Mooney Prebuy

tmyers

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Tim Myers
Anyone know a good place to get a pre buy on a Mooney in San Antonio
 
Take it to Kerrville.

Don Maxwell is in Longview.

If you're serious about the plane, they shouldn't mind flying it to the prebuy.
 
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Isn't there a major mooney dealer in San Antonio ?
 
I didn't realize San Antonio was so close to Kerrville. Everyone seems to recommend Dugosh.
 
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Anyone know a good place to get a pre buy on a Mooney in San Antonio

Hey, I am actually working in Kerrville now. I have been here a week and will be here another 8 days. I pass Al Mooney Rd. every day on my way to the job site. Did you sell the Arrow?
 
I still have my Arrow. The request was for an instructor that dropped by the shop lastnight. He is looking at a Mooney that is on Controller. He is in Dayton and the aircraft is near San Antonio. Don was recommended to him as a Mooney guru but he had no clue and neither did I. The posts pretty much confirmed he would get a good pre-buy from Don. He was concerned about the price for the pre-by at about 2 AMU's. This is his first aircraft so I was just trying to get some information for him. Thanks to all that responded.
 
Don't forget to add about 3 minutes for the overhead break!!!!!

Overhead breaks reduce time in the air. Goes with the Flux capacitor and all that.
 
Don's PPI is far less than 2 AMUs...that is even more than the base rate for an annual IIRC. Dugosh (recently sold, might have a new name) in Kerrville would also be a good choice.
 
That was he second one that was suggested. I think the prospective owner is on the right track. I really encouraged him to hop on a jet and fly down for the pre-buy if the selected A&P would allow him to participate.
 
The closest good place is actually Southwest Texas Aviation in San Marcos. They are a Mooney Service Center, also know Mooneys really well and much closer than Don Maxwell. They created many Mooney mods back in the day and are good to work with. I used them for a pre buy and found a fatal flaw in my prospective purchase in about 30 minutes.

As to Dugosh, they recently got bought by a more "general" repair facility. It is not clear at this time how much of the old Dugosh reputation and knowledge carries over. IMO, they kind of have to earn the rep over again because from the sounds of it, the major knowledge and experience over there retired.
 
Don's PPI is far less than 2 AMUs...that is even more than the base rate for an annual IIRC. Dugosh (recently sold, might have a new name) in Kerrville would also be a good choice.

Yeah.. my pre buy was $800ish. I turned it into an annual, and then paid the difference for the annual. If the pre buy had turned up something bad, obviously I wouldn't have proceeded with that annual.

Advantage? Well, if you do it at a reputable shop (mine was at Wilmar), then you know about as well as you're going to know that there's nothing major wrong.

I'll type this, and then the engine will blow up this weekend, but in 18 months, the ONLY thing I've had go wrong was the xpndr. That's it. I paid more up front to get a great airplane, and it's paid off in availability if not actual $$$ savings. (You probably pay either way, but I'd rather pay once, up front, and then use the darn thing).
 
Tim if you are going to request a pre-buy inspection you really should write up a contract and tell the mechanic exactly what you what them to inspect. A pre-buy is not recognized by the FAA as an approved inspection, but the maintenance they perform such as compression checks and such should be documented in the aircraft records.

I would recommend you request a complete records check for all life limited parts, AD compliance, and explain and missing records or gaps in the aircraft records before they even look at the aircraft. At the very least order the aircraft records from Oklahoma City on CD yourself. Knowing who owned it before and where I has been will tell a lot about the condition the aircraft is in.
 
It isn't for me. i ran into an instructor at the shop and was asking for him. A local took him flying in a v tail trying to convince him not to buy a Mooney Not sure how that turned out.

Regardless I have passed all your comments on to him. He was impressed that I had a good number of responses in such a short time.

If he ends up using one of the guys mentioned I will let you know how this all goes for him.
 
Tim. I did the log review for him, it looks like the a/c had been to Don for the last few years. I think they were going down with the intention of bringing it back.
 
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