Prebuy in Seattle Area

[FlyingAggie]

I am looking at 231 located in the Seattle area that has a damage history and need a thorough prebuy.  Can anyone suggest a mechanic or shop that would do a good job?

Does anyone have experience with Spanaflight?  They have maintained this Mooney is recent years.

This is the plane: http://www.aso.com/i.aso3/aircraft_view.jsp?aircraft_id=125529

Does anyone know anything about this plane?

Alan

[FlyDave]

I was working on buying a plane with Tom at Reliant Aviation in Albany, OR:

http://www.reliantaviation.net/

He seems like a pretty decent guy - no BS. I didn't do business with him but I would certainly trust him to get a thorough prebuy done. Reliant is a Mooney authorized service center. Albany is less than 100 miles (Statute) sourth of Portland. Might be a nice flight from Seattle to check the plane out.

Good Luck!!

[bgpilot1]

John Reed at Boeing Field, Reed Aviation, doesn't do a lot of Mooney work but he is great and has many Bonanza customers.

I was impressed with the level of service I received at Harvey Field at the shop.  Phil owns the shop and airport and can probably help you as well.  Great guy.

There are 2 shops on KPAE Paine Field that do annuals on Mooneys.  I've heard of several people using them.

I've got one more guy who is a boeing mechanic and works out of his car.  He maintains my friends twin comanchee and he is really happy with his work.

And I believe there is a Mooney service center just north of Seattle.  Check the mooney site for authorized service centers in your area.  pm me if you want the contact info for those above.

Barry

[bgpilot1]

Then there was some guy who did an 8 hour pre buy inspection at BFI on my Cherokee 140.  He told me the carpet was dirty and a lot of other items to make me lower the price!  I forgot his name...quickly.

[piperpainter]

Awww im so sad! This is a great plane. The guy would fly it all the time up to Friday Harbor. He is actually parked just a few spots away from me. I knew he had Spanaflight do the annual cause i've seen it come out of there. The plane has been parked outside for as long as i've known it. About 3 years. I never really talked to the owner other than on the radio. Anyway...to further help you.

The paint does look decent from when i've looked at it. I've cleared snow off it before didn't look bad at all! As I said before the owner would fly it alot, id see it gone as much as I saw it there. I have a mechanic who ownes and knows Mooney's pretty well on the field. He does my annual with me and he does several other Mooney's as well. He isn't a service center but he knows them well. Jim Bergman, he's been around airplanes most of his life, he retired from united maint. Very nice guy and easy to work with right on the field. I highly recommend him to all friends in aviation as he & his son do a great job all kins of airplanes. Twins, singles, gliders etc. He has a couple people that fly in their airplanes from other states even!

Mountain Aircraft is the name of the business.  James (Jim) Bergman (253) 845-3803. You can tell him Bryan Painter told you to go there! At least give him a call!

Also when it comes to Spanaflight Craig is one of the AI's that works there. He has a really good knowledge of Mooney's as well so the airplane has at least been in good hands with him. I don't go through spanaflight myself but before I had Jim as my mechanic I was going to go through them. I didn't because they don't really allow much of the owner assisted maint. Goodluck and if you have any more questions about stuff at KPLU let me know. I maybe on the other side of the world right now but I do have the connections still!

Also I wanted to add that they do have a Mooney Maint center that charges alot, but if thats what your looking for...up north of Seattle at Skagit KBVS.

Goodluck!

[Mooney13]

I second the suggestion of Jim Bergman. I just met him yesterday and spent a couple hours talkaing with him about Mooneys. All I have ever heard around there is good things about him and that he is the guy you want to bring your Mooney (or any other airplane) to. I am bringing mine to him moving forward. He is also a very nice guy. In fact I just talked to him about the one you are looking at yesterday.

I looked a that plane last week when I was down at KPLU and it seems to be pretty nice on the exterior...the interior is going to need some panels (interier), but that should not take much. I would ask them to show you some additional pictures of the interiorso you can decide for yourself on the panels...I remember the left front side interior panel being pretty beat up. It would not stop me from buying it if that was all, but I have flown a long way (twice) to look at Mooneys only to end up going home mad that I wasted time and money because they were not honest about something.

Good Luck!

Overall it sure seems like a good deal

 

[MooneyMitch]

You might investigate Advanced Aviation in Troutdale, Oregon.  There is currently an Ovation in pre-buy there for a European buyer.  Other than that, I am seeking information about Advanced as well.  Best to you.

[Guest Anonymous]

I am another vote for Jim Bergman at Mountain Aircraft. He knows, and loves, Mooneys. He owns an M20E, and works on mine and at least four others that I know about. Also, you have the advantage that Jim is located at PLU, and that is where the aircraft is. I looked at it last week during an event here at Thun Field (Pierce County), and can still see it out my office window.

Jim also does not discourage owners from being around and helping a little.  He encourages those who want to know their airplanes better -- a big plus in my opinion.

RFB

[FlyingAggie]

Thanks everyone for you suggestions.  Interestingly I posted this same request on the MAPAlist and only receieved one reply and that was for the MSC.  MooneySpace rocks!

Dave, I talked to Reliant a couple of times about Mooney 231's thay had listed.  They sounded knowledgable on the phone.  I thought Reliant was too far away to go for a prebuy.

Barry, Thanks for the leads on A&P's.  I belive ViaJet is the name of the MSC in Burlington, WA.

bgpilot1, That is the type of prebuy I want to avoid.

