I want to buy an Airplane?

Question

I want to buy an airplane. Any advice on the first purchase? I have about 120 hours( private pilot) and about $60000 to purchase a single engine aircraft. Could you give me pros and cons of your suggestion.

Answer 1

Cessna, it seems most solo pilots buy those

Answer 2

I agree the c182is a great airplane, dont know if you can get into one for 60 k,

60 k could buy a very nice Grumman American AA-5B Tiger

cons.......cant think of any

or a Piper Cherokee 180, ......cons....one door to enter/ exit.

Answer 3

Plenty of Cessna 172's in your price range.  Check out www.controller.com for the best selection.

Answer 4

Cessna 172 is ideal. Try to get one with IFR capabilities. You can put on 1000 hours  and still will be able to get back nearly the same amount of money you paid for it whenever you are ready to sell.

It would be difficult to get one with GPS in it for that price but if you DO then consider that a real deal!

Here are some nice aircraft in your price range.

http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_f...

http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_f...

I would warn against the Cessna 182 if what you want is to build hours. I has operating costs about 50% to 80% higher and that will matter signficantly if you want to put on hundreds of hours. On the other hand if you can afford the extra costs, it is considered high performance, and will do better in IFR traffic.

Answer 5

yes cessna is the plane for beginners. it's not that expensive and it's esier to fly on.

Answer 6

There are a lot of factors involved here such as location of airport, amount of traffic coming and going, whether Positive Controlled  (control tower), your own flying experience, what you learned in,  and what your farmiliar with!  Then there is what  you intend to do while flying, using for business, vacations, or just "recreation"!

$6000 won't buy much of an airplane, - but don't figure age of aircraft as being only criteria!  The most important thiings are the amount of time on engine since last major overhaul, (or sometimes "top" overhaul,-- and the amount of time on the "airframe" as well as the amount of time since recovered (if fabric airplane), and type of fabric used!  Also you need to need to history of use of aricraft!  Avoid ones that have been used for agricultural chemicals, - or ones that have been based near the ocean (or been seapalnes at some time-with pontoons)!  These can have hiddin corrosion or rust!  Get a good "AI or A&E" to check all of the airplane for rust and corrosion, (don't depend on what you can see yourself)!

If this doesn't help you, you can contact me on yahoo email, and I will "connect" and answer specific questions, I have a commercial rating (never flown big commercial airplanes)-- have worked as aircraft mechanic, and in R&D at aircraft factory , also hold instrument repairman cert.!  I don't know everything, but am willing to help!

I assume you are aware of trade-a-plane the biggest aircraft & parts-and related "newspaper" in the business, -- get it and read for about 6 months to see what the type you are interested in are currently available (and pricing), - (if they stay for 6 months, they obviously are too much - for what is being offered)!!

Answer 7

C172, with IFR rating. Get one that's been flown regularly and recently. Don't touch one that hasn't been flown in more than a couple of months. Split the cost of an annual with the seller and use this as a pre-purchase inspection. Check out insurance and fixed costs first.

Answer 8

go to cregslist.com i found for 12k a beechcraft dual engine.

Answer 9

I have owned several airplanes over the years, including Cessna 140, Cherokee 140, Cessna 172, and several Stinsons. For a first time purchase, I recommend The Cherokee 140 or C-172. They have decent performance, are good 3-person airplanes, and make excellent platforms for instrument training; much better than a C-150 / 152. They are reasonably cheap to operate and maintain, and the insurance is affordable. Some of the 1950's and early 60's model Cessna 172's are reasonably priced (typically under $35k) which gives you lots of money left over for upgrades, fuel, storage, insurance, maintenance and additional training.  I had one years ago and just bought another "square tail" because it is such a practical airplane to own. The advantage of a 1960's or early 1970's Cherokee is that the panels are all laid out in a standard configuration with center stack radios, like most modern airplanes, which makes instrument training and upgrading avionics easier. To get that with the Cessna, you need to purchase one about 1965 vintage or newer, and year-for-year, they are generally more expensive to purchase than a Cherokee.

Either plane is easy to sell when its time to move on to something else. There are lots of other choices of course, but you can't go wrong with these. Just make sure you do your homework on inspecting and purchasing an airplane, hire professional help for a prebuy inspection, and get everything in writing before any money changes hands.

Depending on what your aviation goals may be, I'd also recommend that you consider a Citabria 7ECA (115hp) if you have any interest in taildraggers. It is one of my top choices because they are within your budget, are cheap to operate and maintain, and are all around great little airplanes. I instructed extensively in one and if you want tailwheel time, it has better performance (particularly for cross-country flying) than a Cub or Champ, which are both excellent trainers. The only thing is, with fabric covering, it's best to keep them hangared, or at least in a covered tiedown, which costs money.

If you want more specifics, I accept emails. It's easy to get burned when buying an airplane and I hate to see people stumble into ownership blindly.

Answer 10

Sounds like you already have some pretty good ideas in mind. And as you already have your certificate, you know that  a Cessna "four-seater" is sometimes only a two seater plus baggage or two adults and kids maybe.

That being said, a 172 or even an older 182 might be in your price range. One of my airport neighbors is selling his '67 182 for about that price and it is a low time beauty. If I was in the market for a good used plane, I would give it serious consideration.

172's, Cherokees/Warriors, etc. are all good low maintenance aircraft but it just depends on the job you want them to do. I had an older 145 HP 172 that was a great airplane except on hot days with a full load. I wound up trading up to a 172 XP with a 210 HP engine and added a three bladed prop. Much better climb performance even on warm days.

As I mentioned above, if you are looking for a serious four seater, it might be worth looking around for a good used 182. More fuel burn but better load carrying. There are always trade-off's. Good luck in your search.