Abandoned and Derelict Mooney’s

[takair]

Thought maybe we had a thread but couldn’t find it.  I’ve sadly watched these two deteriorate over the past 30 years.  We’ve made offers on the red, white and blue one when it was still salvageable….but they were “going to get it going”…..that’s probably still their story.  The last move really did a number on them, the pay-loader and straps were not kind.  We seem to have a number of these here at OXC.  A buddy has bought and restored a derelict Cessna and is working on a J-5 from our graveyard, he’s kind of an aviation superhero, but I fear these Mooneys are done.  The Piper has an excuse, the wind took it for a ride and it landed hard, upside down….  Ironically, across the street from them is a crematorium.

[hammdo]

So sad….

-Don

[EricJ]

Seems like a lot of airports have the usual derelict lot.   There are a few Mooneys at DVT as well, including a dash model (pre-M20A).   There used to be an unpainted E model that had sat around for a long time, but the engine disappeared, and then about a year later the entire airplane disappeared.    I've no idea what happened to it, but another has showed up since then to take its place. 

 

[201Mooniac]

There is an F model sitting at RHV for the almost 20 years I've been there.  It wasn't too bad when I first got there but has slowly gotten worse.  Recently I noticed the vent window open so I'm sure the tube structure is gone.  I doubt it even has many serviceable parts anymore.  Mostly just scrap metal.

[OR75]

but the title owner is an aircraft owner. So that's enough to satisfy the ego. Nothing wrong with that.

[1980Mooney]

This provides more evidence that the number of Mooney’s that are actually flyable or will ever fly again is far less than the number registered. 

[1980Mooney]

There are 2 Mooney’s that crashed on Block Island, KBID.  A J botched a landing and pushed the gear through the wings in 2020. And a K with a Rocket 305 conversion botched a takeoff going through a fence. Per FlightAware neither have flown again. A report last year by someone on Block Island said they are both sitting there rotting in the salt air. 

 

[Schllc]

There is an ovation at my home field. 
It sat there for about 5 years, the owner stopped paying rent, the cover rotted off, the tires were flat etc. I tracked him down to try to buy it and he declined. 
The airport lost contact with they owner, but when they finally tracked him down they  started the process to ultimately auction the plane.  On the last day he had to respond with action he pulled it into a shop on the field and dropped in a new engine and prop, and did an annual. 
He then got into a lawsuit with the shop for non payment, then the shop changed hands.  The plane hasn’t flown or been moved since. This was four years ago….
to this day it is still on the ramp, in the sun…. 
N505WM

[Larry]

I know of a K with TKS that is sitting in a heated hangar in a dry environment at a fly-in community.  The owner doesn't want to sell.  I think it's his trophy.  I gave him the contact info for Jimmy a year ago.

[cliffy]

Got a 231 sitting for years at KPGA that ran into a concrete channel while taxiing at night 

NOTHING is unbent on it yet the owner still pays tiedown every time the airport goes to auction it off.

Has been there for 6 or 7 years now. 

Had a new engine but no insurance

Edited August 16, 2023 by cliffy

[Fly Boomer]

On 8/15/2023 at 9:12 PM, cliffy said:

Had a new engine but no insurance

What could go wrong?

[PT20J]

On 8/13/2023 at 2:20 PM, 201Mooniac said:

There is an F model sitting at RHV for the almost 20 years I've been there.  It wasn't too bad when I first got there but has slowly gotten worse.  Recently I noticed the vent window open so I'm sure the tube structure is gone.  I doubt it even has many serviceable parts anymore.  Mostly just scrap metal.

Is that 310 with the flat tires still tied down there west of the old Aero Trends hangar?

[201Mooniac]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

Is that 310 with the flat tires still tied down there west of the old Aero Trends hangar?

It has moved but it is still on the field last I noticed.  There is also an MU2 (I think) that is parked there where the rudder got disconnected at the top and is now bent over and flopping in the wind.  A very sad state of affairs.  The really sad case was the P51 that was in the SJC tiedowns for years due to a bad divorce.  It ended up in a really sorry state before it was removed.

[GeeBee]

Actually that P-51 was owned by an old guy who worked for Fokker and helped develop the fire through the propeller cam link. He sold it to a guy who then got wound up in a divorce. It was a Cavalier P-51 and had a well restored airframe before sitting for years over on the west side. The real crime at SJC was tearing down the SJSU Aeronautics facility. It had a primo recip and jet test cells. Shame on everyone involved.

[A64Pilot]

On 8/14/2023 at 12:46 PM, Larry said:

I know of a K with TKS that is sitting in a heated hangar in a dry environment at a fly-in community.  The owner doesn't want to sell.  I think it's his trophy.  I gave him the contact info for Jimmy a year ago.

There are several airplanes like that where I am, no Mooney’s though. Last year one Lady finally sold what looked like a pristine Twin Comanche that had been sitting for years after her husband had passed in a hangar. Something strange going on in one house, the Husband hasn’t been seen since I moved in at least, the Wife has moved her family in, and an A36 Bo and an Ercoupe sit in the hangar. Another German couple have a V tail that I’ve never seen move.

There is however something I’ve never seen before, an Ercoupe with the twin tails but a Mooney decal on it, i know Mooney bought the Ercoupe and put the backwards tail on it, but did they sell any with the twin tails?

