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As I mentioned a few days ago where Dan Titus was selling (sold) his 152, I was going to be putting Sierra up for sale as well.

Attached is a spec sheet which pretty well details what she is and I'm also including some pictures that many of you have seen before on numerous occasions and for that, I apologize.

What I struggle with is two fold:

1. Actually selling her to someone else is a tough, tough line in the sand to step over but it's probably the right thing to do.

I've turned 70 this year and I've been thinking for a couple years now that I should downsize from 3 planes and 2 hangars to one plane and one hangar. Part of my reasoning (a big part) is that Cindy is 5 years younger than me and if I were to drop dead this afternoon (it does happen) she would be quickly overwhelmed dealing with all this and that's just not quite fair to her. She is every bit as attached to our aviation life style as I am (thank God) and the thought of her having to liquidate our aviation possessions somehow just doesn't seem fair.

If something unexpectedly happens after we've downsized, my hangar neighbor will liquidate Mighty Mouse and either sell the hangar or sublease it out so Cindy would have another monthly income stream from that.

My aged induced insurance increases this year but more importantly, the struggle to even get insurance on the Bonanza going forward has helped push me off dead center to decide it was indeed, time.

I have a handshake agreement on the Bonanza and it will be sold the first week of January (one more month). I have an offer and acceptance document on my desk for one of my hangars (the 45' X 45'). The sale of the hangar will coincide with the physical sale and departure of the Bonanza so that gets me down to two planes (Sierra and Mighty Mouse) and one hangar (the 45' X 48').


2. My second struggle is how to arrive at a selling price for what I believe is a one off, show level quality 152 (at least at one time, Kirk thought I should show it and his family was in the car show circuit for a number of years) and I'm hoping to get some feed back from the peanut gallery here. I could be wrong but I don't think there is another 152 out there anywhere that might be comparable to Sierra but I need to keep myself in check here and deal with reality.

For starters, I have over 138,000.00 invested in her and this does not account for my labor which was substantial. If I had paid someone to do the work that I did, I probably would have blown through 200K in short order and the level of detail might not be the same?

I know and don't expect to recover the numbers I just listed but I wanted to give you guys a point of reference as what it took to restore her to this level.

I'm upside down in all 3 planes and I'm okay with that. I knew what I was doing on the front end and I'm truly fine and comfortable doing what I did.

I had imagined that I would just give Sierra to one of my grand kids someday but there is simply no interest from any of them (dang it all) so she's gonna be sold. Flying has been such a big part of my life and I relate to it more than anything else in my life (except family) and you can't force people to love aviation cuz flying simply isn't for everybody and we are a true minority so here I am.


Steve Dunn who started the Cessna 150/152 Restoration FB group recently sold his restored, 1978 152 Sparrowhawk for 74,500.00 and (according to him) he had people standing in line wanting it.

He had a very, very nice 152 and it sold in two weeks and as I recall, it was exported to Europe?

Sierra appears to be much nicer in every detail based on what I saw in his pictures and written description.


Eric mentioned that the AOPA Reimagined 152's were selling for around the 100K watermark level but I don't know if that is even a consideration? As I recall, they might have been 10,000+ hour air frames and the resulting equipment they put in the panels was embarrassing? Being painted yellow didn't help them either but I know of one guy here that would argue that point.

Maybe the yellow paint is why they brought 100K.....

So, don't be afraid to share your thoughts and it takes a lot for me to feel insulted so say what's on your mind.

I see a lot of "good" 152's that appear to be selling fast in the 40K to 50K range and others needing attention/engines in the 20K to 30K range....AKA Dan Titus's 152?

I also believe that supply and demand might also be at play here?

Cessna built 7,584 152's over it's production run and there are (I believe) only about 1,800 of them left. There have been a lot of them totaled over the years and exporting has played a major roll with diluting the population even more.

Of those 1,800, a lot of those have 10K to 20K total time on them via their training environment and there are (I believe) a lot of these tied down outside deteriorating....we see these poor planes seemingly everywhere?


All told, there are probably only a handful of low time - semi low time, very nice 152's out there and this club has a very fine collection of them within our walls. Ashley and Catherine come to mind but several other 152's as well.

My preference is to sell her to the next steward who recognizes what she is and understands (like Bengie did) what it took to get her to this level and appreciates her, well, uniqueness?

