To Buy or Not to Buy?

Aceninja

Aceninja

Well-Known Member
Hi,

I am currently a low time Private Pilot (83hours or so) who is interested in continuing his training. Unfortunately (although the weather alone makes up for it) I live in the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico where the aviation industry is not as diversified as say, in mainland USA or anywhere else for that matters. What it boils down to is that I would be spending $185/hour wet on a Cessna 172 (with instructor). Compared with the $110/hour wet I paid in the mainland USA for a Piper Cherokee that sounds like an arm and a leg. Given the current economic climate and due to my job here moving back to the states for training is not an option at the moment.

I recently came across an individual who was moving back to the states and is selling a 1964 Cessna 150D for $12,000. Now the asking price sounds good and I think I might even get it lowered, but I do know that owning a plane is very different from owning a car, in that there are a lot of recurrent costs, such as maintenance, inspections, insurance, parking etc.

My primary aim if I end up buying is to continue flying and keep current. I do expect to rent a fully IFR capable C172 to learn in and keep currency as well in addition to this endeavor. So to you I pose this question, should I buy and fly or keep on renting? The aircraft has about 650hours TBO so it should be good to go for the next 600hours or so before overhaul. How good are Cessna 150's as far as a learning airplane? What do you think about the asking price?

I did a bit of research on AOPA and came up with this checklist of things to consider. Please feel free to add any suggestions as well.

Before Buying Checklist

Things to take into consideration:

Fixed costs: Cost of loan, tie down, maintenance inspections, insurance. State taxes.
Variable costs: Fuel & Oil, repairs, overhauls etc

Things to look for in airplane:

Airworthiness certificate,
engine and airframe logbooks,
aircraft equipment list,
weight and balance data,
placards,
FAA-approved aircraft flight manual or owner's handbook.

Things to do:

Title search/insurance
Pre-purchase inspection
Airworthiness Directives
State Registration
Bill of Sale: FAA Form 8050-2
Aircraft Registration: FAA Form 8050-1 (available from FSDO, needs typed original form)

Wow, I know that was a lot of text to go through, but if you are reading this I would sincerely appreciate your comments on the matter. I know that buying an airplane is not a light task and would love to hear about your experiences as well.
 
I'm not suggesting that you do it or not do it, but do consider getting someone else (or a couple someone else's) to go into partnership with you. Owning an airplane by yourself is almost a guaranteed bad deal. Owning it with others changes a lot of things. You cut the fixed expenses a lot (hangar or tie down cost, insurance, taxes). You keep the airplane in better shape because it gets run a little more often. You have a second or third person to confer with when making decisions.

One other thing. If you are thinking of using the Cessna 150 for instrument training, consider how practical that might be. Typically, Cessna 150s have a VOR, but not necessarily a good one and the vacuum instruments are often pretty shaky.

One last piece of advice. If you do buy a 150, use the flaps sparingly. There is a reason why Cessna limited the flaps on 152s to only 30 degrees. There is nothing unsafe about 40 degrees of flaps, but it is a little less forgiving than you might want on a regular basis. 30 degrees gives you almost all of the benefit of 40 degree flap use and a substantially reduced risk factor.
 
You got to do a LOT of flying to justify the expense of owning an airplane--If you got money to burn, that's one thing but if your down here with the rest of us mortals, it's an investment. I almost pulled the trigger a couple of times but I have an accountant for a wife that seriously knows how to devil's advocate a expense proposition.

:)
 
The TBO on that engine is 649. I was planning on flying for about 400hours or so in 2 years and then either selling it or if I really like it, maybe do the overhaul. Either way I just want to stay current on my stick and rudder skills and wanted to keep flying. Renting sounds pricey as well and the 12k he was asking for does not sound that bad. 100hours alone at 185/hr would be more than that. Then again the costs of ownership are high as well. For example, the price for a tiedown at the airport closest to where I live is $300. I might check other airports a bit farther away, but then the cost of driving an hour one way would have to be taken into consideration as well.
 
btw, on a different note, would it be possible to ferry this airplane back to the US from Puerto Rico? Max range seems to be 390nm or so (5gph fuel burn, assuming 90kts groundspeed with 22gallons usable fuel. It would be Island hopping back to FL, but would it be doable? Anyone ever done anything like this? Just looking at all options, in case I return to the states and decide to keep it.
 
Couple of things to think about. TBO, unless your planning on using the plane for some commercial purpose, it really doesn't mean anything. As a private owner you can fly it until it gives out if you want (I don't recommend it though). On the other hand you may lose a cylinder two days after you buy it.

I own a 77 150M, and I fly it regularly, owning a plane can be a great thing or a pain in the ass. It can also be expensive from time to time. If you plan on flying to build time and fly it a lot, you can cut the per hour costs. What it boils down to, is your own feelings of trading the convenience of flying your plane whenever you want for dealing with the costs of ownership.

If the price is good, and you have a mechanic "YOU" trust (not his) do a good pre-buy inspection and give it a reasonably clean bill of health, it might be a good deal. I'd be worried about corrosion from being on PR from any length of time.
 
I would be very careful about buying an airplane that is that old. It probably has not been flown much lately and that can cause a whole set of problems. I used to tell people to plan on spending 10-15% of the purchase price of an old airplane on the first annual for two reasons: 1) the owner has probably deferred alot of maintenance items and 2) when yu start flying an airplane that has been sitting you find out alot of things about it. For example, I did an annual for a guy that bought an old C-152 for $20,000 and when he brought it in the fuel selector had a leak. That was about $800 for the part plus labor. The total for the inspection and fixes ended up around $2,200. And we didn't charge him for the couple of hours we spend digging dirt dobber nests out of the wings. With the depressed prices of used airplanes I would plan on 25%.
The problem with Cessna's (we operate several 172's) is that u have to buy parts from one of thier non "service centers". They are expensive and can take longer to get than Piper Parts. For example, Cessna won't drop ship parts to you. They go from Cessna to the Service Center then to you. That adds a few days and cost.
The expense of shipping to PR and limited FAA A&Ps will also add to the price. Just some thoughts.
 
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