How far is my cart in front of my horse?

[Dtips]

9 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I don’t think you’re crackers but I do think you’re over your skis.

Getting back into the air is doable.

Getting into a Mooney is doable.

The wild card here is the medical. My sense is that there is a personal story there (I’m certainly not requesting details) that has you in limbo for the time being. I would urge you to make attaining a medical your primary goal as all of the others hinge depend on that achievement.  

Plenty of people have trained in Mooneys. I personally don’t think there’s much, if any advantage to doing so. The airframe is robust for sure, but it is not as forgiving as a low speed trainer when it comes to mishandling and in most cases, quit a bit more expensive to repair if something goes pare shaped.  The first airplane I ever landed was a Mooney. I could land it unassisted from either seat by the time I was 16 but I still trained in an old C150. Some folks will argue that the military starts pilots out in high performance trainers, but that kind of immersive training is not typical of civilian training regimens.

I do think buying a trainer can be an economical alternative to renting. Cessna and piper trainers certainly aren’t depreciating. And while they have skyrocket in price there are deals to be had and you’ll not likely lose much if anything if you sell it a few years later.

 

good tip. thanks so much.

[McMooney]

Not very far, get the medical then go for it.  Unfortunately the med is tough

[Dtips]

8 hours ago, Hank said:

@Dtips, don't try to do it all step-by-step. This calls for a shotgun approach.

• work through whatever your medical issues are
• get with a CFI and get back in the air, but no solo flight without the medical
• look for that perfect Mooney
• put your name on the hangar list at your airport, and some surrounding ones
• when your 3rd Class is issued, go full speed to complete your PPL. But you'll still have time to search the Net and talk to fellow pilots and look for "your" Mooney.

Question:  how long ago were you originally a student? Did you have a 3rd  Class then? Sounds like you did. My memory is a little hazy, but there's a date for Basic Med that says you needed to have a valid [no yet expired] Medical of any class by a particular date, maybe July 2007 or some such. Find that date and see if your previous medical was valid then.

Once you are in the air with a medical, don't renew it but go to Basic Med. The AOPA website has all the details, available free without even membership. For now, add this as a research item:  1) finish up current medical situation. You can't go Basic Med with a medical submitted and not approved; 2) look around for a good plane; 3) find out all about Basic Med; 4) get on hangar waiting lists.

And don't forget to have fun while doing all of this! After working all day, of course . . . .

nice. I think 1989 was my medical. I joined the AOPA already. They have been great about advising me. They think It'll be fine but it may take multiple correspondences. I'll look into a basic med but I really think if I can get my class 3 I can hold onto it. 

good feedback. appreciate you

[Dtips]

6 hours ago, Nokomis449 said:

Keep your eyes on a Mooney but buy a cheap trainer for... training.  And time building.  Mooney insurance will eat you alive if you can even get it with such low time and no IFR rating.  On the other hand, taking two hours to get somewhere in a trainer vs 1 hour in a Mooney is great time building.  A friend wants a Mooney for the speed but even though he's a PP at 150 hours, I can't get him on my insurance because he's not IFR rated.  So he bought into a Piper140 because it's cheap to maintain, he can get his instrument rating in it, and he can fly it anywhere he wants to go, all while building time toward a future Mooney.  And with proper care and a little luck, he can be reasonably assured of getting most all of his money out of the Piper.

Really good insight. I had thought of this. I was actually off to look at a 140 near me but It sold before myself and a mechanic got a chance to see it. Thanks

[Dtips]

2 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

You just need to jump on the horse and go find the cart which passed the horse on the way down that steep hill and is now a couple miles down the road. . lol

Seriously tho, you may need to work with someone that specializes in FAA medical issues - they know well the hoops that need to be jumped through and seem to have a fast track to getting things done. You've probably already done this, but if you haven't, google "faa medical deferred" and you'll find people that do this and could at least give you an idea of what your chances are. You've been through this once, they've been through it many times.

