Getting a little sick of it all

Besides, with the inst rating, I prefer to fly on the scuzzy
days and save the gorgeous days for doing things outside.

Man, no offense, but that's kinda warped.

I hope flying never gets that way for me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Dan Luke wrote:

"Michael" wrote:
The average private airplane flies 26 hours a year.

That surprises me.

Well, that figure includes the two aircraft next to mine that haven't left the
ground in years. In fact, if you averaged mine and those two, you'd get about
20 hours last year.

I think that you'd get a substantially higher number if you only included planes
that were flown at some point during the year.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

Jay Honeck wrote:

2. Do you feel comfortable sharing the sky with someone who flies just 2
hours per month?

Well, if you don't feel comfortable sharing with me, then stay on the ground.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

Well, if you don't feel comfortable sharing with me, then stay on the
ground.

You fly just 2 hours per month?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Well, if you don't feel comfortable sharing with me, then stay on the
ground.

You fly just 2 hours per month?

I flew 4 hours in October. Flew 3.4 in November. Put 2.7 on it in February.
Didn't see the plane at all in December or January, so, yeah.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

Looks like The Federal Government Is going to get $3,700 off me for Capital
Gains I would rather give that money to a private party on a reinvestment
than the Federal Goverment.


"John Galban" wrote in message
m...
"MRQB" wrote in message
...
Yes, its getting a little frustrating I think I am going to quit looking
for
a while just to let my nerves settle a bit.


I saw this coming when you posted that you had cash and were looking
for a "quick sale". As I recall, I mentioned something to the effect
that this would seem very attractive to junk dealers. To them, a
quick sale means that you will not dig deep as far as inspections and
paperwork are concerned.

It sounds to me like you are taking your time to make a thoroughly
informed purchasing decision. People selling junk do not take kindly
to this. Too bad for them. Don't get worked up about it. Don't
argue with them on the phone. Just walk away. The moment a seller
tells you that you can't have your independent A&P inspect the
aircraft, just thank him for his time and walk away. This is not a
person from which you want to be buying an aircraft.

Ultimately, patience is the key to getting a good one. It takes a
lot of time, looking at a lot of junk, to find a good reliable
airplane that is reasonably priced (unless you're very lucky).

It took me six months to find my first airplane and 3 months to find
my second. In both cases, I stumbled across my eventual purchase
before it was advertised. Also in both cases, I spent most of the
total time looking at airplanes that were eventually found to be
unsuitable for one reason or another. It's the price you have to pay
to weed out the not-so-great airplanes from the great ones. It is not
a quick process and IMHO, not a particularly enjoyable experience to
have to repeatedly waste time wading through logbooks of aircraft you
won't purchase.

Why bother? I have several friends and acquaintences that didn't do
a thorough job in the weeding process and had to live with the
results. For the most part, they regretted it for a long time (and
many paychecks). A few became disenchanted with ownership and sold
out at a loss, never to return to ownership. So, just have some
patience with the process and do not buy anything that you didn't
thoroughly check out. Some of the scariest planes I ever saw had sexy
new paint jobs and sparkling interiors.

Good Luck,

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

You fly just 2 hours per month?

I flew 4 hours in October. Flew 3.4 in November. Put 2.7 on it in
February.
Didn't see the plane at all in December or January, so, yeah.

Sounds to me like the infamous Maule "heater" syndrome?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Sorry, but I do get a kick out of flying instruments. There's not
much like coming out of an overcast with the runway right in front
of you. Climbing up on top of a rainy day into bright sunshine
is quite a kick too. Flying in and out of clouds, and the
rainbows and the cloud canyons.... Thanks, but these things
just can't be beat and then I can enjoy the earth on days when you
vfr only folks are dodging the 20 hour a year yahoos.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Besides, with the inst rating, I prefer to fly on the scuzzy
days and save the gorgeous days for doing things outside.

Man, no offense, but that's kinda warped.

I hope flying never gets that way for me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

On 4 Mar 2004 15:36:15 -0800, (John Galban) wrote:

"Roger Tracy" wrote in message . ..
snip
I don't buy junk. I don't fly junk. I take care of my
planes ..
so if there's any issues they're pretty minor ones. So while I'm not
inflexible on price ..
using the prebuy and a discrepensy list to try to haggle the price down ..
just don't
work.

You're sure that any issues will be minor ones? Often, having a
different A&P look at a plane will uncover a problem that wasn't
noticed by the current one. I'd say you'd have to qualify your
statement above. If the prebuy uncovered significant discrepancies
that you did not know about (or tell him about), why shouldn't the
seller expect you to adjust the price accordingly.

I agree in general that a buyer who wants to nitpick minor items
into big price adjustments should probably be shown the door. But on
the other hand, as a buyer, the prepurchase inspection will probably
be the single biggest factor in determining the true value of the
airplane.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

My thought is, how many airplanes (percentage-wise) would pass the
"gauntlet" as-it-were (as it is being described here) without some
other mechanic picking up some previously missed item or items? I
mean, how many airplanes (in our aging fleet) are truly squeaky clean?

For those airplanes that are squeaky clean, what is that worth in the
marketplace? Might it be worth a premium over what might be called
a "standard" (going) price? In the collector / vintage car market,
there are rather well defined categories with regards to pedigree,
condition, originality, etc. Original cream puffs or expertly
restored examples bring top dollar. Junk brings bottom dollar, with
everything in-between.

Like another poster stated, these airplanes are getting old (50+
years in many cases). There are completely, lovingly restored
cream-puff airplanes out there for sale, but the owners of such are
not exactly giving them away. On the other end of the spectrum, there
are complete pieces of worn out junk out there as well, masquerading
as good, solid airplanes.

I'm inclined to think along the lines of, does the current "accepted
market value" for a particular type of airplane mean it needs to
be a perfect / cream puff example? I think if you're looking for a
perfect, "cream-puff" airplane, you should be prepared to pay for it.
Suffice it to say, it will be cheaper to pay top dollar for a cream
puff as opposed to buying a junker and trying to make cream puff out
of it (at least if you just write checks to have it restored as
opposed to doing it yourself). If you're looking for a deal too good
to be true, it probably is, so be careful out there.

Somewhere between these two extremes, (junkers & cream puffs) good
airplanes can be bought that will bring years of good service &
enjoyment.

Bela P. Havasreti

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
My story almost exactly.

What I will never understand are the owners who almost never fly. I can
see a temporary stretch of low or no activity for health, financial or
other oersonal reasons, but there are so many who own an aircraft for
years and just let it sit. I don't get it.

Ego? Some weird sentimental attachment?