Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Buying a plane on eBay

I'm sure you are right and I'm fairly sure it would be an unpleasant surprise.

Really nice looking plane Paul.

Your comments support my decision not to consider purchasing any airplane in the 150/152 class in the UK or in Europe. It probably would make sense with some more expensive planes where the ferrying or shipping costs would be a smaller fraction of the total cost of the aircraft.

Many years ago I looked into buying a plane in the States and shipping it to Cairo where I was living at the time. The aeroclub there did it now and then but they would buy 150/152s in bunches and pack them up in containers - three planes per container as I recall - and that made more economic sense.

I'll just have to hold my horses and wait til I move home to buy.

So you did do a pre-buy with an AP in Texas or you left it to the pictures and conversation with the seller?

Beautiful plane by the way.

Paul, strangely enough current foreign currency (almost rhymes) fluctuations have favored the dollar. So much so, in fact, that I learned of a guy in the States arranging for the purchase of a nearly new Cirrus Perspective here in the UK for export to America. Sadly, in his case, the aircraft was destroyed in a crash the day before it was to be flown to its new owner.

Actually, right now the dollar/pound exchange rate has been the best it's been since I arrived here a little over two years ago. Back then it cost $2 to buy 1 GBP. Today you can buy a pound for $1.45.

The erosion of the pound has had me doing little happy dances for weeks. Avgas used to cost me $10.77 a gallon (actually a little over $12 but avgas prices were higher then). The price recently at my home aerodrome is $7.77.

Everything else is cheaper now too. Landing fees - cheapest used to be $10 every time your wheels touched the runway. Now a mere $7.25. Practice ILS at a nearby facility was 25 GBP ($50). Now a paltrey $36.25 (it is still 25 GBP per approach). But I am wandering off topic.

OMG I cannot imagine paying to practice and ILS approach! I am laughing because there have been times when I am really rusty and considering my performance, having to cough up money for it would have been adding insult to injury!

Catherine

Scary. Yup. Now, if they lowered the insane taxes on landings, approaches, and gasoline, I'd bet there would be a lot more aviation, and the tax from a small to modest fuel tax would cover airport maintenance and air traffic control rather than charge the 2 people that actually use the facilities and services out the wazoo.

They've got it backwards, and for a while there (and still a possibility) our wonderful government wanted to emulate the "excellent" user fee system like in Europe.

Uh... what?

Canada isn't so bad, but isn't great either... $20 just to transit from lower Saskatchewan up to Alaska, in addition to insane fuel costs due to taxes. The briefers and controller was friendly and competent, but the fields weren't in the best shape (not bad, but for such a premium just to use 'em, I want a complimentary touchless automatic airplane wash or something). Customs was free... sort of. I had to pay $25 for my shotgun.

US customs has me a little annoyed too with the $25 user fee. At least it's an annual thing, but how many times a year am I going to cross the border?

Can any of the Canadians tell me if there are any additional fees for IFR flight/approaches, and how much? On the way to Clinton I am planning on taking the coastal route, so I will only have 2 stops in Canada (Prince Rupert and Port Hardy).

I have to confess there are a few airfields where charges for approaches are cheaper than the 25 GBP I mentioned but not a lot cheaper.

Another confession, I have paid for exactly one short trip since I've been here, deciding after that breathtakingly expensive experience to activate my membership in the OPAC (Other People's Airplane Club). To make it even possible for me to fly regularly I took a trip to Duluth Minnesota to become a CSIP and have found myself more or less in demand to fly mostly new Cirrus around europe.

The most recent mind boggler is a proposal from OfCom, the UK version of the FCC, that as of 2014 there will be a charge for those using the electromagnetic spectrum for radio broadcasting. Everybody who uses any VHF or UHF radio frequency has to pay for the privilege. They are even proposing to charge the RNLI (the excellent charity lifeboat service) pay a stunning 260K pounds ($377,000) per year to use VHF radio on their lifeboats.

The new scheme would also affect VHF used in aircraft. This has drawn quite a lot of criticism as you can imagine but I'm not sure it has been quashed. Usually these things seem to lay dormant for a bit and then, when nobody is pay much attention, they go into effect.

Larry, I did a search of the area near Austin, Texas. Located a flight school that had A&E's on staff. I called them, got some names as references, called them and based of the comments from them, I had the owner fly the plane to their location. I emailed the A&E a list of items I wanted him to check. It went very well. Included in the inspection was a list of AD's that I wanted him to confirm. The owner photo copied each and every page of all his log books and mailed the copies out to me. I went through the log books, confirming the things I wanted to see, like maintenance history, damage history and AD's completed. The other thing I did was to send all the engine logs, including the last overhaul info to the MOT's aviation inspection branch. They confirmed the overhaul would meet their standards. I then contacted the owner,, indicated it was a go. We then had the export inspection done. With all indications being good, I booked a flight for myself and my daugther, "Yep, now truth be told, she was 16 and had just obtained her pilots license", and off we went. The complete process took about 4 weeks, and in the last week, before I arrived, the previous owner de-registered the "N number" and affixed the new Canadian temporary registration. When we arrived,, we took the 150 for a flight,, landed, paid him the balance,, and then we took off heading West,, for a great trip back.

So,, in essence, all the work went on behind the scenes, and the "actual sale", took about 15 minutes,, "not including the lady instructor the seller had retained so my daughter could go flying as well". "She went up with me as well, and we did touch and go's at 3 other airports".

It was all a wonderful experience, and if ever I purchase another,, I wouldn't be discouraged by distances and obstacles. Just be aware up front of the costs involved,, "I'd done my home work".
Well, the one thing that might discourage me, would be purchasing one from Europe,, Then again,, theses planes do fly and have been known to fly from North America to Europe, so with home work done, I think I would fly one back here. Now, that would be an experience and a half. Something like this would have to be done through a "temporary certificate of registration, and a flight permit", with these in hand, it's surprising what can be done. The only limitation is, you're bound by dates, and as well, departure point and final destination point. On arrival to destination point, the flight permit is canceled, and the temp certificate of registration is voided, pending import inspection. Taxes, and import inspections, "certifying it meets the original standards" and if it doesn't, making it so, is where the real $$$ come into play.

Here in Canada, under a "flight permit" you could fly an airplane that doesn't have a current certificate of registration or a current C of A. Under the flight permit, "and this just me talking about what I would do if I wanted to bring one over from Europe", I'd modify it to suit my needs, I don't think it would have to follow current applicable standards under the "flight permit", but once I arrive to my destination, it would have to meet the applicable standards by removing what I'd had modified.

This should get an uproar going,, what I'm saying is, under the umbrella of the "flight permit", I could make, or have made for me, any parts or things modified to the airplane that wouldn't meet the current "TSO" standards, install these things myself, "I'm not a mechanic", and fly it legally under the flight "flight permit" to my destination airport. Anyone ever seen a 150 with a fuel belly pod? The only thing,, is whatever is done, should be done safely,, and would have to be removed "unless it was something approved" to meet the import inspection.

That's incredible! I'll stay in Canada..