Buying an airplane

drunkenbeagle

drunkenbeagle

Gang Member
Well, I think I am about ready to take the plunge and buy an airplane. I would expect to primarily use it flying between KZPH, KSPG, KMKY and KEYW. I would guess between 200-300 hours a year.

I think I've narrowed it down to either a Piper Cherokee or Beechcraft Musketeer. I've got about 100 hours in Cherokees, but most have pretty high time airframes. The Musketeers are a bit cheaper, have much lower airframe times, but seem to have engines that were last overhauled 25 years ago. Honestly, I'd be happy with a 152 - but they seem to be about the same price with 15,000+ hours on the airframe. Any other aircraft I should look at? Maintenance gotchas I should know about?
 
What about a Maule, Stinson 108, or a Piper Pacer or Cessna 170 type?
 
I have a friend of mine in TX that was looking at those same aircraft for purchase, I instructed him for his PPL before he moved now he is working on his instrument. He has a wife and two kids. Not to the teenage years but price, maint. speed, and payload all went into his thoughts too. He ended up finding a 182 a short while ago and is gonna it. Lots of 182 out there for cheap, and they are well maintained and fully IFR equipped. Heck, if you have some cash you can find an A36 bonanza for right around 60k
 
Do you planning on putting the plane in a hangar? I would assume your basic search criteria are 4 or fewer seats & non-complex, correct?
 
Polar742 said:
What about a Maule, Stinson 108, or a Piper Pacer or Cessna 170 type?
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Thank you. I couldn't respond, I was cleaning the puke out of my mouth. For my money the Pacer is the best value in aviation. "Aviation" defined as anything with a tailwheel.
 
Pilotforhire587 said:
I have a friend of mine in TX that was looking at those same aircraft for purchase, I instructed him for his PPL before he moved now he is working on his instrument. He has a wife and two kids. Not to the teenage years but price, maint. speed, and payload all went into his thoughts too. He ended up finding a 182 a short while ago and is gonna it. Lots of 182 out there for cheap, and they are well maintained and fully IFR equipped. Heck, if you have some cash you can find an A36 bonanza for right around 60k
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Great deals on mooneys too right now, but for the flying I do, it would be overkill.

I would prefer to pay cash, and the budget is about 30k.
 
WacoFan said:
Thank you. I couldn't respond, I was cleaning the puke out of my mouth. For my money the Pacer is the best value in aviation. "Aviation" defined as anything with a tailwheel.
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Waco, I haven't landed a tricycle gear in 6 months

But find me a four place taildragger with a 950lb useful load for $25k and I am all over it.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Well, I think I am about ready to take the plunge and buy an airplane. I would expect to primarily use it flying between KZPH, KSPG, KMKY and KEYW. I would guess between 200-300 hours a year.

I think I've narrowed it down to either a Piper Cherokee or Beechcraft Musketeer. I've got about 100 hours in Cherokees, but most have pretty high time airframes. The Musketeers are a bit cheaper, have much lower airframe times, but seem to have engines that were last overhauled 25 years ago. Honestly, I'd be happy with a 152 - but they seem to be about the same price with 15,000+ hours on the airframe. Any other aircraft I should look at? Maintenance gotchas I should know about?
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What is your budget for the plane? how much are you willing to pay per hour, and how many hours are you planning to do? What is your flying experience like? Do you wanna teach in it? Do you really need 4 seats?

I know they are slow but there are some nice PA28-140 out there with less then 3000 AFTT and a good amount left on the engine.

Piper tri-Pacer are a good cheap 4 seater too, but I would go with an all metal, it will keep the costs down.

In the 152 range I would rather buy a Tomahawk, I really like them a lot more then the 150/152s...
 
WacoFan said:
Thank you. I couldn't respond, I was cleaning the puke out of my mouth. For my money the Pacer is the best value in aviation. "Aviation" defined as anything with a tailwheel.
Click to expand...

My Boss has lots of hours in a pacer (he is also a tail wheel addicted and has over 2000 hours in a DC3), he things it`s the worst tailwheel ever made, as far as insurance I think the Stinson 108 is the beast deal. What about a 2 seater? some of them are even LSA...
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Thats about right, might need a tie down for a while, until I find it a permanent home. Would end up being based KSPG or KZPH
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If I ever buy a plane in Florida I will make sure it is at least in an open T-hangar. I use to fly a Warrior III based in X26, that was pretty much out in the weather since new, the plane looked like it was 30 years old...while it was just over 10.

If you can get away with two seat I would look at a C140 with metal wings, it will do just fine in Florida sitting out on the ramp.
 
If 2 seats would work, you could consider any of the Grumman AA-1 line or maybe even the early AA-5's. Some of them are right around $30,000, and they'll probably give you a little more speed than a PA28/BE23, if upgraded to 150/160hp, which many have been.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
If 2 seats would work, you could consider any of the Grumman AA-1 line or maybe even the early AA-5's. Some of them are right around $30,000, and they'll probably give you a little more speed than a PA28/BE23, if upgraded to 150/160hp, which many have been.
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That sounds a lot for a AA-1, you can buy a 172 for that.

Even if the budget is 30K that does not mean he has to spend them, I would stay in the 25K or even less for a 2 seater and use the rest of the money for extras
 
My last plane was a 1962 PA-28-160. Just over 3000TT with approx 1500 SMOH when I bought it in 2006. Exterior/interior 8. I paid $22K.

The only gotcha I had was the jack screw needed a bit more than lubrication. And the spinner and forward plate were jacked up from illegal repairs that even the pre-buy missed. :mad: Other than that, regular mx for that cream puff. Total costs were about $55/hr at +300 hrs/yr.

For any Cherokee, the biggee may be SB1055, fuel tank inspection.
 
swisspilot said:
That sounds a lot for a AA-1, you can buy a 172 for that.

Even if the budget is 30K that does not mean he has to spend them, I would stay in the 25K or even less for a 2 seater and use the rest of the money for extras
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Exactly, I would rather spend 20k on a plane with a crappy panel, and set it up the way I want ;)
 
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