Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only New Member & Future 150 owner :)

Amen. I'd bet many of us traveled the same paths give or take a few curves.

Does anyone from the Tampa, FL area know of a mechanic that can do a pre-buy inspection?

Cost of ownership:
This is a cool calculator I think I found on this forum a while ago

I agree! This is really cool! Mechanic prebuy inspections will save you a lot of grief and money. Another way to save is to get in contact with a 150 club member to look at a 150 you are interested in...it won't cost any money and there is a chance a 150 club member may find something that is a deal breaker before you spend the money on a prebuy...if a club member thinks its a good deal then your money spent on a prebuy is money well spent. Another item to consider that is Huge is corrosion....one of my friends bought a "beautiful" appearing 150 a few years ago....the paint was really nice. He flew it home and then discovered really bad internal corrosion in the fuselage spar carry thru....it was so bad, the cost of repair exceeded the value of the airplane....I think Jim has a similar experience and it was so bad he donated it to a mechanics school.

Hey also welcome to the club!

You will find many helpful friends here....reminds me...I live in AZ and last summer found a 64E in Lenoir, NC about 80 miles from my Mom's home. I talked to Greame Smith, 150 club member from RI and he said he was going to the Flyin at Cleveland, SC I think about 70 miles from there and he said he could meet me when I saw my Mom in August...it was so cool talking to Graeme when I got there and he said his 150 was blue and white and I looked up and there it was! We looked at the 150 and I was impressed....but my eyes were so big and I totally missed the repair patches that Graeme pointed out to me. He warned me about getting emotionally excited about getting a 150. That's what is good about having a totally disinterested 3rd party set of eyes to look at what you are looking at.

Good luck!

That is great advice, I hadn't thought about asking a club member to do some recon. By the way, I was previously in AZ myself. Tempe, AZ, hence, my username Devil '07.

I've looked at several 150s in the southwest area. Haven't quite found the right fit yet. However, I found a possible solution until I find something to buy. There is a local guy that has a pretty cool deal where you pay $2000 per year for unlimited 150 flying for fuel cost. Basically, you pay $2000 up front, then you fly the 150 all you want, all you pay for is fuel, and buy a case of oil every 50 hours. He caps it at 10 guys. Sounds like a pretty good deal.

Any thoughts?

I'd be all over that - sounds like a great arrangement!!

I'd be very careful with that if you intend to fly a lot.
One guy who flies like I do (300/year) and that system wouldn't work.
Check what gotcha's he has. And be careful also if none...

x2 ! Just look over the contract and make sure you're not liable for any gotchas or there are any monthly/weekly caps, and check insurance requirements . But heck yeah man, do it!

The nice thing about asking a Club member is that, typically, they already own a 150/152 and so A) are much less likely to poach a sale, and 2) have more than a passing knowledge about 150/152s.

There are Club members all of the U.S. and around the world. I have been very thankful for the help other Club members have provided when I was in airplane buying mode.

I dunno . . .it sounds like corporate ownership, without even OWNING anything. You have to get along with the other guys in the group, and you have to expect that when you really want to fly, someone will already have it reserved.

Corporate is good for expensive planes, but I'm not a fan for something like a 150.