[Planegary]

Yes Mooney did sell a few of the twin ercoupes that had already been built before they took possession of the business. one of my old buddies used to own ( to the best of our knowledge and research) the last twin tailed ercoupe .It carried  2 data plates. 

[birdofjoy]

There is an F model sitting at RHV for the almost 20 years I've been there.  It wasn't too bad when I first got there but has slowly gotten worse.  Recently I noticed the vent window open so I'm sure the tube structure is gone.  I doubt it even has many serviceable parts anymore.  Mostly just scrap metal.

I think that's one on row Juliet, pretty much in front of my hangar. Breaks my heart every time I see it.

[Igor_U]

On 8/20/2023 at 3:01 PM, A64Pilot said:

i know Mooney bought the Ercoupe and put the backwards tail on it, but did they sell any with the twin tails?

I always wonder why people call it "backwards tail" if it's facing forward?? 

[A64Pilot]

16 hours ago, Igor_U said:

I always wonder why people call it "backwards tail" if it's facing forward?? 

Because it’s backwards to everybody else. I think it’s vertical depending on elevator trim I guess. Straight leading edges are considered normal for wings and elevators but for some reason not for the vertical. Cessna I guess may have been first to sweep the tail back to make it look faster or more modern or whatever. I believe the old Cessna “square tail” is more effective, but marketing wanted the modern look.

Why are most old airplane tails round? I don’t know I suppose someone way back when liked round things?

[201Mooniac]

On 8/20/2023 at 9:58 PM, birdofjoy said:

I think that's one on row Juliet, pretty much in front of my hangar. Breaks my heart every time I see it.

Yes, it is.  I've seen it deteriorate for so many years and it is very sad indeed.

[Planegary]

I was shown a photo this week of a nice looking J sitting at trigger gap arkansas without an engine or prop off on the side of the grass runway. Was told it had been there for over a year. 888DF. Anybody know what happened?  Hate to see it sit around like that

[toto]

14 minutes ago, Planegary said:

I was shown a photo this week of a nice looking J sitting at trigger gap arkansas without an engine or prop off on the side of the grass runway. Was told it had been there for over a year. 888DF. Anybody know what happened?  Hate to see it sit around like that

It’s been there long enough that it looks like the satellite caught it. Here’s a screencap from Google Maps. 

[1980Mooney]

1 hour ago, Planegary said:

I was shown a photo this week of a nice looking J sitting at trigger gap arkansas without an engine or prop off on the side of the grass runway. Was told it had been there for over a year. 888DF. Anybody know what happened?  Hate to see it sit around like that

 

1 hour ago, toto said:

It’s been there long enough that it looks like the satellite caught it. Here’s a screencap from Google Maps. 

Something doesn't make sense.  If it is N888DF, ADSBExchange shows it flying in north TX, north LA and south AR as late as July 24, 2023.  It is blocked on FlightAware.  So it appears to be a fairly recent incident - maybe a prop strike.  But the incident flight to north Arkansas doesn't show up.  

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ac3bde&lat=33.160&lon=-93.600&zoom=9.6&showTrace=2023-07-24&trackLabels

It is a Missile conversion with an IO-550A and a crazy expensive full feathering Hartzell Scimitar prop.

Here is an ad from around 2015 - N888DF | 1992 MOONEY M20J 201 MISSILE on Aircraft.com

That is a terrible place to be replacing an engine and prop.  A Missile requires a lot more manhours/complexity to remove/replace/set up compared to a regular J.  Working uncovered in the sun, rain and dirt can't be conducive to the best installation.  They need a crane truck too.  

This same plane suffered a left gear collapse by a new owner in 2011 - slide off the runway and tore the plane up pretty good.  

"AIRCRAFT LANDING ON RUNWAY 2 AT LOT. ON ROLLOUT, THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED SLOWLY AND THE AIRCRAFT SKIDDED TO THE LEFT, HIT A RUNWAY LIGHT, CROSSED INFIELD GRASS BETWEEN RUNWAYS, CROSSED RUNWAY 9/27 AND STOPPED IN THE GRASS TO THE NORTH OF RUNWAY 9/27 AND WEST OF RUNWAY 2/20. DAMAGE TO PROP, LEFT WING LEADING EDGE, LEFT FLAP AND AILERON, LEFT HORIZONTAL STABILIZER LEADING EDGE AND TOP SKIN, AFT BOTTOM OF FUSELAGE, REAR BULKHEAD AND BULKHEAD UNDER HORIZONTAL STABILIZER. AIRCRAFT JACKED AND THE LANDING GEAR LOWERED. AIRCRAFT TOWED TO WINDWALKER AVIATION HANGAR."

[Planegary]

All I know is I was shown a pic this week from a guy that had just flown from there a couple hours before and he told me that was the tail number. Maybe he was mistaken on the number but that is what it looked like to me  maybe it was something very similar of an N number since the photo was grainey 

[1980Mooney]

31 minutes ago, Planegary said:

All I know is I was shown a pic this week from a guy that had just flown from there a couple hours before and he told me that was the tail number. Maybe he was mistaken on the number but that is what it looked like to me  maybe it was something very similar of an N number since the photo was grainey 

You are probably correct.  The color in the satellite pic looks right. I am just saying I don’t think it has been sitting a year. 
 

It also fits because landing a Mooney Missile 300 conversion on dirt or grass is inviting disaster.  Too much weight on the nose and less prop clearance than a regular J.