Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes looking for an aerobat

Hi, my name is Ryan and I just joined the club. I'm a student pilot looking to buy an aerobat, preferably with IFR instruments.
I just got the book and was reading about the continental engine. It says the top tends to last twice as long as the bottom, and it's not unheard of for the bottom to go 3500 hours between overhauls.
This is making me reconsider a plane I'd previously dismissed because it's close to TBO: a '76 A150M, engine is 1600 SNEW 40 STOH.
Is it realistic to expect that I'd need a full engine overhaul in 200 hours, or should the top overhaul last longer than that?
http://www.airplanemart.com/aircraft-for-sale/Single-Engine-Piston/1976-Cessna-A150M-Aerobat/6127/

Also, if you know of any good aerobats for sale, please let me know.

First, Welcome to the club.
Buying an Aerobat?
22,138 C150’s were built in the US
(21,404 regular flavor, 734 Aerobats)
Finding an Aerobat will prove to be more difficult compared to your basic stock 150. Actually, they are somewhat rare.
Also, out of those 734 I'm sure many have been wrecked, scrapped, exported and so on.
You should consider more than just the engine when considering an Aerobat purchase ( or any other plane for that matter)
Corrosion, paint, interior, avionics are all important too.
$19K for ANY Aerobat seems low, as they usually sell for a $5K-$10K premium over a standard 150 in comparable condition.
TBO on the 0-200 is 1800 hours, and some people do exceed that pushing into the 2000-2500 hour range.
Eventually you will have to get an overhaul, whether there is 200 hrs left before TBO, or you extend it way beyond that.

Welcome to the club Ryan! Eh, I wish I could help you, but I just don't know anything about this... There are a LOT of people here that DO though. They can answer ANY questions you have... At least I hope so, cuz I can't help you any. I'm just a simple student pilot that doesn't know enough about engines to help! (just kidding.)

But I'm learning!

> Here's one < [trade-a-plane.com]

And....

> another one < [trade-a-plane.com] with that little wheel in the back.

Oh, and WELCOME to the club!!!!

Welcome Ryan. Good luck on your search.

Welcome to the forum, Ryan. It'd help to know your location, so we don't recommend a candidate plane that's too far from you.

I'm in California, near San Franciso. Which is another reason the one in San Diego would be nice.

Brian Anderson, who responded earlier in this thread, is near you. You should meet up with him to see his Aerobat and get an indepth understanding of its features and capability.

Excellent idea...Brian has a wealth of information and experience and would be a tremendous resource for you.


BTW...welcome to the club Ryan.


Jim

Ryan,
The plane is San Diego is actually a great price....
My Aerobat was also "high time" on the engine when I bought it, but depending on your frequency of aviating, 200-300 hrs until TBO can be a few years.
Actually, NOW is the perfect time to buy an airplane, it truly is a buyers market. Fuel prices and the economy have "grounded" quite a few folks.
You can run a Lycoming way past TBO, but I would never run an 0-200 past TBO by a couple hundred hours or so. Remember, on these little flat engines, almost all of it is junk by the end of the run...the "meat 'n potatoes" of an 0-200 are the case and crank, followed by the cylinders. The main bearings as well as the center cam wear in an 0-200, and beyond TBO you risk expensive case re-work or replacement, and the crank will add $3K to your overhaul if you cannot reuse it. (a member here just posted that exact problem just this week).....

What airport are you flying out of?