M20J's for rent and instruction

[thor116]

Hey folks,

I'm a 200ish hr PPL with an IR based in the middle TN area.  I'm in the market for a plane and my research keeps bringing me back to the J.  I still have yet to get my complex endorsement and was wondering if there's anywhere I can go to get my complex and 8-10 hrs in a J to see if its a good fit.  I'm cool with traveling if needed.

I've looked back thru some old posts about rental mooneys and havent seen anything recent.  Most of the listings I did find are either no longer in business or no longer have mooneys.  There were a handful of clubs, but none allow outsiders to train in them.

 

Bonus question: With my low time, whats the best way to mitigate the insurance sting before buying?  Will 10hrs time in type even be helpful?

Thanks!

[toto]

There was a thread a few years ago that tried to put together a comprehensive list of rental Mooneys. 

https://mooneyspace.com/topic/33671-rentals-known-mooney-rentals-in-the-usa-and-beyond/

Parker Woodruff is the local insurance expert, so you might ping him for a specific recommendation. 

Anecdotally, my perception is that retract time is the most important variable in premiums for new Mooney owners. If you have a ton of retract time but zero Mooney time, your rates won’t be terrible. But if you’re new to retracts and new to Mooneys, it will be expensive the first year. 

[KSMooniac]

There used to be a J for rent at my home base, KAAO (Jabara Airport, Wichita, KS).  It was in a lease-back operation, but now it looks like it is owned by the lease-back corporation, Sabris Corp.  Aircraft Services | Wichita, KS | 316-685-2324 (sabriscorporation.com)   N1146L is the J, but it is not listed explicitly on the site.  I saw it flying a couple of weeks ago, so it is presumably airworthy but beyond that, I don't know the status.

[802flyer]

Bonus question: With my low time, whats the best way to mitigate the insurance sting before buying?  Will 10hrs time in type even be helpful?
Thanks!

10 rental hours will be vastly more expensive than any savings on insurance. Better to buy your plane and get the 10hrs of transition training flying it. Get your complex endorsement as part of that process. I was in almost exactly the same scenario as you with regard to experience/hours and that’s how I did it. Would do it the same way going forward.

If you want to get a feel for the J before buying, that might be a reason to pursue renting for a couple hours.

To mitigate the sting, your best option is to just fly your new plane as much as possible and keep your insurer updated as you gain time in type. They should be able to tell you “you’ll get another break after another X hours in type” each time you call.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KSMooniac]

You can talk to @Parker_Woodruff for some what-ifs regarding Mooney experience versus Year One insurance premium costs.  He's also a very experienced Mooney CFI as well.

Getting your transition training in a rental J would be a great way to see if the plane will meet your needs without making the huge commitment to purchase first.  It will not save you an equivalent amount of money on your insurance, though, but that is only a secondary reason to try-before-you-buy.  Getting a good checkout from a Mooney-savvy CFI (not some 300 hour wonderkid with 1 hour in a Mooney) would set you on the right path to safe operation in a Mooney.  You might still be required to get some transition training after a purchase, even with 5-10 hours of Mooney time too.  Don't fear it or complain...just plan for it and get the most experienced instructor you can and learn.  Your premium will go down after 100 hours in type, and after adding an instrument rating.

I checked out in an F model in my college flying club long ago.  Our club minimums (driven by insurance of course) were 125 hours TT, and a 10 hour checkout with club CFI's.  We also had a "mini-checkride" requirement that had us fly with a "senior Mooney CFI" as a quality-control check.  This allowed junior CFI's (ie time-builders) to do the bulk of the transition training, but then a more experienced instructor did the final check-out to make sure nothing was missed.  As a poor college student, I hated the 10 hour checkout from a cost perspective, but it sure did serve me well!  I combined roughly half of that 10 hours with my instrument training and am glad for that experience.  I had no idea I would purchase a Mooney in the future at the time, but the training sure stuck with me.  (Sidebar, after I graduated, they removed the senior Mooney CFI checkout and I think even reduced the training to 5 hours, and someone totaled the plane in less than a year after the change.)

[Pinecone]

When I bought my plane, I had a LOT of retract time, but only 1 hour Mooney time.   Insurance was not outrageous, but upon renewal a year later, telling them I had passed 100 hours dropped my rate by 10%.

If you can't find a J to rent, ask around and see if you can at least fly with someone a bit to see how it fits.  You can pay for half the gas.

 

 

[Parker_Woodruff]

16 hours ago, thor116 said:

Hey folks,

I'm a 200ish hr PPL with an IR based in the middle TN area.  I'm in the market for a plane and my research keeps bringing me back to the J.  I still have yet to get my complex endorsement and was wondering if there's anywhere I can go to get my complex and 8-10 hrs in a J to see if its a good fit.  I'm cool with traveling if needed.

I've looked back thru some old posts about rental mooneys and havent seen anything recent.  Most of the listings I did find are either no longer in business or no longer have mooneys.  There were a handful of clubs, but none allow outsiders to train in them.

 

Bonus question: With my low time, whats the best way to mitigate the insurance sting before buying?  Will 10hrs time in type even be helpful?

Thanks!

Nothing before you buy.  Just buy and fly (a lot) your first year.

[Tim-37419]

@thor116 - I never called them but I thought there was a place in northern Alabama that gave transition training in their Mooney. I can't find the site at the moment but will google more later. I'm at KFGU if you ever just want to fly around or safety pilot for me 

 

Like Parker said, I've been flying at every opportunity. I'm at 120hrs in my J and my first insurance renewal is in April. I was a 500 hr. non-IR PPL when I bought the plane, the insurance rate was insane. I'm a few hours from 40 instrument time and will have my check ride done prior to renewal. I hope the insurance gets reasonable. I sure do miss what I was paying on my RV-7A, you'd think an experimental would be through the roof as well but for some reason it wasn't.

 

Edit: Not sure if this is your first plane but be prepared for the TN Dept of Revenue to make you sad with a tax assessment a few months after your purchase.

[thor116]

Thanks for the feedback everybody!  Still searching for someplace with a rental, although i've got some leads on flying along with owners.

@Tim-37419 I'd love to take you up on that! KFGU is just a short hop away.  I'll reach out once we dig ourselves out from all this snow.  Are you referring to the use tax? Is it like a one-time 7% tax on the purchase price?

[Tim-37419]

48 minutes ago, thor116 said:

Are you referring to the use tax? Is it like a one-time 7% tax on the purchase price?

Yep, that’s it.

 

Feel free to PM me any time.

 

Tim