Are General Aviation Airplanes a Prudent Investment?

jtrain609 said:
How about LSA's? Think they'll hold value in the coming years? Or do you guys think that LSA's will enter the market and have their value plummet.

Or in other words, am I going to be lucky enough to find a 2009 J3 Sport Cub on the market for $50,000 in a few years? :)
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Not anytime soon! But you can probably find a real cub for less than 50K
 
Homebuilt airplanes? I have seen them being built in various hangars. All I know is my future wife and/or current gf would get jealous FAST :p It would be the equivalent of an aerospace affair.
 
BillErvin said:
. The secret to buying is your willingness to pay an A&P you know well and trust to go with you and both of you do your own very thorough annual inspection for a prebuy inspection, even if the seller is offering an annual with purchase. If they are not willing to let you do that, walk....no, run away.
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YES.

cost per flight hour goes up the less you fly, airframes and engines don't react well to sitting for long periods of time.
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Preach it, brotha!
 
jtrain609 said:
How about LSA's? Think they'll hold value in the coming years? Or do you guys think that LSA's will enter the market and have their value plummet.
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The LSA's seem to be holding value better than anything out there. Look at a 4 year old Cirrus SR-22 and compare to what the list price was when it was bought. Some of those planes have taken a huge hit. I see CTSW's out there for sale with 600 or more hours on them (roughly 80-90K), at 70% of initial purchase cost.

That said, there are factory built, brand new, S-LSA's that are being sold for $60,000 or less. You can run a flight school with them and rent them. They may not be the most beautiful things out there, but they get the job done. Tube & Fabric, basic Day VFR instrumentation. But, it's a brand new airplane.
 
My Grandpa bought a 1940 Waco YPF-7 in 1959 for $2,500. Restored it and put a fresh Jacobs on it - probably had about $6k total in it. Then recovered it again in the early 80's and a fresh motor - say another $20k. Sold it for $100k after he passed away.

Bought a 1939 Waco YKS-7 for $5,000 in 1965. Restored it and fresh motor - about $6k more. Recovered it again in 1985 - call that $10k. Sold it for $85k.

Bought a Howard for $10k in 1975 and flew it for a year - then completely rebuilt it, fresh motor, etc. Probaby had about $50k total in it - sold it for $75k.

Assorted other airplanes as well - nothing much to speak of financially. The airplanes ended up being a good investment but that wasn't their purpose. If you are looking for an investment the Antiques will give that kind of return provided you find them and buy them right - and can do the work yourself.
 
WacoFan said:
My Grandpa bought a 1940 Waco YPF-7 in 1959 for $2,500. Restored it and put a fresh Jacobs on it - probably had about $6k total in it. Then recovered it again in the early 80's and a fresh motor - say another $20k. Sold it for $100k after he passed away.

Bought a 1939 Waco YKS-7 for $5,000 in 1965. Restored it and fresh motor - about $6k more. Recovered it again in 1985 - call that $10k. Sold it for $85k.

Bought a Howard for $10k in 1975 and flew it for a year - then completely rebuilt it, fresh motor, etc. Probaby had about $50k total in it - sold it for $75k.

Assorted other airplanes as well - nothing much to speak of financially. The airplanes ended up being a good investment but that wasn't their purpose. If you are looking for an investment the Antiques will give that kind of return provided you find them and buy them right - and can do the work yourself.
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And the mighty Piper Apache!:rotfl:

Patrick, I totally agree with your point.
 
t-cart said:
And the mighty Piper Apache!:rotfl:

Patrick, I totally agree with your point.
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Yes...the Apache would rank with the Waco's and Howards!

Actually - if you don't mind making it public - what about your T-cart, T-cart? Do you think the clip-wing T-craft will hold its value or offer you a profit at some point vs. what you have in it?

EDIT: and BTW - where are some updated pictures of that project? When will you fly it?
 
I actually do think I will be ok if I decide to sell the fart cart. It has been sevvvvveral years to get where it is today. It was a basket case when I got it bu it adthe mods done for the most part. The wings were clipped, the tail was re-designed and all the attach points were beefed up. I have put a cover on it and painted it. It really looks good with the overall black with silver starburst with checkerboard tail. (Jimmy/Kyle Franklin paint scheme)

At this point the engine is hung but nothing is hooked up, nor do I have a prop for it yet. Basically I need instruments, a prop and hooking up all of the small junk. Hoping to fly it to Oshkosh this year depending upon how my work schedule goes.

Just looking through the buy/sell rags, I should be able to wash out if I do infact decide to sell it.
 
The value of an asset (be it a antique car or a house; ect.) are at the mercy of the market...buy and sell accordingly. If you can make a profit, consider yourself lucky.
 
ILSstud said:
For example, can a middle class, single guy, with no debt reasonably afford to upkeep a plane like this with proper planning. I always feel like planes are toys strictly for wealthy people.
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I know a couple who own TWO airplanes concurrently, and have done so for several years. He is a non-profit CPA and she is a school teacher. It's not about being wealthy, it's about making owning an airplane a priority. I personally paid more for my first car than I did for my first plane.
 
t-cart said:
I actually do think I will be ok if I decide to sell the fart cart. It has been sevvvvveral years to get where it is today. It was a basket case when I got it bu it adthe mods done for the most part. The wings were clipped, the tail was re-designed and all the attach points were beefed up. I have put a cover on it and painted it. It really looks good with the overall black with silver starburst with checkerboard tail. (Jimmy/Kyle Franklin paint scheme)

At this point the engine is hung but nothing is hooked up, nor do I have a prop for it yet. Basically I need instruments, a prop and hooking up all of the small junk. Hoping to fly it to Oshkosh this year depending upon how my work schedule goes.

Just looking through the buy/sell rags, I should be able to wash out if I do infact decide to sell it.
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I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but....

getting the plane to the point you have it was awesome - wings hung, engine on, etc. I would always get really excited at that point - it looked like an airplane and all that we needed was to hook up the "little stuff". It just seemed that the "little stuff" seemed to take five times longer than it should and most of my knuckle skin was removed at this point.
 
WacoFan said:
I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but....

getting the plane to the point you have it was awesome - wings hung, engine on, etc. I would always get really excited at that point - it looked like an airplane and all that we needed was to hook up the "little stuff". It just seemed that the "little stuff" seemed to take five times longer than it should and most of my knuckle skin was removed at this point.
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You are most certainly correct. Also, too much more important stuff going on right now such as Deer hunting.:)
 
That is my business plan. At the end of its useful life let someone fly it and pull the chute...Insurance is still at replacement cost, not current value...


Brett, you want to fly it???
 
Back to someone who mentioned Experimentals...I have always wanted to build a Velocity XL or XL5 with my dad. Unfortunately now he is sick and it looks like that dream won't be coming to fruition. I've started getting pangs of wanting to embark on this project, even if it means just researching it for now. I suppose I should join a local chapter of EAA and maybe call Velocity (since they are 30 minutes from me) to see about a demo flight. They have always seemed like amazing looking planes, I haven't heard too many bad things about them...
 
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