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Hello Rick:

If your objective is to get to from point A to B and save time, buy another Mooney.
You would have to do a lot of flying to make up for the 3000 +- hours building
time. There is no rational analysis that justifies building your own airplane on a
time/cost basis. Don't even try.

Now if your objective is to build an airplane and suffer the agony and ecstasy of
that experience then you should build the best airplane you can afford. Building
an airplane is the guy equivalent of pregnancy and childbirth except that building
an airplane takes longer and there is more blood and cursing involved. First
flight is one of those life experiences that separates people who are alive from
people who live.

You want to build the best airplane you can afford because you get the best return
for your time spent. Think of it this way, you can restore a '73 VW Beetle or a
'73 Porsche 911RSR and you would spend the same amount of time on each. Assuming
the the percentage increase in value was the same for both, you would receive many
times more return for each hour spent on the Porsche then the VW.

On the topic of user groups, I have a good friend who owns a Mooney and he would
much rather hang out with Lancair pilots than Money pilots. I have never been to a
Money gathering so I couldn't say.

Building and flying your own airplane will enrich your life in ways you cannot now
imagine or predict. The people you meet will be worth knowing. The decision to
build will change your life.

What say you?

Brent Regan
LIV-P (550 flying hours)

LML homepage:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html