Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Buying a C150

Hi,
I just joined the C150 club. I'm a pilot that hasn't flown for ten years looking to get back into "fun flying". I'm currently looking for a decent 150 for under $20K. I'm in Michigan and would prefer one that's close (or could be delivered). I'd buy the one the club has for sale, but I think it's out in CA. A little too far, I'm afraid. I'll be in Oshkosh next week. I'd appreciate any advice and have enjoyed the posts I've read in regard to others that are looking.
Regards,
Dan Sherburn
Spring Lake, MI

Welcome to the club Dan,

Lots of 150s for sale...everything from junk to mint. You should be able to get a nice one in the $20k neighborhood. Check any reigonal publications you can find. Check Trade-A-Plane, etc. Check eBay. Look at the bulletin boards at your local FBOs, scour the internet, etc. etc. Be patient. You'll find the one that's right for you.

Stay in touch on the Forum...some of the really active members are involved in the Clinton fly-in right now, but after that and OSH are over you'll likely get more feedback.

You'll nearly always get helpful answers to specific questions on this forum...it's a great bunch of people.

Welcome to the club!

You may also want to check our classifieds on the left side of this screen. The other thing I did when I was looking for an airplane is to ask the mechanics around your local airports. They usually have a good feel for good clean 150-152's for sale or know of someone who might be interested in selling their airplane. Usually no finder fees are involved.

Good luck with your search!

Should have joined us at Clinton...no less than 3 nice examples for sale and I understand one actually sold while we were there.

Nice little 1977 150 for sale at my airport. The guy is only asking $17,000.00 for it. VFR panel. Very nice shape. It is in Limington, Maine (63B). Let me know if you are interested and I will get the particulars on it for you.

Tactic

P.S. I have a 1980 C-152 for sale as well but it is out of the price range you quoted (New Engine).

Limington isn't too far from me.
Be glad to fly your purchase home for you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Is there a "short list" of things that can be done to eliminate "junk" before investing the time and money in a pre-purchase? In other words, I can look at alot of planes that are in need of paint and interiors (and have time left on the engines), but are otherwise solid planes. On the flip side, I know there are probably planes that are nice and shiney, but have serious problems. I know it's a subjective question, but somebody had mentioned firewall damage (front gear) as a source of a potential expensive liability. I guess that's the kind of feedback I'm looking for.
Thanks,
Dan

Steve,
Thanks for the offer...what would something like that cost?
I sent a private email asking for a little more info on the plane in Maine.
Dan

One thing you can do is to see if the plane was ever reported to be involved in an accident/incident. Click on "Hangar" on the left side of the screen, then do a "Perform Document Search", check all the boxes for NTSB, FAA, etc. If no incident entry was found, but the plane shows signs of major repairs, then you know something fishy is going on.

Good idea. But keep in mind this only works for "reported" accidents/incidents. After doing this search (nothing showed up), I once drove 150 miles to look at a prospective 150 project, only to discover the airplane had been flipped on it's tail and a wing during a storm, with major hidden structural damage. The bird had many dubious (undocumented) repairs, and was being mis-represented by it's owner, "Snidely Whiplash".