Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only New Member - Need advice on 150 Purchase

I just bought my A150K last August. I got back into flying after about a 15 year absence. This is my first airplane and it has been a learning experience so far, but not that bad (mostly positive!). A few items came up during the annual in Dec. that I wasn't expecting such as having to replace the spinner bulkhead (the plastic and metal part).

Best advice I can give you so far is to find a good mechanic that can do a pre-buy inspection and let you work with him so you can learn more about the airplane.

Best part about owning my own airplane is that I can fly it when ever my schedule and weather allow me to. No waiting for a rental airplane to get out of maintenance, etc.

I think a 150 is a good plane to learn airplane ownership on too, since the parts are not as expensive as a larger airplane.

Where in SC are you located? I'm in Camden, SC KCDN.

Welcome Grant!

There are many on this forum much more knowledgeable than I am. I agree a C-150 is a good airplane to try out ownership. Still, they can get kind of expensive.

As far as hours, our engine was overhauled in 1990, has just over 1,600 hours on it and is still running strong. Take a look at the logs and see how many hours it was flown between annual inspections. Flying once a week for an hour or so is very good for an engine, along with regular oil changes (25 hour intervals if it does not have an oil filter, and a lot of 150's don't). Regular flying is also good for the airframe and instruments. Any moisture buildup can get blown out and dried and the gyros for the instruments do better if run regularly. I would prefer an airplane that had been flown 50 hours or so between annuals over one that had been flown 200 or 300 hours one year then sat without flying much for another year or two. This happens quite a bit when (as my Dad used to say) "the new wears off." I agree with Hung on approx. overhaul costs. Be sure your mechanic that does the pre-buy looks inside the airframe for corrosion. That can be a deal killer if there is much of it. Be sure all the radios and other equipment work like they are suppose to. Get with ATC (you can do this with flight following) and be sure the transponder is reading the right altitude and is consistent. ADS-B Out will be required in Classes B, C airspace and above 10,000 msl. If you are out in the country and plane to not fly in those areas, you won't have to have it. If you need it, figure on around $5,000 or so. I would guess roughly around $15,000 would be a top price based on your description provided everything looks good.

My cost of flying a 150 for 13 years is around $4000+ a year for around 55 hours of flying time.
Be aware this can vary year to year with good years and other years not as good. That is why I work extra jobs, it is worth it to me. My wife goes along with my ownership, and she has the cost of the plane and flying down to the penny. IF one is considering ownership, the costs need to be considered.

Welcome! I'm in the same boat as you. I'm a new member and also looking to buy my first airplane. There is a lot of good advice here and ownership experience. I can provide a little of my research from the last few months. I ran the information you gave through vRef which is like a airplane bluebook service that I subscribe to. Its a good starting point, but there are other factors that might affect the price.

1969 Cessna 150J with 5400TT 1525SMOH has a base retail value of $10,323.09

The base value is for an average 150J is $16,700 assuming 6956TT and 900SMOH

This is just a rough ball park based only on engine and airframe time. Lots of other factors that will affect the price up or down.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
-James

I'm already past $10,000 in the first 3 months and 150 hours, not counting fuel.
$2,000 annual, a surprise $2,000 repair, a $2,000 mechanic ripoff, and oil and consumables (and insurance, tiedown rent, LED upgrades etc).
Plane is currently squawk free though and runs perfect, and I fly it a lot. Only thing left is to get the GPS 337'd for IFR, and then it's time to sell it