When you get your medical and then your PPL, rent or get in a flying club and set a goal of __ number of hours in __ number of months. You'll know if flying is something you really want to pursue. Many people take lessons, fewer people by a large margin get their license and many fewer people than that stick with it. During reaching your goal the right deal on an airplane may come along unexpectedly, sicne you're around pilots and CFIs. The right deal seems never to come along if you are too anxious to buy. The point I'm trying to make is get the pilot goal out of the way first, get some hours under your belt and then if you're still passionate, set a goal of ownership.

(I bought a 172 2/3 of the way to my license but my life mas uncluttered,  I was 22 and passionate about it and didn't have the medical issue. I flew it 500 hours in 3 years, made some money on it and put that toward something nicer/faster, etc. etc.)

 

Funny. also, good tip. I've been talking to the AOPA on the medical issue. I'm at a small airport(huge runway tho) no flying clubs. maybe i'll look into some at the bigger cities around. This makes sense. I'll take it under advisement. thanks

[Pinecone]

IMO, medical first and foremost.  That is required for any path forward.    You can start flying with an instructor now, but realize everything may crash down on your plans WRT the medical.    If you had asked first, I would have recommended a consultation with an AME first, and if there were any flags, immediately contact Brent Blue or Bruce Chien to get you through the process.

Assuming you get your medical, then I would do you initial training in a rental just to not put the stress and wear and tear on you plane.

Once you are past soloing again, you could switch to your plane and do your PP in a Mooney.  But it is likely to take a few more hours.  And yes, the insurance will be brutal.

I am not a fan of renting after you get your PP and want to start using flying as you would like.  Much harder to do trips with a rental.  So after you PP, I would get serious about looking for a plane.

Another option based on your financial situation would be a partnership or club.  A friend of mine used to be in a partnership in a M20C.

[A64Pilot]

Forget the Mooney, there are many reasons why but I think you know most of them, odds are it will break you.

Go LSA, it’s orders of magnitude cheaper, it’s still flying and the Medical from my understanding is no big deal, unless you have busted an FAA Medical then it is.

But the money you’ll spend on an old Mooney will buy you a much newer LSA. People do get lucky every now and again, but odds are a 50 to 85K Mooney is going to require tens of thousands more in the first year.

I know several people that have sold their Bonanza’s etc and gone LSA because they could see the writing on the wall Medical wise.

I’m the furthest thing from an expert on the Medical thing, after decades of maintaining a Class 2 I’m now basic Med and it seems, well pretty basic.

 

[Pinecone]

Hard to do long family XC trips in a light sport.

[A64Pilot]

18 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

Hard to do long family XC trips in a light sport.

Overwhelming majority of people don’t fly long cross countries, especially new Private pilots, and I’m not knocking them , they are exercising their well developed decision making skills by not doing so, it’s rare to cross the Country without a front getting in the way.

IF  you fly long cross country VFR and I have many times in aircraft not equipped for IFR, (helicopters and crop dusters) be prepared to wait, sometimes for long times. My Father back in the day flew us home Commercial once or twice until he got his instrument ticket and was proficient, which begs the question on how capable is a 50 to 85K Mooney IFR?

IF by some unusual chance you discover that’s for you, sell the LSA and buy a Mooney, you will be walking into one a heck of a lot more educated and insurance may not rape you.

In truth I discourage new pilots from buying a Mooney, the insurance is prohibitively high for a reason, it’s too much for the average brand new PP, sure some get away with it but many don’t, hence the insurance rates. If your the type where the cost of the aircraft isn’t significant then that’s different than those where realizing the dream is about all they can handle. There is nothing wrong with not being Richie Rich, in truth it’s not hard to argue that I can’t afford my Mooney and she’s just an old J, I tell myself that I can because I’m an A&P/ IA, but the truth is I’m one cam away from being in a hurt financially and I’d guess that it would cost me 50% of what it costs an average owner. An eaten up cam would have us eating peanut butter for Supper. Some it wouldn’t bother.

