bone head move I made backing the plane in to a hangar after I first got it. No problem with getting a new skin for the facility that did my repair.

Some other things your friends might have said is the cabin is smaller. It's not, it's wider (only by an inch or so) than a comparable C, P, or B airplane. One thing I have found with my J, it's a 1985 is the useful load is smaller than I wish it was but if I need the extra weight for a trip I'll just go up and burn that amount of fuel before I take that trip. The older J models have much more useful load than mine. I can take my wife and our German Shepherd and we're maxed out with full fuel. The J is a little difficult for me to get out of because the top of the door is a little more outboard than I would like but I've never had an issue, it just takes getting used to.

Go find someone you can fly with that has a J or whichever model you end up being serious about and sit in it. Sit in the left seat and be sure you slide the seat up to where you can get your feet on the rudders. With the seat all the way back you probably won't be able to see over the glare shield but when you're in the proper position the view is great. Even better at 9,000 feet.

[A64Pilot]

Parts are I believe not readily available, we’re talking Mooney specific parts not generic parts, seems that’s what as a group we haven’t gotten good at yet, or perhaps haven’t gotten good at disseminating the info is those parts that are available, but we have always been spoiled because we have always gotten them from Mooney like landing gear limit switches, landing gear switch and landing gear relays.

All of those are available, just not under the Mooney part number. I assume as we learn about which part numbers to order hopefully we will get better about disseminating those sources of supply.

Then I also believe that the parts manufacturers that currently supply parts for other aircraft whose manufacturers that disappeared long ago like say Taylorcraft will begin manufacturing parts if Mooney does in fact go away.

My belief is that the fleet is big enough to easily interest them. If there are enough Taylorcrafts and Ercoupes etc to make building parts profitable, surely there are more J model Mooney’s. I’m talking Univair and others like them, I can easily get airframe parts for my 1946 Cessna from them, surely they will supply for Mooney as well.

However there may in some case be parts that may require a gauge or something to be updated, I believe for instance that there is some kind of fuel pressure or maybe oil pressure transducer that pretty much is nonexistent, but I may be wrong.

Bonanza V tail skins simply don’t exist, and as they are Magnesium that will soon become a real issue if it isn’t already. Maybe landing gear actuators for our Mooney’s  will soon become nearly non existent?

Parts for any out of production aircraft can be difficult to come by, it’s not just a Mooney problem. The V tail skins for instance, hail damage, or anything that damages those skins essentially I believe scraps the airplane, to say nothing about corrosion, which is the real issue with magnesium, so ALL v tails are a ticking time bomb, but that hasn’t stopped people from buying them

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by A64Pilot

[ZuluZulu]

It would help if the crack team in charge of Mooney would sell the type certificates, tooling, and inventory to an outfit that's going to run an honest-to-God parts business already.

[toto]

4 hours ago, RideOrFly said:

relatively few of these planes were made

There have been something like 11,000 M20 airframes produced --- it's a niche aircraft, but a pretty healthy-sized niche as things go.

 

[A64Pilot]

5 minutes ago, ZuluZulu said:

It would help if the crack team in charge of Mooney would sell the type certificates, tooling, and inventory to an outfit that's going to run an honest-to-God parts business already.

They will, just maybe not what someone will pay.

A PMA manufacturer doesn’t need the TC or PC, but tooling and drawings would certainly help

Edited March 30, 2022 by A64Pilot

[201Steve]

You need new friends.  welcome

[toto]

5 hours ago, RideOrFly said:

I would be pretty bummed to invest in a plane only to have it down for months at a time looking for parts, but is this a real issue or another one of those overblown myths?

As others have said, the current problem with parts availability is industrywide.  @M20Doc is both an MSC and a Cirrus service center, and he mentioned in a separate thread that he has had Cirrus aircraft grounded awaiting parts longer than any Mooney aircraft in his shop.

[LANCECASPER]

5 hours ago, RideOrFly said:

considering that relatively few of these planes were made

Just over 2000 J's were made.

[RideOrFly]

3 hours ago, KB4 said:

Were the Negative Nancy’s owners? 

