"Paul Folbrecht" wrote in message
k.net...
Ah, well, hey, it's done now. I've got one! A nice '79 152 with a
decent mid-time engine. Well, not entirely done yet but close. Here's
the story.

After I decided to bail on the 150 I had the pre-buy on I was itchy (not
a great thing, I know) to find myself an airplane. I pored over all the
online ads again and called on a few. Most promising prospect was down
in Kankakee, IL, about 2 hours from me. Sounded good on papar: 7500TT,
1200 SMOH (overhaul done in '98 - I learned to ask about time since
overhaul!), typical otherwise. $19.9K, just reduced from $22K. All
logs. Flight school plane. Called and got more details and a bunch of
pics sent. Owned by a doctor that runs the flight school.

[snip]

I'll stop here and note that this reads like I very well could have been
being taken by this bunch - the owner, the friend/broker, the mechanics.
I feel I am a pretty good judge of people. The mechanic struck me as
honest and disinterested. The owner's got litterally millions of
dollars worth of aircraft in the hangar were sitting in - a pristine
Stearman bipe, a Yak-52, others. Is he going to try to screw somebody
badly on a $20,000 152? Anyway, as we'll see in a bit, I did basically
buy it but I had a contract written with a complete, no string attached
"out" for me: when I come down to pick it up, I get a test flight, with
the option to cancel the deal for any reason I see fit.

I looked at a Cherokee 180 this guy had for sale back in September. I
remember seeing the Yak, Stearman, and a twin in there. I think I remember
the 152 being there, but I never looked at it much. We were looking at the
180.
We talked to the guy briefly. Kinda made me nervous. Too many planes, too
little time. The 180 only had a handful of hours on it since the major about
4 years prior (like 3 hours in one year. Yikes!). 180 was out of annual,
looked worn & just gave an overall impression of "hmmm. interesting". We
told the owner to call us when it was airworthy again & we'd come back.
Never heard from him since.
Of course, that was a whole different plane. Sounds like your 152 *was*
being flown by the school. Cool.
The guys just set some alarms off in my head, though. Best of luck with
your (possible) new bird!

Oh, can someone please turn off the wind here in IL? Thanks. ;-)