I suspect based on what I read between the lines a 50K hit to make the airplane airworthy may hurt, and I don’t thing that’s necessarily unrealistic for a 50K to 85K Mooney, that’s ignoring the Medical issue that I admit I don’t know much about.

[Nokomis449]

Next to me is an old V-tail Bonanza.  The owner's 2 adult sons decided to get their PP in it because why not.  After a year or two they figured out the why not and switched to the local school's trainers to finish up.  They probably spent more on fuel and instruction in their own Bonanza than the trainer and instruction would have cost start-to-finish.

[Pinecone]

3 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Overwhelming majority of people don’t fly long cross countries, especially new Private pilots, and I’m not knocking them , they are exercising their well developed decision making skills by not doing so, it’s rare to cross the Country without a front getting in the way.

IF  you fly long cross country VFR and I have many times in aircraft not equipped for IFR, (helicopters and crop dusters) be prepared to wait, sometimes for long times. My Father back in the day flew us home Commercial once or twice until he got his instrument ticket and was proficient, which begs the question on how capable is a 50 to 85K Mooney IFR?

I was pointing out that the OP wanted a plane to make trips.

Telling him to go Light Sport is not answering his desires.

[bcg]

I say get the medical worked out first.  Other than that, I had 20 hours in my logbook when I bought my C and finished my private training in it, including the check ride.  I'm about 270 hours in the Mooney now and it's been a great plane to learn in.  If that's what you want, and you can afford it, then get it.

One thing that pops out to me is your mention of a $40k budget...  You can either buy a plane to work on or a plane to fly, at $40k, you're buying a project.  That's maybe fine if you want something to do while you're waiting on your medical to get worked out and you have a willing AP/IA to help you along the way but, if that's not the case I think you need to plan on spending at least 50% more than that to get a plane that's not going to need expensive maintenance almost immediately.  Cheap planes are almost never inexpensive.

[RoundTwo]

My SI medical, sleep apnea, took over 10 months. I wouldn’t want to be paying fixed expenses for that long without knowing end result.

[A64Pilot]

14 hours ago, Pinecone said:

I was pointing out that the OP wanted a plane to make trips.

Telling him to go Light Sport is not answering his desires.

Dreams, Desires are very similar things.

Example most working marina’s have a “field of dreams” they are filled with older cruising boats that people buy thinking that with enough sweat equity they can make them sea worthy and realize their dream of cruising the Worlds Oceans, because they can’t afford a cruising boat that’s ready to go. Very few make it, some it’s just more work than they thought but more often they run out of money, if they get lucky they can re-sell without taking too big a bath.

Many airports tie down areas are “fields of dreams” we all see the aircraft tied down that never move anymore, most often they weren’t broken, but ran out of annual, maybe needed some work and that along maybe with insurance is just more money than the owner can or wants to spend, so they sit.

The difference between boats and Certified airplanes is that you HAVE to pay a mechanic to fix your airplane, and that can get stupid expensive quick, especially when I read the threads here where some I hope kid A&P had them spending thousands replacing parts until hopefully one of the parts was the problem. I say I hope some kid in the hope it’s not an experienced mechanic.

Its not very likely that a Mooney in his price range will be one that he can realize his dream without additional thousands, possibly tens of thousands of dollars.

I think if he wants to continue with the Mooney dream he needs somehow to find a good mechanic and somehow become friends, perhaps maybe doing some of the grunt work for free like washing aircraft, depanneling for inspection, changing tires, re-packing wheel bearings with the idea of gaining trust so that when he does get his airplane the mechanic may let him do the work under his supervision.

But in truth I don’t know how to tell him to go about that. 

I don’t know what say 140’s go for now. I know what I paid for mine years ago and it was far less than what it costs to overhaul a four cylinder Lycoming, about 1/3 the cost of an overhaul, about what a good used car costs and honestly in 15 years or so that I’ve had it I haven’t spent significant money at all. Tires, a few gaskets, brake linings, a set of plugs maybe. It has a fixed prop, fixed gear, manual flaps that you really don’t need to use, I usually don’t. In short beyond the little motor there just isn’t much to break. Your not taking a family, but there is no reason if your not in a hurry that you couldn’t go anywhere a Mooney can, just takes longer is all.

