David Hill wrote:
: If you just buy the 152 outright, or with partners (son and niece?), and
: use it to get your training, you will generally come out ahead, without
: having to go the leaseback route. And since only the owners will be
: flying the plane, it will be in better shape when it comes time to sell
: it than it would if it were rented out.

: If I had it to do over again (I was in your shoes exactly 5.5 years
: ago), that's what I would do.

That's what I should have done. I learned to fly 2 years ago the
"right" way. I went to the airport, said, "I'd like to learn to fly," and
42 hours of C172 rental later I was a pilot. Since then, I've learned the
"right" way is to buy a plane and hire someone to teach you how to fly it.
It might take a little longer and it doesn't provide quite as much
incentive to finish once you've soloed, since you can always hop in your
plane and beat around the patch. Especially with prospective partners,
buying can be a good idea. An (almost) runout Cessna 150 can be had for
$15-20K. Fly it for 100-200 hours, and sell it for the same. Run autogas
in it for $8-10/hour.

Something else that a friend of mine did. A Cherokee 140 costs
minimally more, but has quite a bit more utility. Something that won't
immediately be outgrown once you've got the ticket.

Anyway, just my thoughts.
-Cory

--
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* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
* - teach what you do. *
* (Just my 20 USm$) *
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