Been a while! Looking for a Pacer (little wheel on either end) or the like...

rframe

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Hi all, it's been a long time since I've stopped by here. I used to be super active, mostly in the CFI forums back 5'ish years ago. Anyway, been out of aviation for a while and now circling back and looking to buy another plane. Something for the wife and I to do a little casual low and slow touring of the inland/Pacific northwest and some backcountry camping. Ideally a Pacer 150, though a Tri-Pacer would be great too. They've been hard to come by, so something like a lighter weight C120 might also suit us. Really just need enough useful load (550'ish) to haul us and some backpacking gear, being cautious with DA and such of course. Just thought it might be wise to get the feelers out here since you all might hear of something. Pretty awesome to see so many familiar names browsing the forums for a few minutes!
 
I love my Pacer, it is a great plane. But boy have they gotten expensive lately. Used to be a couple years ago you could find them for sub $30k, with decent mods too. Now they are all $55-65k!
 
I love my Pacer, it is a great plane. But boy have they gotten expensive lately. Used to be a couple years ago you could find them for sub $30k, with decent mods too. Now they are all $55-65k!

Glad to hear you like yours! Yeah, the used airplane market in general has gone bonkers... right when I'm ready to enter the buying market again, of course. Anything resembling a decent airplane at moderate prices is sold within 1-2 days too, need a quick trigger finger, appetite for risk, and some luck it seems :eek2:
 
One of my favourite YouTube vids.

Fun video.

I think many of us can relate, mine was Lumberton NC to SoCal in a very wet February. Lot of WX to deal with getting home. Took a Student Pilot friend with me, lot of firsts for him. His first time beyond the practice area, first uncontrolled airport, first small town FBO hospitably (free overnight crew car?), first IMC, first ice.

Didn’t understand the guy flying legs less than 200 miles each? We were running tanks dry to get every mile out of them, 4/4.5 hours between stops.
 
With the current market, it makes more sense to pick up a Mitsi or C501 - they're going for the same price as Cessnas and Pipers. I've been looking for a B55/58 or a 310Q/R and it doesn't make any sense until the market calms down.
 
I’m not sure the rag and tube market will ever see a dip, baring something catastrophic happening. Parts and labor simply cost too for that to happen these days.
 
Brought home this C140 yesterday. I found locally after some prospecting. Solid little airplane with good useful load and fun to fly. I know the IA who's done the last couple annuals. BTW, for those looking to buy I cannot overstate how important it can be to talk to mechanics who know the airplane if at all possible. I was very close to buying two other airplanes until I got more insider details from mechanics familiar with them.
c140-sm.jpg
 
Brought home this C140 yesterday. I found locally after some prospecting. Solid little airplane with good useful load and fun to fly. I know the IA who's done the last couple annuals. BTW, for those looking to buy I cannot overstate how important it can be to talk to mechanics who know the airplane if at all possible. I was very close to buying two other airplanes until I got more insider details from mechanics familiar with them.View attachment 63995
Nice looking bird. I just saw a Pacer on FB yesterday and thought of this thread. It was reasonably priced.
 
With the current market, it makes more sense to pick up a Mitsi or C501 - they're going for the same price as Cessnas and Pipers. I've been looking for a B55/58 or a 310Q/R and it doesn't make any sense until the market calms down.

I'm starting to see it soften a little. RVs are coming back down to saner pricing, and I actually saw a decently airworthy 172 yesterday for less than $100K, which was surprising.
 
I'm starting to see it soften a little. RVs are coming back down to saner pricing, and I actually saw a decently airworthy 172 yesterday for less than $100K, which was surprising.

My observation from a few months of watching the market is that there were a lot of people throwing their planes on for ridiculous prices with zero intent to sell "just in case someone would pay" because they saw others doing the same. I was in contact with several sellers that never sold their planes and then took them off the market after realizing they were being stupid. Unfortunately, it really clouded reality for serious sellers and buyers and I found several sellers that dropped their prices over 20% once they realized all the BS that was listed. I'm hoping a lot of the noise just goes away.
 
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