Anyone can do a good pre-buy in an hour or two. Mine has metallized wings, many do.

It burns 5 GPH of $2.80 car gas. So fuel cost is 1/3 of what my Mooney’s is? Holds four quarts of oil and no $25 oil filter.

But you know, it’s still flying and like this morning just tooling around with my arm out the open window like a Pick up truck it’s fun flying too.

I assume an LSA is essentially just pretty much a newer 140.

You can take $40K and buy a NICE 140 I suspect and if you take decent care of it it, it’s not depreciating, it depreciated out decades ago. My SWAG is cost of ownership is half that of a Mooney? Some things don’t change, a hangar cost the same for a new Cirrus as it does for a 140 for example, but operating expenses for a 140 are nothing compared to any complex airplane

[Echo]

How far in front?  Quite a bit.

-Get your medical.

-Get your license.

-Get experience (by flying a fixed gear "simple" airplane.

-Get your endorsement in retract.

-Begin your search for the "right" Mooney.

That "search" means using google search, YouTube, Aviation Consumer, to educate yourself so you make a wise decision for you and your family.  You will be looking at a short body M20C or M20E at your price point should a Mooney be "right" for you and family.

Flying/owning a Mooney is doable with low time, but why undertake the risk and expense before you know "This is the way"?

Good luck and enjoy your retirement adventures.  Scott

[A64Pilot]

Curious, what’s meant by family?

My opinion worth what you paid for it is that my J with four Adults is tight, I’ve done it with my two grown Daughters, but it was just a couple hour trip from Central Fl to Central Al and I won’t promise you that we weren’t overgross either.

I assume it would be tighter in an older Mooney, so small kids sure, adults? Not so much.

Back to that opinion, a J is to me is a very nice traveling machine for a couple, can carry lots of gas and a decent amount of baggage.

But it might be informative if you took the total weight of the family and see how much fuel could be carried. In truth you can ship baggage ahead of you if you’re only going to one destination, staying awhile and flying back. Carry what we used to call a RON bag with toothbrush, fresh underwear etc in the plane with you, just in case you have to remain overnight, and there is almost always a Walmart too if it goes more than overnight.

Foreflight standard weights are 205 for a man, 185 for a Woman. Many may be less but my guess is for Retirement age people that may be close to average.

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Dreams, Desires are very similar things.

Example most working marina’s have a “field of dreams” they are filled with older cruising boats that people buy thinking that with enough sweat equity they can make them sea worthy and realize their dream of cruising the Worlds Oceans, because they can’t afford a cruising boat that’s ready to go. Very few make it, some it’s just more work than they thought but more often they run out of money, if they get lucky they can re-sell without taking too big a bath.

Many airports tie down areas are “fields of dreams” we all see the aircraft tied down that never move anymore, most often they weren’t broken, but ran out of annual, maybe needed some work and that along maybe with insurance is just more money than the owner can or wants to spend, so they sit.

So, people have dreams.  And some of them come true.

But you don't tell someone who want to sail around the world to buy a 14' Jon boat with a 10 HP engine.  And you don't tell someone that wants to fly for family travel to but a Light Sport.

[Echo]

Lots of threads on flying cross country in Mooneys and size and comfort to do so.  Useful load is the issue to fly adults.  If you have a 34" inseam an adult can fly comfortably (of same dimensions) in a short body.  If above FAA standard weight it is going to be difficult to get four adults on board and "legal" for weight with enough fuel to "get somewhere".  Read up on useful load.  Sit in a short body Mooney.  At $85k you can get a nice plane if you are patient.  WHEN the time comes.

[A64Pilot]

 

My Father started out with a C-182, with a family, then as he gained experience he got a C-210, again with a family, the 210 was a good family machine.

Later as we grew up and didn’t travel with them he bought a C Model Mooney because he didn’t need the room of the C-210, my Mother packed in pillow cases because the Mooney was so cramped, I assume back then soft luggage wasn’t a thing. This was in the 60’s and 70’s. Relevant because newer 210’s and Mooney’s are bigger.

