Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes I need an attitude adjustment.

PLANE

1. if they give you attitude, screw 'em. You don't want to deal with a real peckerhead concerning something like an airplane, and large amounts of money.

2. Missing logs aren't a turn off for me. It really depends on how long ago they were lost and the type of documentation since the logs were lost. Could be an excellent airplane for a great price. Could also be a money pit. Not an automatic no-no for me.

3. Be prepared to spend money to save money.

4. It's a pain. NTSB records don't disqualify an airplane for me. Makes for a cool conversation piece. In all honesty, damage history or a crash aren't an automatic no-no. If they are repaired properly they are as good as new... sometimes better. A good rule of thumb is WHEN it was damaged. If it's got 500+ hours on it, I'm sure it's a good plane.

5. Pretty much. But then TT on a 150 or 152 is meaningless. I've seen trashed out 150s with 3,000 hours, and I've seen excellent airplanes at 14k+.

6. Get as much info as you can on the seller and aircraft. My tip is to ask airport personnel (AKA, LINE GUYS!) about the plane and pilot. I was a line guy for a couple years. Yep. We know A LOT about who the pilot is and what type of plane it is. Also you can ask folks in the club to check up on the plane, and we can also give you an evaluation of the owner.

7. When the 150 I was lined up to purchase at my home airport (from the FBO I worked for) got destroyed, I decided I wanted an adventure anyway. No closer than TN (I lived in FL at the time)... found on in OH. Fun trip.

8. Don't worry about it. When you get the plane and fly the wings off of it, your insurance will go down steadily.

9. Guilty. Sort of. I called the guy up who I bought 40J from the day the other plane got trashed and asked him some questions about her. Sounded good, so I asked if he has any buyers lined. Nope. Sent him $1000 to hold on to it for me. Came up there and bought it, without a prebuy. Probably a dumb idea, but it didn't bite me too bad.

HANGAR

1. Yep. I'm lucky at my airport, they just put in a ton of hangars, they covered the entire waiting list PLUS 12 hangars. Too bad all the old rotten (inexpensive) hangars are still taken. Drat. One year of waiting. A hangar is very nice, but not necessarily a must. Put that money into flying until your name is up on the list. The money you save on your insurance will help (but not cover) your hangar rent.

PPL

1. Yep.

2. Yep.

I'd go with a medium - sized FBO. $4200 later I was a private pilot. That included all the equipment, tests, books, etc.

GOING FORWARD ON THE PLANE

1. GOOD

2. GOOD

3. GOOD

GOING FORWARD ON THE PPL

1. Me neither.

Actually, find yourself a decent, medium-sized FBO, rent their 150, 152, Tomahawk, Grumman, Skipper, or whatever until you find your plane. It'll be over before you know it.

Hope this helps.