That's my preference as I'd hate to see her go to a flight school and get the crap beat out of her or even worse, God forbid, to export but I need to find a way to break this emotional tie that bonds us cuz at the end of the day she's just a pile of aluminum, rubber, plastic and steel.

Dang, I can't believe I said that.



So, let her rip and don't be bashful.

I know what you meant that selling her is tough! I had someone come and look at my 150G yesterday afternoon.. I've babied the plane since I've had it and it was just plain uncomfortable watching someone pour over the airplane looking for issues. The person did make me an offer, but it was too low to consider.

I don't know the details and legality of doing this....Let's assume you want to sell the plane for $100K. How about having a raffle and selling 100 tickets at $1000 each (only the serious shoppers will bite) or 200 tickets at $500 (some half-serious shoppers will bite). Maybe have a non-profit aviation organization (like a large EAA Chapter) run it with $10K from the proceed goes to them for their effort; you probably can write-off that $10K. Just a wild idea from drinking too much coffee.

Even this kid knew Sierra is a piece of art to be admired.

This is kind of depressing for me, Jim. I know it is hard for you.

Obviously, Sierra will need to go to a Razorback fan considering the color . I picked up on that right away, but other folks here may not have made the connection.

If it is possible, I think Hung has a great idea. Someone would wind up with a fantastic airplane for a small investment. I'm not sure, though, exactly how it would work.

Too bad about your grandkids, although I know how that feels. Neither of mine seem to be interested either.

Some people may scoff, but I think you should start at close to what you have in her. You can always decide to come down if you want, but if Steve Dunn had that much interest in his at 74.5, there just might be someone out there with a big retirement nest egg looking for exactly what you have. An advantage is that if someone invests that kind of money, they would likely take good care of her.

Probably easier to sell your split tail since most folks are willing to pay premium for one already well equipped. The market for a 152 is probably considerably smaller.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I understand completely Jim. Heck, it even turns my stomach a bit to think what you must be going through just to consider selling one plane, let alone two. But at the same time, I commend you for recognizing the time for what it is, and for considering Cindy's part in the unthinkable, but very possible scenario.

I was just mentioning to someone on the 150/152 Lounge FB page that lately I've been seeing standard 152s go for an average of $30k-$40k, maaaaybe $50k if the condition and equipment was right, and that maybe an Aerobat might pull in $80k.

That said, those were standard/stock 152s, no Sparrowhawk, no autopilot, and certainly not the avionics you've blessed Sierra with. I'm no broker or expert, but I'd be surprised if you got less than around $85k-$90k by the time it was all over.

I remember, Steve Dunn's plane went off and on the market a couple times. Once was when the final overseas buyer went radio silent for a month or so. Glad they ultimately did take delivery, but hated to see it go overseas. Yep, that's selfish, and I'm not ashamed of it.

I really wish I had the funds or the means to get them. I'd sell '420 in a heartbeat and give some newly-minted local pilot(s) the deal of a lifetime if it meant keeping Sierra in the 150/152 Club family.

What a gorgeous airplane! There almost needs to be an auction on TV for rare and beautiful airplanes, like they do for rare and classic cars. I'm with you, Jim. I hope it goes to someone who knows what it is and plans to take care of it.

Anyone who would pay what Sierra is worth would surely be the kind of person to appreciate exactly what that airplane is and take exceptional care of it! Of course, there are plenty out there with more money than brains and a bright shiny toy du jour might attract them. Shudder.

What I was getting at Jim is that if AOPA thinks their "base" model 152 is worth $100K, then Sierra should/would easily be able to command +$100K. I certainly wasn't suggesting the airplanes were comparable!!!! As I mentioned, I have never seen your plane in person, but each time I see various pictures I just shake my head as to how drop dead gorgeous she is, and I also know the blood, sweat and love that you have poured into her. I don't envy your having to sell her, but I sure envy the fact that you were able to do what you did!

Eric

Um, Hung, Did you forget that the Club/Fly-in Foundation is a Non-Profit aviation organization ?

Sorry, that slipped my mind. Yeah, the Club/Fly-In Foundation would be an ideal organization to run that raffle since our club is about 150s/152s, we have a large "fan base" of the type, and most forum members are familiar with Jim's plane.