I think by advising him to buy a C Model Mooney for traveling with a Family, that’s telling him to cross Oceans in a John boat, most likely it’s not enough airplane for a Family.

But we don’t have the definition of family yet, but most at Retirement age don’t have toddlers, but until we find that out it’s sort of unknown, perhaps it’s one teenage Daughter that weighs 90 lbs?

Over and Over on this forum we have people who come on and ask I want to learn how to fly, think a Mooney’s a good airplane for it? Many come out and say yes of course a Mooney is an excellent first airplane, and we even usually have a few that say I did it, no problem.

A lot of that I think is because we don’t have any members who didn’t make it, rarely do we have those that the airplane breaks them financially, but every now and again we do, those that find out at first Annual that their antique airplane has excessive corrosion for example, but those usually quit the forum as do those that get overwhelmed and forget to put the gear down, or come in too hot and collapse the nose wheel or apparently run off of the runway.

By the way my J and of course my 140 are both antique airplanes, whatever the definition of antique is, most of us fly them.

Read the accident forum, see what the average time of ownership is for those that most often gear up.

The insurance is crazy high for a brand new PP with no complex time for a reason, it’s not profit taking by the insurance companies.

But you know what? For those that want to cross Oceans it’s probably best that they gain some experience in a 10 HP Jon boat before they strike out.

As I said I can’t carry four average adults, 50 gls of fuel in my J, I think a C or E doesn’t have much more useful than a J?

I know the same ones that claim over 160 kt cruise speeds will also claim over 1100 lbs useful, but my J can’t. It’s heavy and over equipped with old avionics but I doubt in truth that stuff really weighs more than 20 lbs or so.

Using Foreflight’s average of 205 lbs for a male and 185 for a female make two men and two Women weight 780 lbs.

That leaves 220 lbs for fuel and zero baggage or tie downs, jumper cables or whatever.

36 gls of fuel, assuming a 1000 lb useful load.

All mute of course until we hear what his family is

[midlifeflyer]

On 1/25/2024 at 2:11 PM, Hank said:

maybe July 2007 or some such

July 14, 2006.

[Shaark92]

On 1/24/2024 at 9:49 PM, carusoam said:

Welcome aboard Dtips!

1) You have come to the right place… to learn about what you are trying to accomplish…

2) If you have a ton of dough… train in your Mooney.

3) Short on dough…?  Training in your Mooney, isn’t usually the best route… until you are going after your instrument rating… IR.

4) Finding the right Mooney for you… will probably fit somewhere between M20A and M20V….
depending on how selective you are… may take a year to find and acquire the right one nicely dressed…, get started!

5) If you aren’t a mechanic… avoid the lower cost levels of any model…. The work involved to bring a worn out plane up to nice and safe… is prohibitively expensive…

6) planes have four costs… that can be added up. Airframe, engine, instrument panel, paint and interior…

7) if you want to be scared… look up the price to overhaul things to brand new condition… in the end, you end up with a brand new plane… with today’s cost, and 1970s vintage…

8) If you want to feel wealthy… look up what it costs to overhaul a brand P’s engine…  IO720…   

9) For the most part… searching for a first Mooney… there is a bit of a sweet spot in the alphabet…

10) Expect all Mooneys to have exactly four seats… some have a bit more leg room than the others…

11) Expect 98% of all Mooneys to have retractable gear and controllable pitch prop.  Essential bits of a fast efficient plane…

12) Entry level Mooneys come with two Lycoming engine choices… O360, and IO360…

13) O360s are carbureted and 180hp…  IO360s use fuel injection and other details to get to 200hp… the extra 10% hp is actually meaningful for many.

14) The sweet spot… M20C to M20J.  Easy, natural, step-up from the trainer…  your insurance provider will define transition training for you… often 10 - 20 hours before solo flight and then taking passengers…

15) The C, has the O360, it is a short body Mooney… makes a great plane for a family of four… until the kids grow to full size.

