Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only Any Advice for a First Time Buyer?

Welcome to the Club, John. I live in Mansfield, and am based out of Arlington (KGKY).

I'll be in Austin tomorrow afternoon from about 1:30 for a few hours. Sitting at Atlantic Aviation at the big airport just chillin!

I agree with Jim. He's super smart and a great guy, too. Spend enough to buy the best one. Don't buy into a project as the maintenance costs will surely creep up unfavorably. Plan on 10 percent of the purchase price to get you through your first year of ownership. There's always something that needs money (I mean attention).

Luckily, here in Texas, there are a lot of planes available. Kirk is right, too (another super smart, great guy)...don't limit yourself geographically. These little planes can travel the entire country, coast to coast, Canada to Mexico...just one fuel stop at a time.

Good luck with your search. We love helping each other spend their money.

Gary, Thanks for the encouragement! I regularly fly a couple C152's out of KAUS and Atlantic Aviation that rent relatively reasonably. I won't be able to make it out there today, but enjoy their popcorn and tea/lemonade. Not a bad place to hang out! r/John

Jim, I can identify with your experience and advice. Thanks for those words! r/John

By the way... for anybody... in searching for the right plane nationwide, besides our club's classifieds, any recommendations for where to look? (i.e., in addition to Barnstormers, ASO, Trade-A-Plane...?)

Hey John, you didn't mention your price range on the aircraft purchase ? That would help. Someone told me there is a 150/150 around my area that is just sitting. I imagine there are some nice planes that people don't want to go through the hassle of listing, pricing, and such but if approached might be willing to part.

Good Luck. I am headed to the airport and hope to meet Tim on his way home to Arizona.

I agree with John about damage history. Our 150 was run off the side of the runway by a student back in about 1990. It flipped and ruined one wing and the vertical stabilizer. It was repaired right and it flies hands-off now and looks great. I think "no damage history" is overrated and probably means the airplane sat a lot in a hangar somewhere.

Gene -
Price range? Actually, I want to remain flexible given what's out there and available and consider the whole range. But, I think I need no more than a mid-time engine (for peace of mind) and $13-$20K would be about right. I'll admit to envy over member Dan Montgomery's Aerobat advertised here for around $36K. I don't need an Aerobat, but I liked that it was IFR (even WAAS equipped!) and relatively low-time; of course I'd also like a 152 ... and I'd expect to pay more. So, to answer the question: all in all, I'd probably be best off with a modest airplane and stay below $25K. (Staying even further below that number will help with the bills down the road.)
John

I'll echo what others said. Save your dollars and buy a bird that someone else put a lot of money into if possible.

It's very possible (if not probable) to buy a 16K 150, put an additional $20k into it, and end up with a plane worth 19K. The numbers were even worse in my case, buy the joy of ownership left me with no regrets. All the same if I went back in time. I would tell myself to spend $24K on that low time cream puff 150 and fly it like I stole it.

That's good to know, so we know what to recommend if we see a candidate. Some people have a hard limit set by their budget (or spouse) and can't buy a plane that exceeds that limit even though it's a better buy.

Sandy and Hung -
I definitely can appreciate what you're saying -- well put! There are certainly some appealing 150s on Barnstormers right now above my target but below $30k. I could be tempted upward in the price range for the right airplane. It's good to hear from all of you on the forum -- thanks! John

I think you could find a very nice plane for $20K.