Bryan,  Thanks for the G2 on the N231KQ.  Spanaflight said it hadn't been flown much in recent years and the owner is a Psychologist who has either lost interest in flying or is too busy.  Sad when an a/c slowly rots away on the ramp.  I hope that is not the case with this one.  Glad to hear the paint looks good.  I appreciate you recommending Jim Bergman.  The picture of N231KQ is the snow, reminds me of the AVIS neglected car commercials.  Finally I appreciate your service to our country and hope you are soon safely home in the left seat of your 20C.

Joe,  What did Jim Bergman think about N231KQ?  Did he know anything about it?  Spanaflight was up front about the busted plastic panels and sent me pictures.  Of all things requiring fixing on an a/c, interiors should be pretty easy.  Spanaflight sent me an estiamte for installing new panels and it was about $800. Hard to believe the owner hasn't had them replaced before putting the a/c on the market.  Hope it is not an indication of neglected maintenance, Spanaflight claims they have maintained it properly and it hasn't been neglected.  I figure I may be able to hire Jim to do a pre-prebuy for less than a ticket from Denver to Seattle and based on his assessment decide to move to the prebuy.

Mitch,  Thanks for mentioning Advance in Troutdale.  Maybe someone will post more information about them.

RFB, Thanks.  That's the third vote for Jim and he sounds like a solid recommendation, especially with him being on the same field.  However, do you don't think with him being local would bias him into a favorable opinion of the plane? Does N231KQ  appear to be a ramp queen (i.e. flat tires, bird pop and oil leaking underneath? 

For you NW'erners, how bad an environment is the ramp at KPLU?  Is corrosion a problem for non-hangared a/c at KPLU?

Since I am not checked out in a Mooney,  I'll need to find an instructor to take me on test flight and then if I buy it, fly it and me back to Denver. Spanaflight may have someone on staff, but does anyone have a recommendation for Mooney savvy instructor?  Of course if Parker would complete his CFI and get some 231 time,  he might be an option, but I would have to fly him to Seattle and back home from Denver.

I am also looking at another unhangared 231, but this one is from a very dry environment and is flown about 150-200hrs per year.  It is Plane B in the "Plane A or Plane B" thread.   BTW Plane A sold yesterday.

Alan 

 

[eaglebkh]

Alan,

We didn't get too much into any detail, Seems he did not know much about that plane other than it has not been flying much recently, but said it seemed like a good deal. Jim pretty much agreed with me (and you) that it was a shame that the owner didn't ever just replace those rather inexpensive panels...It's not a big deal, but if oyu were going to have a non-pilot go for a spin, they might be on pins and needles after seeing them, not knowing much about planes...

I think Jim will be a good fit for a pre buy.. I really felt like he was a good guy and would want to make sure things are safe. 

Ironically, I spent a week with some engine issues in your neck of the woods bringing my Mooney back from IL...Good Ol' Greeley (I can still smell that place

Bootom line.. I would be interested in it if I had not bought mine only 10 months ago...It loks like a good waxing and some TLC, it's going to be a beauty... Also, I have a great ferry pilot that actually brought my Mooney from Greeley to Seattle if you end up needing one, let me know..He's very reasonable... and lives in the northwest

Good luck!

Joe  aka. Mooney13 .....not sure what is going on with the forum...

[eaglebkh]

Alan,

Well...that last post was from Me (Mooney 13) so yes, there is obviously some bugs goign on....

Joe

[piperpainter]

I would not worry about Biase with Jim. He is not the official mechanic on the airplane so he can tell you all the things that Craig may want to say but the owner may not want to divulge. Thats is actually how he explained a pre-buy to me when it came to me purchasing a plane. I am glad to see others chime in about Jim, he truly is a great person to work with and very knowledgable. Not that you want to know but I had a mechanic go through all the logbooks, and do a thorough inspection then report to me all the items that needed to be addressed and what they felt the plane was worth etc. It was a great $500 or so bucks. Next thing ya know I purchased the tickets to TX to go get my girl! So by all means, complete a pre-buy then make your decision before going out there.

Also don't think that the plane has been rotting and been neglected on the ramp. To answer a few questions no, I have never seen the tires flat or cracking etc. I know he flew the plane, like I said it seemed it was often gone every weekend maybe sitting up in friday harbor(less than hour flight) while he was at his other place. So definitely NOT a ramp queen.  

In regards to the snowy picture...that was several days of unexpected snow storms. Not everyone could make it out to the airport due to the roads. I went to check up on my girl first thing the next morning and actually cleared about 30 airplanes tails of snow, since its not good when they fall on the tail or have all that extra weight on them. As a matter of fact thats were I met SAGEMGUY and told him about Jim for the first time! Anyway I recall that the owner of the 231 showed up the next day to check on his plane and was very grateful I had cleaned it off. I would say he was not neglecting the beautiful bird but couldn't get to it that moment.

I have my airplane outside and haven't had any problems yet. But I try and watch out for her and make sure nothings leaking inside etc. I wouldn't worry to much about the interior. If your all about eye candy then yes but otherwise if its a great airplane that just needs new interior id say go for it. I got new carpets for my airplane made and it cost me around $240.00 and WOW does it look better! I didn't let that deter me cause thats easy fix stuff.

Lastly, Mooney instructors can be hard to find but I am pretty sure there is a flight school up at Boeing field. So maybe look around the flight schools (one used to rent a Mooney) and see if that instructor can help you. I hope you find someone either way!