16) The E, like the M20C, has the IO360… preferred by the retired crowd… perfect plane for two people, with room to take four, on short hops…

17) The F, like the M20E, with more room in the back… preferred by Money makers that sit in the back…

18) The G, an oddity, it is the mid body Mooney like the F, but sports the M20C’s carbureted engine… aka the turtle of the Mooney crowd… 

19) Next step up…. The Modern Mooneys… starting with the M20J… Mooney got out the aerodynamics book, and fiberglass… and modernized the M20F… and called it the M20J.

20) So start looking for what plane fits your desires and needs… and start building your list of needs… Controller seems to be a nice place to find Mooneys….

 

use caution… if looking at mid level M20Cs, and you see an M20F at the same price…  there is probably a reason for that pricing oddity… dig deeper to figure out why it is priced so low… something may be damaged or worn out…

Buying a plane… There is something called a pre-purchase inspection… PPI… it is imperfectly, the best protection for your wallet…

There are no bad Mooney models… but, old machines have a tendency to need proper care over time… all planes need proper care, not just Mooneys…

My first Mooney… M20C.

I found MS while looking for my next Mooney… M20J / Missile… 

My second Mooney turned out to be an M20R… aka Standing Ovation…

I got my IR… between ownership of the two planes… in 2008. It’s been a while.  

 

Nothing cooler than waking up in the morning… checking the weather… and have the grandkids visit their grandparents hundreds of miles away…and be back later in the day… or three days later… depending on how you feel.
 

Life is short… Fly Fast!

Go Mooney!

You can do it!

PP thoughts only, not a plane sales guy…

Best regards,

-a-

Excellent Summary sir.

Newb to MooneySpace.  First post.

To the OP, good luck.  I was where you are ... starting out.  USAF cutting pilot slots left/right post Gulf War.  Just count the cost ... 

which is what I’m doing now.  It’s been nearly 30 years since I owned an airplane and it was just a time builder as I flew the A-10 in AFRES.

@carusoam I especially appreciate the comment about grandkids.  This is what brought me back to considering airplane owner/operator again.  First grand baby is about 80 miles west of SDF.  We are just north of Hamilton Texas.  17 hour drive day ... or almost 8 hours via commercial out of DFW.

4- 4.5 hours door to door sounds really nice ... but I’ve been out of this game for a long time.  Pops hangared a ‘67 C model and as a teenager with Pops, I flew it a bit, though never solo’d.  Pops was an aircraft mechanic.  So I have unofficial background though I do have my A&P, too.  Never used it professionally, only on my own C150 time builder ... and with his supervision for the more complicated tasks.

But I’m a pilot. As Imentioned, the A-10 ... and T38 Instructor ... currently a 26 year pilot for a major airline.

So ... I was raised with airplanes in my backyard.  Dad had a 2000’ grass strip on his place and I’ve operated out of it quite often ... 30 years ago.  But before memory plays tricks on me ... seems like that M20C did just fine ... even with power lines on the north end and trees on the south end ... with (as best as I recall) 100-150’ elevation change with the north end being the top of the hill.

Wifee and I have a small acreage, too.  I think I could comfortably get 1800’ formed-up with no obstructions, but also has elevation change similar to Dad’s, after some clearing and landscaping.

Getting reblued with the Mooney’s ... and I’m liking what I see in the J model.  Able to travel all over the US to see an honest prospect ... what are operator’s “top (5)” things to check .. .not just the ADs which I can find.

630nm distance from my farthest proposed muni (to start ... while the airstrip is being built) to the muni in western KY we’d use up there.  I know there’s a difference in advertised range and USEABLE range (Boeing and Airbus inflate their numbers significantly for my professional responsibility) ... no wind ... is this a legitimate non-stop?  Has any done a -337 major alteration with extended range tanks?

I know the Mooneys are known for their relatively small cabin ... contributes to their relative speed on a relatively small engine.  But I think for me and she we could do well with this.  

