New Cessna 150 Owner

[Murdoughnut]

Some of you I'm connected with on the Book of Faces know this, but 29-years after took my first lesson in a Cessna 150, I now own one. My first aircraft purchase ever, and I'm a bit nervous as I took some risks for an airplane that was priced below the market rate. Feel like I got a good pre-buy and had a local A&P friend of mine consult on it, but we won't know till my first annual I suppose. Pre-buy recommended $8K in MX work. I had them do the $5K that I wanted done before I would fly it - the remainder can come later. Had $3K taken off the price after the pre-buy to compensate for some of this. She was missing the first set of logs covering 1977-1991, which dropped the price considerably. No accident history, and I have the ownership records submitted to the FAA from that period that don't show anything wonky. Pre-buy confirmed my suspiscion that as she sat mostly unflown the last three years, and the last two annuals that were done were pencil-whipped. Annuals before that were very thoroughly documented, though. That $5K was mostly fixing things the annual in April should have found. But I had them boroscope the cylinders and they looked clean, with fewer overall leaks than the A&P had expected. Minimal lelve of expected corrosion.

8K hours total time and 1.2K on the engine. Flew it back from IN to NC on Saturday. Ran great - doesn't climb terrific, but it's a 150 and it was hot, so that was to be expected. She did get me up to 8,500 on a +2K density altitude day when I needed to get over a scattered layer, so that was impressive. Having some issues with the brakes making a noise on the ground that my A&P is going to check out this week. Probably also needs to be re-rigged, as I was getting a left turning tendency during the flight back.

Why buy now? I'm tired of paying $200 an hour to get into the sky, and rushing my pre-flights because it's costing me $3.25 a minute to idle. Also tired of fighting with PPL students to get an aircraft, only for one of them to rent it right before my 8am flight and bring it back at 8:15 broken. Bigger consideration is that one of my 13-year olds has an interest, so I figured this would motivate me to finish my CFI so he can log time with me. Lot easier to practice CFI maneuvers from the right seat when it's my own plane.

I'm probably going to pay my local A&P for four hours of labor for him to dig into it and make sure there's no major issues the pre-buy didn't find. Will need an ADSB-OUT solution next, followed by some updates I want to make to the interior, and then eventually avionics upgrades. For now, though, I'm beaming at the thought that if I get a good weather day and want to go fly, I can without having to have made a reservation a month in advance.

 

[killbilly]

Nice-looking bird, man.

Some advice on some basic things I learned after 3 years of aircraft ownership:

1. Never add up your receipts. Just don't. Seriously. Don't do that to yourself.
2. Airplanes do not cost money. They consume Aviation Monetary Units (AMUs.) Think of it ONLY in AMUs and it'll be easier to swallow.
3. It's been a minute, but as I recall, the Uavionix ADS-B units that mount in a wingtip strobe are very good units, and very affordable to do what you need done.
4. Every time you start thinking about new upgrades, always, always gut-check and ask yourself - "do I really need this to meet the mission?" This was an area I failed miserably at. I was extraordinarily lucky in that I recovered damn near every penny that I put into my RV, but I know I'm an outlier. Had I followed this advice, I'd have spent about $20,000 less than I did.

That being said, the best advice I ever got on buying an airplane was this: have an exit strategy. Know how long you're going to keep it and what you are going to put into it (see #4) so that when you decide to exit, you are following the plan. Note that the exit may also be an upgrade plan, which, with your family, might be a reasonable thing to consider in the future.

Good luck and enjoy this. I miss my airplane every day, and I look back now and wonder if I shouldn't have sold it, despite the eye-watering costs one can sometimes face. The worlds that open up to you when you own a plane, and the communities you gain access to are priceless.

 

[Murdoughnut]

Nice-looking bird, man.

Some advice on some basic things I learned after 3 years of aircraft ownership:

1. Never add up your receipts. Just don't. Seriously. Don't do that to yourself.
2. Airplanes do not cost money. They consume Aviation Monetary Units (AMUs.) Think of it ONLY in AMUs and it'll be easier to swallow.
3. It's been a minute, but as I recall, the Uavionix ADS-B units that mount in a wingtip strobe are very good units, and very affordable to do what you need done.
4. Every time you start thinking about new upgrades, always, always gut-check and ask yourself - "do I really need this to meet the mission?" This was an area I failed miserably at. I was extraordinarily lucky in that I recovered damn near every penny that I put into my RV, but I know I'm an outlier. Had I followed this advice, I'd have spent about $20,000 less than I did.

That being said, the best advice I ever got on buying an airplane was this: have an exit strategy. Know how long you're going to keep it and what you are going to put into it (see #4) so that when you decide to exit, you are following the plan. Note that the exit may also be an upgrade plan, which, with your family, might be a reasonable thing to consider in the future.

Good luck and enjoy this. I miss my airplane every day, and I look back now and wonder if I shouldn't have sold it, despite the eye-watering costs one can sometimes face. The worlds that open up to you when you own a plane, and the communities you gain access to are priceless.

My wife says it's worth whatever it costs for how much happier I've been the past three days.

Main goal is to get my son his license, and potentially his instrument rating before he goes off to college. He's 13 now, so we've got some time. Right now he and I can be in the plane with full tanks and 20 lbs of useful load to spare, but that will change. Positive note - it's inspiring me to go to the gym more!

The nice thing about it being a 150 is that there's an excellent owner's group online, and I'm realisitc about how much lipstick I want to apply to this pig. I know I need ADSB-OUT to get into the Class C and B, and for overall safety. Bought a Sentry for IN which is working great. I will likely do a Uavionix PFD/MFD or G5 upgrade to shed the vacuum pump at some point. Honestly, I don't know if I'll even do an IFR GPS.

 

[killbilly]

My wife says it's worth whatever it costs for how much happier I've been the past three days.

Main goal is to get my son his license, and potentially his instrument rating before he goes off to college. He's 13 now, so we've got some time. Right now he and I can be in the plane with full tanks and 20 lbs of useful load to spare, but that will change. Positive note - it's inspiring me to go to the gym more!

The nice thing about it being a 150 is that there's an excellent owner's group online, and I'm realisitc about how much lipstick I want to apply to this pig. I know I need ADSB-OUT to get into the Class C and B, and for overall safety. Bought a Sentry for IN which is working great. I will likely do a Uavionix PFD/MFD or G5 upgrade to shed the vacuum pump at some point. Honestly, I don't know if I'll even do an IFR GPS.

Aha. Ok.

So - get the ADS-B out done no matter what - it helps with everyone’s SA.

Ditching the vacuum pump is a good move; the G5 is a great device with tremendous bang for the buck.

On the GPS - I’d recommend getting one that is IFR certified if for no other reason than that is one of the few items you’ll get your money back on and having the utility will be nice. And old 530 (if Garmin still supports it - I know they dropped the 430) or an Avidyne would be well-worth it, in my opinion.

Look at Dynon’s certified stuff, too. Cheaper than Garmin and vastly superior customer service.