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Hi Folks,

I just re-joined the 150/152 club, as I am now in the market (again). And Yes, I'm REALLY excited about it. I just now discovered this forum and see that it's a gold mine of information. Wow! I'm in good hands indeed!
To summarize, I (finally) earned my ticket last August and the 40 minute drive to and from the FBO is seriously curtailing my flying, especially when there is a sleepy gem of an airport just four minutes away (but without an FBO) I've decided I want a nice 150 with the hopes of flying it a whole bunch for a year or two, and then see where it takes me. OK, I've been around aircraft for a long time and would like to think I'm not the average idiot looking for a 150. (!) I've got the book by Mike Arman on my desk, as well as the service and parts manual for a 69 J model. OK, here's where I could really use the help of you wonderful Cessna 150 enthusiasts. I found a nice looking '69 J model for sale with 5500TT and 800 SMOH. Paint is very nice, not perfect, but was a quality job when it was re-painted in 1996. The seller has owned it just one year, and he is a straight shooter and a genuine guy. He owns a big name avionics installation and sales company and appears to be as honest as the day is long. He bought the plane at an auction from a flight school that was going out of business. He then juiced up the panel for his own use, which was a no-brainer since he owns the before mentioned avionics company. It has a KX155 w/ GS, KMA24 audio panel, a KT76A transponder with new encoder, and a panel dock mounted Garmin 396. So far so good. The asking price is $21,500. All logs are in order, and the aircraft is ready to go. The only thing that bothered me was a very slight crease (crease sounds too harsh, but...)in the fuselage skin above and to the front (I think) of the landing gear. It was on both sides, and is barely noticeable. The plane is in annual right now, and today I spoke with the mechanic. He says everything looks fine inside and out, and that it (the barely noticeable creases) ought to be OK. BUT THEN he inserted the magic CD and discovered that in 1977 the plane was wrecked and needed a long list of parts including a left engine mount stringer, an upper and lower fuselage skin, a tail cone and (get this) a new / (used) left wing. Hmmm...I feel the plane is airworthy as it inspected OK, flies well and looks good. My main concern is resale value. The seller had no idea of the damage history (I believe him) and frankly was quite miffed. My gut feeling is to run away, unless he wants to drop the price significantly. I mentioned that, and he says he has about $21,000 into it as it sits, and doesn't want to drop the price, (at least not yet). So, (if you're not asleep yet) my questions are:
Should I even consider this aircraft?
Should I run away and not look back?
Should I make him a low ball offer?
Is the damage history a deal-breaker?
How is selling price affected by damage history such as this?
The aircraft in question is N60855 S/N 15070622

Sorry to bombard you all with so much at one time, but I sincerely appreciate any and all responses.
Also, let it be known that I live in North County San Diego, CA (Fallbrook) and am looking for a nice 150.

Thank you all,

Sincerely,

Charlie Rowlett
Fallbrook, CA
EAA / AOPA / Cessna 150/152 club member
Low time pilot - long time enthusiast!

Charlie --

The price is a little high, but I don't think the damage history is a deal breaker, really. At least the plane's got some newer parts, right?

I personally would put this plane on the back burner and look around some more and see what you come up with!

And by the way, welcome to the forum!

Welcome Charlie,

I have a 1969 J as well. That price is a little steep for the time on the engine that he has. Damage in 1977, and the seller didn't know (and if he is being honest) then it is probably not an issue.

I was told this when I was looking for a plane. What is your mission? What are your future plans? What best meets your needs?

The 150 is a great bargin, especially since the Light Sport rules have helped to drive the costs of Cubs and Champs up. Good luck.

Charlie, go with your gut. Wrinkles in the skin, particularly around the landing gear are bad news, and particularly when you go to sell. If you spotted it, the new buyer will also, or you ought to tell him.

On the other side of the coin, if the damage occured at the time of the wreck that is 30 years ago so there is plenty of time in service. However, you don't know for sure.

