Airplane Ownership

"Dan Luke" wrote
I don't agree that the glass cockpits add a tremendous amount of real
value over old instruments combined with an MFD. Consider the
experience of Cirrus Designs, which believed, naively, it turned out,
that glass cockpits would make their airplanes notably safer than older
designs. The only thing I find really exciting about the new designs is
the electronic AHRS which finally supplants the old pneumatic gyros.

Sheer pizzazz is selling new glass cockpit airplanes now, but when they
get old enough for the used market, it's uncertain that they will
command a large premium. Will prices of used 2003 Skylanes be depressed
$50K vs. 2004 ones? It's hard for me to picture myself paying that kind
of premium for just the pretty boxes.
--

It may, in the long run, not matter about "real value." "Perceived value"
might move the market. Think how many times the threads about VORs going the
way of the NDB have been posted in the rec.aviation.* newsgroups.

Gig G

Go on......

unicate (Shirley) wrote in message ...
Anyone here buy their own airplane to do their training in before being
licensed? I am a glider pilot transitioning to power. Any
suggestions/recommendations, advice, cautions? Thanks in advance.

Bought mine one month after getting PPSEL. Then used it for
instrument training. Given the frequent conflicts with weather,
maintenance, other users, it really helped to have my own plane, not
to mention the familiarity with the plane's performance, settings etc
that comes from flying your own plane. That is very nice for
instrument training and flying.

I bought mine halfway through training. I got tired or the scheduling
issues and thought it would be nice to have my own when I wanted to go on a
weekend trip and not have to pay the minimum times.

I bought a 4 place grumman. Ownership has its benefits and downsides.
Consider a partnership with one/2/3 other people. I would have, but I knew
I was going to move within a year so that didn't work well with a potential
partnership.

I am happy I bought it, but it has cost a lot of money...

Still, it is nice to be able to go to the airport whenever I feel like it
and go flying without having to schedule with anyone.

"Shirley" wrote in message
...
Anyone here buy their own airplane to do their training in before being
licensed? I am a glider pilot transitioning to power. Any
suggestions/recommendations, advice, cautions? Thanks in advance.

Still, it is nice to be able to go to the airport whenever I feel like it
and go flying without having to schedule with anyone

Perhaps I should tell the rest of the J-3 story. The gent who bought
the plane as a student, and who had such tourble passing his medical,
eventually decided to upgrade it with a bigger engine, new covering,
etc etc, which cost as much as the original purchase. So he asked our
mutual (former) flight instructor if he wanted to split the ownership,
and this happened.

When I did my biennial flight check in January, I asked how this was
working out. The instructor allowed that it was working just fine for
him, but that the partner never seems to fly the aircraft. He's
self-employed, too, so it's not a scheduling problem--he could go if
he wanted to.

So there's another caution: be awfully sure that you will still want
to fly on a regular basis after the initial euphoria of learning to
fly. Otherwise you might end up maintaining an aircraft for somebody
else to enjoy.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

I bought a plane with 13 hrs and 1 hr solo. My wife already had a Private
certificate at the time.

I wouldn't recommend it:
- The learning curve is steep.
- It will take more hours to get your license - fixing airplane problems -
flight checks.
- Mechanic shops will take all your money - especially if you are new to the
business.
- It won't be cheaper than renting.
- insurance is higher for student pilots.

My plane had a good engine and airframe. So far I've upgraded radios twice,
generator to Alternator, fuses to breakers,...

I was an hour drive from any rentals and I wanted to fly, so I paid the
extra cost.

Mitch



"Shirley" wrote in message
...
Anyone here buy their own airplane to do their training in before being
licensed? I am a glider pilot transitioning to power. Any
suggestions/recommendations, advice, cautions? Thanks in advance.

I have to second Mitch's recommendations (or rather, lack thereof). Your
first year of ownership can be pretty painful. Even if you don't have any
squawks (unlikely), you'll need nerves of steel to resist fixing things that
the previous owner didn't bother with. That being said, after the first
year or two things usually settle down and, as long as you fly a respectible
number of hours, the costs start to make more sense. However, as Mitch
says, it's very difficult to make it cheaper than renting.

I bought my plane just before starting my instrument rating. I flew enough
hours to make it competitive with renting, but I had a painful annual (not
at all unusual for your first year) and a few bits of random maintenance
which put me over the top. I had to cancel lessons at least two times due
to maintenance: one was a failed tach, the other was an alternator. I also
lost about two weeks upgrading the panel.

My advice, wait 'til you finish your PP-ASEL, decide what kind of flying you
think you'll be doing over the next five years, then choose an airplane
which fits that mission (or keep on renting).

best of luck,
mark

"Mitch" wrote in message
news:x5a5c.23277$m4.16123@okepread03...
I bought a plane with 13 hrs and 1 hr solo. My wife already had a Private
certificate at the time.

I wouldn't recommend it:
- The learning curve is steep.
- It will take more hours to get your license - fixing airplane problems -
flight checks.
- Mechanic shops will take all your money - especially if you are new to
the
business.
- It won't be cheaper than renting.
- insurance is higher for student pilots.

My plane had a good engine and airframe. So far I've upgraded radios
twice,
generator to Alternator, fuses to breakers,...

I was an hour drive from any rentals and I wanted to fly, so I paid the
extra cost.

Mitch



"Shirley" wrote in message
...
Anyone here buy their own airplane to do their training in before being
licensed? I am a glider pilot transitioning to power. Any
suggestions/recommendations, advice, cautions? Thanks in advance.