Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only Help finding 150/152

Well, here goes my first of hopefully many posts.
I was told by a good friend who's been in the aviation business for a long time that if you want to know anything about a certain aircraft you should become a member of it's associated club, so here I am.
I've recently started my private pilot training and I'm looking to go all the way with instrument and commercial to follow.
I'm looking for an instrument certified aircraft under the $30,000 mark. I know they're out there, but I don't necessarily know what the heck I'm really looking at. I understand the basics with being a Coast Guard aircrewman and A&P mechanic, but working on turbine helicopters doesn't make me an expert on Cessna's so that's where I was hoping you smart folks could lend a hand and help a newbie find his first airplane. I look forward to working with all of you to make this dream a reality.
Thanks in advance,
Steve

Welcome to the Club and Forum, Steve!!!



You'll get some great advice here. Lots of help in finding and researching birds available, too.

You shouldn't have much of an issue finding a decent bird with that budget. Where are you located? Members are everywhere!

Welcome to the Club, Steve. There are two very fine aircraft being offered for sale by Club members. We have known these members for quite a few years now and they're reputable guys (both are airline captains). They're reluctantly selling their "babies" because they just upgraded to faster planes, not because they want to dump these planes. Take a look at the listings below:

Jim Campisi's 150L

Tim Boese's Aerobat 150L

Welcome to the club Steve! Like you, I wanted a plane I could use, not just one to have. I already had my PPL, but wanted to get my IR and Commercial. So far, I got my instrument rating in my C150. That is doable. After a long search, I ended up buying a 1969 J model, and adding a VOR/LOC/ILS radio to make the airplane suitable for IFR training. If you want a standard 6-pack of instruments, with the gauges in the traditional places for learning an instrument scan, consider a J model like mine or newer. Of course, if you plan on a modern glass-panel MFD, it could be any year of bird, because that would be an add on (and very expensive).

It’s good you know what you plan to do with the airplane (e.g. PPL, IR, Commercial). That will help guide your search. I had a $25K budget. It took me maybe 9 months of searching before I found my bird. Don’t give up! Don’t compromise on your requirements! It would be better to wait for that airplane that you can use to succeed in your piloting goals than to fall in love with the first shiny paint that attracts you. Of course, any year airplane can get you your PPL and can later be modified to train for your IR, given enough money. However, you’d probably blow past your $30K budget, if you have to add radios. For example, my plane, with the 6-pack and a newly overhauled engine cost me $23K in 2014. I later added a radio for $8K to get my IR. Also, there are usually “surprises” on any airplane you purchase, so leave a little room in your budget (for me it was a GPS/Comm that could not detect satellites and cost $2K to fix). While my buy in was at budget, my total cost was higher.

Geoff

Welcome Zippy!!!

+1.....welcome aboard. You've landed at the best type club around and there is a wealth of knowledge and advice here within our little family.

It's always exciting to see a new member and one who is actively looking for one of our beloved 150/152's.



Jim

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome.
Both of the club members aircraft almost seem too nice for someone in my position even though I can appreciate the beauty of them. Tim's is a little out of my price range, but boy do I wish it wasn't. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Jim's looks like it could be instrument certified, but it would be the absolute bare minimum? 1 comm/nav with VOR?
I've found three that fit the bill nicely, but I seem to always be a day late. There's one down in FL (North of Gainesville) N704MT that looks like it may work out. It's on trade a plane if someone wanted to take a quick look and LMK what you think. It has 1100 SMOH, about 300 on TOH, not sure about prop. Complete logs. I'm talking with the guy, but he's almost been too busy
to sell it.
Thanks again,
Steve

Welcome to the Club, Steve. And good luck in your search! The nice thing about buying a 150 is that they are inexpensive enough to operate that you can actually afford to fly!

I want to give a shout out to Vortac180 for taking some time and talking with me over the phone this evening on some lessons learned and information obtained from owning a 150.
Thanks Geoff!

Steve, was my pleasure!
Geoff