Still, I would keep looking.

Geo.

Good morning,

Thank you all for the input. The repair back in '77 doesn't bother me too much, but the slight wrinkle does, and mainly from a resale standpoint.

I am looking for a clean machine that I can build time in. Mechanical is more important than paint, but then again I don't want one with the paint falling off either. (There seems to be plenty of those around). So, I am probably looking for about the same 150 that everyone else is.
Fallbrook Airpark is 708' elevation, and 2160' long. (Short for a county airport). My 'mission' is mainly day tripping, and the majority will be solo, or with my 75 lb grandson. I like to fly to the high desert and land at sleepy little airports. A trip to Kern Valley Airport (160 miles away) would be a typical saturday flight.

Thank you all for your input and assistance!

Charlie Rowlett

Charlie:

Just one more piece of input. If resale is an issue, then I would keep looking. There are LOTS of 150's out there that will be easier to sell when the time comes.

Reg

You know, it sounds like this plane has a lot going for it. Your mechanic says it checks out, it's got good avionics. 800 SMOH leaves you w/ at least 1000 hrs or more if you make TBO. So if you buy it now for $20,500 and a couple years from now sell it for $17 or 17.5 are you really that much worse off? You will have gotten years of fun flying from it after all.

I bought mine relatively cheap. It has also been wrecked. But like Gremlin says, it's got a bunch of new parts/pieces and it still flies great (OK, it flies a little crooked, but hey, I can live w/ that!).

OTOH, if that crease is talking to you at night, then listen to your gut. Back burner it, and keep looking for that sweetheart plane and be prepared to buy it. Obviously, at the ages we're talking about, many if not most of our planes have damage history.

Good luck, welcome back and please let us know if we can help.

Greg

Come up with an amount that you think the wrinkle will affect the selling price. If you can get the seller to deduct that amount, then its "hit" is already accounted for. If the seller won't budge, then keep searching.

Hi again,

You guys are great! I already feel "at home" and in good hands. I have already started looking at other 150s using the links that Royson posted, and my head is about ready to explode.
For example, aicraft "A" has a "too" new engine, lousy radios and fair paint for $24.900. Aircraft "B" is $23.9K and the owner won't stop raving about it, but I hate the paint scheme. Aircraft "C" is a '68 with nice p&I, but just a bit high time engine, decent panel but at $25.9K. I am willing to pay to get more, but on the other hand I'm trying to keep the cost in the low 20's.
Yes, i realize that it's not easy to shop for old airplanes, and I'm limiting the search to just California. How come the supposed one that sounds the best ever is always located in NC or NJ? (no need to answer that!).
The more I look and call, the more I like the '69 with the slight wrinkle at $21.5. Hmmm... I know you all know how I feel. I (like many) just don't have the time to be flying (or driving) all over California to locate the ultimate cream puff. The other method I suppose, is to sit tight, and wait for the perfect one to fall in my lap.
Hmmm....
Perplexed in Fallbrook....

Charlie Rowlett

Charlie, about that "crease"!

It's not really a crease, right? More of an oil canning or depression in the area of the gear legs? I made it to Clinton 2006, where we had scores of 150's and 152's for comparison, and that's one of the things I looked for. I was flying a plane that had the same beauty mark!

Guess what.... they almost every one have it, unless converted to tailwheel! Some of them are more noticeable while others are there, but almost invisible. The reason (I surmised) is that the skin is made of flat sheet metal, but is riveted to bulkheads in the gear area that have different radius curves. This is needed to enclose the gearbox properly, and transition from a curved to a flatter skin. It causes a need for a small compound curve in that immediate area. Since flat sheet metal was used instead of being formed into a compound curve, the result is a very slight "oil canning" of the skin in the gearbox area! I'm sure it helped keep Cessna's production costs down by ignoring this almost invisible blemish.

In short, it's normal! NOT damage!