They were not, which is exactly why I came here. Current owner experience is what I've been looking for. I think the point ultimately is that owning an airplane is expensive and that sometimes it can be frustrating, but if I'm reading you all right it sounds like it's not necessarily any worse than it would be with an Arrow/182/Bonanza. As goofy as it probably sounds, the Mooney is the only plane anywhere close to my price range that's really exciting and interesting to me--never mind so capable. 

Thank you all for the responses. I've been reading this site for years and really appreciate what y'all put into helping each other out.

 

[Phil EF]

I’ve had Mooneys for twenty years. An E,  a C and currently a K. 
Never had an issue finding parts. 

[Guest]

People will always view the world through their own eyes.  Whether the part is made by Mooney or bought and sold by Mooney, if you need it and can’t get it, it’s an issue.  NO back springs, Rochester dials, switch covers, induction boots, gear doors are just a few examples.

We had a 2004 Cirrus grounded for two months while waiting for a wing root fairing that blew off in flight.

Parts supply for many airframes is getting to be more of a challenge, even everyday parts like tires, oil filters and batteries.  Let’s face it that our total market is very very small.

Clarence

[toto]

1 hour ago, RideOrFly said:

it sounds like it's not necessarily any worse than it would be with an Arrow/182/Bonanza

Yeah, that's my take on it.  I have a J model Mooney and a PA28, and the Mooney isn't any harder to find parts for than the Piper.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, RideOrFly said:

They were not, which is exactly why I came here. Current owner experience is what I've been looking for. I think the point ultimately is that owning an airplane is expensive and that sometimes it can be frustrating, but if I'm reading you all right it sounds like it's not necessarily any worse than it would be with an Arrow/182/Bonanza. As goofy as it probably sounds, the Mooney is the only plane anywhere close to my price range that's really exciting and interesting to me--never mind so capable. 

Thank you all for the responses. I've been reading this site for years and really appreciate what y'all put into helping each other out.

 

The Bonanza is certainly an example case, since if a V-tail flipper skin gets damaged or corrodes out, it is completely unobtanium other than replacement with another used part.   The factory doesn't make them, neither does anybody else, and even the Owner-Produced-Part path is nearly impossible due to the materials and data hurdles that would have to be met.   I don't think there's anything that bad on a Mooney.

[Bartman]

As stated above there were about 2000 J model Mooneys produced. Most are still flying and a fair number of them well maintained. Do what most of us did. Educate yourself about the brand/model and find one that is well maintained with a good pre-buy Inspection and I would not be concerned. In 15 years of J ownership I continue to maintain my bird and have had no issues with parts availability. Buy a “bargain” and you may not be happy. 

[RideOrFly]

33 minutes ago, Bartman said:

Buy a “bargain” and you may not be happy. 

Can't think of much that's more expensive than a cheap airplane.

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard ROF!

Congratulations on your first question…

Anyone that has bought a Mooney in the last 23 years has been through this a few times… and that was before MS…!

Rule one… don’t bend any metal if you don’t have to…

Rule two… most things that need to be replaced… come from various manufacturers…

Rule three… the pandemic is winding down…. The supply chain issues are following the pandemic…. Interest rates are climbing and there is a probable recession expected over the horizon…

 

Then hasn’t been a better time to have a Mooney than today… 

The higher the fuel prices go…. The more you will tell your friends what great fuel mileage your Mooney gets compared to their Slowboat 180…

 

Bone up on what PPIs are all about… don’t buy something that needs to be fixed unless you know where the source of that fix comes from…

I’ve been a Mooney owner since Y2K… started with a nice (ly run out) M20C…. Enjoyed maintaining it for a decade….

 

I think you will really like the M20J.

Best regards,

-a-

[Lance Link]

I had Mooneys off my list while I shopped for a number of reasons and then put them back on after not really liking anything else enough to buy one.  Have only been increasingly pleased with the choice for a number of reasons again and have never had one problem with getting parts.

 

[RobertGary1]

Right now getting aviation oil is a challenge 

[RideOrFly]

On 3/31/2022 at 10:48 PM, Lance Link said:

I had Mooneys off my list while I shopped for a number of reasons and then put them back on after not really liking anything else enough to buy one. 

 

It's funny, I'm kind of having the same experience, the Mooney is the only plane I ever really got excited about owning. I don't *need* an airplane, so settling for something I don't really want doesn't make a lot of sense. Glad to know I'm not the only one.