Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Do Beech Skippers sell?

I have seen a number of Beechcraft Model 77 Skippers for sale over the last few months on Trade-A-Plane and on the Southern Aviation website. These are excellent airplanes,though a bit rare (about 200 on US registry). However, they don't seem to move. I see the same skippers month after month not moving at all. Can anyone answer what is going on with them, or is it just me?

The Skipper is an excellent airplane. Biggest problem is the useful load, or actually a lack of it. Typical Beech, they overbuilt the structure and also the finishings of the cabin and such, and the empty weight is high, with a MTOW of only 5 lbs more than a Tomahawk or 152.

Charles

I looked at a couple of Beech products and as Charles says, main problem is load hauling. Built like tanks, very stable instrument platforms, but everyone I talked to said they are ground lovers.

That is okay for folks in the East, but out here, I want to explore more backcountry, so a Cessna product makes more sense.

Although, there is a sweet little BD-4 for sale in Arizona that about made me lose my common sense. 180 mph on 9gph with 900lb useful load and fixed gear. But....I walked primarily because there is not re-sale market for them. If it was an RV-6 it would be gone in a heartbeat, but the BD-4 is more obscure (and a bit ugly) so no one is beating the doors down to buy them. Re-sale is important to me right now...if it wasn't...whose to say?

Ah, the Skipper, the Tomahawk done right!

Most Skippers I have seen for sale are priced at or above $30,000. Nice as they are, that's a lot for a two-place airplane. With diligent searching, one could find a 172 or a Cherokee for the same amount. My feeling is their price works against them.

Don

I agree with Charles! My neighbor has one, and it is a nice bird! Those who own them tend to keep them, and when they do decide to sell, their pride is usually reflected in the asking price. I believe Beech offered it as a more expensive alternative in the well established 152 market, with little success. As there were so few built, most prospective buyers know little about them, and are drawn towards aircraft they are more familiar with. I think longer waits for sales is common with any of the rarer aircraft, and is usually no reflection on the aircrafts airworthiness, desirability, or value.

Well, I see what you mean. Ebay has a nice Skipper and a 150M for sale, both low time and only a few hundred hours SMOH. The Skipper has a Bendix King IFR package that is new ($20,000 installed according to the seller). The Skipper is listed at $33,900 and has no bids since three days ago. The 150M has several bids and is now at about $22,500 (reserve not met).

G'day,

The only other thing I would add to all of this is that the Skipper has a different wing to the Piper and Cessna in that it is bonded - strange spar too - its round. This sort of stuff gets people a bit nervious when it comes to repair time.

My experience with Beechcraft is that whilst parts for Cessna's and Pipers are not cheap, Beachcraft in general make them look cheap by comparison.

I personally like the Beachcraft, their instrument panels are pretty much standard across the board so training from one level to the next is a natural progression as such when you say compare the early Cessna 150 with a later model 182 (if I may) when you look at the Duchess(twin) you could essentially be looking at a Skipper with an extra set of engine controls, even down to the way you sit in the aircraft - same seating position

As been said previously, they're a bit under rated as such although probably better "finished value" than a Tomahawk but like everyone else, you have to go with what is accepted by the majority or you could get burned at resale time...

Just my bit on the subject