1971 Cessna 150, should i buy it

I believe you made the right decision. My flight mentor recently bought a 152 and is leasing it back to the local flight school. He did determine if it went 35 hours per month that he would break even. But.... he has been having to fix multiple maintenance issues that turned up after the purchase. He has spent many thousands of dollars on maintenance issues and is struggling with breaking even. Not a risk I would want to take unless I was prepared to lose money for the first full year.
 
If its just a "time builder" you want, then you could find a decent 150 in the 19-20k range! They basically tacked the new engine and prop onto the sale price.
http://www.controller.com/listings/...836.htm?guid=64F4CA73FCB94331882F1451DABE1F5B

I 2nd that opinion. While an airplane with a new engine and prop is certainly worth more than one that is due for it, its kind of like putting a reman engine in a car with 150k miles on it, it doesn't magically gain the full value of the engine. It either has a good running low to mid time engine in it, or you deduct from the price if the engine is higher time. Sure, its nice that you won't likely have to mess with the engine during the time you own the airplane, but you probably wouldn't consider it at all if the engine was high time or not running, right?

Another $5-10k can buy you a 4 place plane in today's market. Maybe not enough airplane to really carry 4 people, but at least enough to carry two adults plus luggage.

But look at the rental rates in your area before dropping coin on something to build time with. Unless they're just out of control ($85/hr for the lone flying club in my area that even still has a 152!!) it is probably less expensive to rent a 150 than to buy unless you're planning on 100+ hrs a year.
 
DA-20 109-119 an hour
DA-40XL 159-189 an hour
DA-42 Twin Star 390 an hour (can't take it out by my self til i have 350 hour TT)

Red Rocket (C150) 85 bucks an hour

There is a flying club at our airport (The Flying Tigers) and they have two 172 that they rent for 70 bucks an hour. Thats probably the way to go.
 
yes i believe it's "Wet". There is a credit card in the folder with the plane and you just always top the plane off when you are done with it.
 
yes i believe it's "Wet". There is a credit card in the folder with the plane and you just always top the plane off when you are done with it.

Geez...I WISH I could find a 172 that cheap in my area. That's what I used to rent a VFR 172 for about 6 years ago. Now every flying club or flight school is driving towards being a 141 school and is charging the 141 rates to go along with them and/or selling off all of the older aircraft and replacing them with new or nearly new ones. There are almost no places for the casual flyer to rent a plane to fly around for a few hours, without coming away with a $300-400 bill, around Atlanta anymore.
 
I agree with the rent idea! I've been down this road myself - owned a 172 IFR and all that and put it in a leaseback. Seemed every weekend the wx was lousy so nobody flew and then students would use it during the week and something would break just in time for the weekend when someone had it booked for a long x-country. Long and short - if you don't need the plane for business - rent one and let someone else have the headache.

Also there is a liability issue - I strongly recommend forming an LLC to offset that and the tax issues; so there is more damn expense.
If this plane was a real deal - like $10k less than anything else out there I would say it's worth a shot, but at $28k?
Sounds like they're trying to rake back the money they spent on the motor and prop. The plane itself isn't worth much. I sold a 150 for a friend a little while ago. Got $15k for it - nothing wrong with the plane but it was old and had tons of hours on it. The guy uses it to commute, and he paid cash for it, costs him less to insure than his car!! (go figure!)

If you're still set on it - make the deal by saying you want a fresh annual done by an outside mechanic - anything wrong - seller pays to put it right (parts + labor) - you pay for standard annual + consumables oil, filters etc. That way you get a prebuy plus annual.

Just my 2c's worth......

BP244
 
Sure is a pretty airplane. Interior shot looks good.

With a new motor, if they threw in a Sparrowhawk mod for it, would it be worth closer to what they're asking for it? Just curious - I don't know what that's worth, but I've flown 152s with and without it and the difference is noticeable.
 
yah something like this would be worth it to commute around montana with if i was flying 100+ hours a year. I looked at insurance quote online for the plane and for just me to own/operate it it would only be 600 bucks a year VS $4000 a year to rent to students.

Some day i'll buy a plane. Today is not that day.

-Matt
 
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