What’s the real current market?  the $19K C150 is long past in annals of history, so I’m expecting a “ready to fly”. Low to mid time engine/prop to be 6 figures?  But how far into that?   150 ... 200?  250????

Any specific problems with the electric gear?  (As y’all know, the -C is mechanical) ... is there an alternate extension?

Many thanks for tolerating this old has been/wannabe ... Before they left Kerrville, I had the pleasure of seeing the manufacturing plant.  So ... I’m interested.  IDK if my counting the costs will result in actually BEING an airplane owner (infrastructure at our place will likely be at least as much as the aircraft purchase.) ... but events start with a dream, right?

Al

 

[Hank]

@Shaark92, welcome back!

Mooney went with electric flaps and electric gear on all models in 1969; starting around 65 or 66, they were optional. My C has both, having been built in 1970. The J emergency extension is like a lawn mower pull cord behind the front seats somewhere; my C has a hand crank in the left sidewall, rather like old car windows, and was used on all Pre-J models up into the mid-70s I think.

I used to visit a 2000' grass strip on the riverbank, with a slight curve in it (I41 in West-by-Gawd, Virginny); for me, it was two people and half tanks, or solo and whatever fuel I had. When I go to the beach, inuse a 3500' grass strip that is often not fully mowed, with a displaced threshold landing towards the water. But to have my own runway would be great!

A J is just a grown up, more modern C. Fuel injection, aerodynamic cleanup, and five extra fuselage inches each for back seat legroom and baggage behind the back seat. The front seats and legroom are the same.

Some Js do have extended tanks; the C has 52 gallons, the J has 64 gallons, and extended tanks go up to ~100 gallons. But you'll have to look for one, no idea how many were done.

No idea on value, so much of that depends on avionics that are in the plane. Some more knowledgeable folks should chime in on that.

But 630nm should be doable in a J non-stop, depending of course on the winds aloft.

Good luck and happy hunting! There's a lot of Mooneys in Texas. 

[Shaark92]

9 minutes ago, Hank said:

@Shaark92, welcome back!

.....

9 minutes ago, Hank said:

But 630nm should be doable in a J non-stop, depending of course on the winds aloft.

Good luck and happy hunting! There's a lot of Mooneys in Texas. 

Thanks Hank!  Great info.  100 gallons!  Wow!  That should do it!  If I pull the trigger, non-stop is a must.

Will keep my ear to the ground here and contribute when I can.

Al

[Pinecone]

1 hour ago, Shaark92 said:

To the OP, good luck.  I was where you are ... starting out.  USAF cutting pilot slots left/right post Gulf War.  Just count the cost ... 

which is what I’m doing now.  It’s been nearly 30 years since I owned an airplane and it was just a time builder as I flew the A-10 in AFRES.

But I’m a pilot. As Imentioned, the A-10 ... and T38 Instructor ... currently a 26 year pilot for a major airline.
 

Which AFRES Unit?  I was a Hog Driver for MD ANG.

[A64Pilot]

I think you can find a good J for 100ish.

I did, mine has old avionics but dual VOR / ILS with old A/P, Garmin 430W, dual Comms. Engine is a Gann performance engine that had about 500 hours on it, Prop overhauled at same time as engine, all accessories replaced at overhaul. starter, alternator all hoses etc.

It’s an 81 model with 2,000 hours TT. Oh and the bladders were installed four or five years before I bought her.

Her weak links if you will are old but good serviceable avionics. I actually prefer them as it’s what I trained on back in the day and to be really pretty she needs new paint. The interior is original but as she honestly has always been hangared other than obviously being 1980’s vintage it’s in pretty good shape.

But the 500 hour Gann motor and prop plus the nearly new bladders to me more than make up for not having a glass cockpit and leather interior.

But you’re going to have to search, and have cash in hand because a good deal won’t last long. I was looking at mine within 24 hours of listing and the seller honestly had gotten a cash offer sight unseen for asking price as I was there.

However he was a “Good ole Boy and we had already shaken hands so he honored our deal.