Least Expensive Plane To Buy and Own

Having said that, have a look at the Ercoupe or the Piper Warrior 140.

A small nit: A Cherokee 140 is a radically different (and far
cheaper) bird than the Piper Warrior.

There is no "Warrior 140".
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I am looking for some input on the least expensive airplanes to own. I've
heard so many horror stories about the $5000 or even $15,000 annual, or the
seat adjuster that costs $600, that I thought I would get some input on this
before buying. So I'm looking for low purchase price (used), low repair and
parts costs, and low $ per hour to run.

Don't let these old geezers here scare you. You can buy an old
Ercoupe or Cessna 150 for less than $15,000 -- or about the price of a
decent 3-year-old mini-van. If you can afford to buy a used mini-van,
you can afford to own an airplane.

(If you can't, I'm afraid you're out of luck, and should go buy a bass
boat.)

Maintenance *will* be higher than owning a car, but you can save
yourself oodles (that's a technical term) of money if you (a) are
somewhat mechanically inclined (b) don't mind getting your hands
dirty, and (c) hook up with a good, honest mechanic.

Actually, (c) is the hardest part of airplane ownership. Without (c),
all bets are off, because the FAA has set up the classic conflict of
interest, whereby the guys who stand to make the most money from
declaring your airplane unairworthy are also the only guys who can fix
them.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Aug 24, 4:08 am, Thomas Borchert
wrote:
Michael,

So I'm looking for low purchase price (used), low repair and
parts costs, and low $ per hour to run.

You need to be aware that having such a strong focus on the lowest
price may have inherent safety issues. You get what you pay for.

Having said that, have a look at the Ercoupe or the Piper Warrior 140.

IMHO the venerable Cessna 150 is your best combo choice for cheapest
in all three categories: to purchase, maintain, and operate as a
general purpose everyday flyer. The Piper Cherokee (not Warrior,
that's a different plane - pedantic nit here) 140 is the next cheapest
overall, and gives you the benefit of 4 seats and considerable extra
speed, but also considerable extra fuel burn. The Ercoupe has become
too much of the antique, occasional-only special purpose flyer that
you spend all your time and money fixing up into a hangar queen
instead of using as a workhorse everyday flyer out of fear you'll
break something expensive or difficult to repair on it.

The Cherokee 140 has not been holding its resale value too well
lately, as the used plane market is full of good buys in a 140 so that
may be something to seriously consider if purchasing a plane dirt
cheap today right now bears more weight than future resale value in
your decision, but the Cessna 150's have been holding their resale
value rock solid even throughout the used plane market slump over the
past year or so...


cheers,
rutger

That is the nature of renting. Unless you are flying 100-150 hours per
year renting is going to save you a lot of money and be more
predictable.

Owning carries implicitly 'you _will_ fly more' however, at least it
has for me. "You should only buy if your fly 100 hours or more per
year" isn't necessarily the best advice, unless your schedule is such
that you _cant_ fly more than 100-150 hours a year.

Honestly the best metaphor I can think of it is an attractive
girlfriend/mistress vs. a prostitute. Sure the physical mechanics are
the same, sure they'll both hit you in the wallet...

To an accountant, Prostitutes make certain business sense. (I've
actually heard more than one of them justify their lack of
relationship with this exact line).

But that doesn't mean they compare to the "real" thing... Its the
emotion that makes all the difference

EridanMan wrote:
That is the nature of renting. Unless you are flying 100-150 hours per
year renting is going to save you a lot of money and be more
predictable.

Owning carries implicitly 'you _will_ fly more' however, at least it
has for me. "You should only buy if your fly 100 hours or more per
year" isn't necessarily the best advice, unless your schedule is such
that you _cant_ fly more than 100-150 hours a year.

What is the deal with emphasizing so much? It is really annoying and
doesn't add anything to your message.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
: EridanMan wrote:
: That is the nature of renting. Unless you are flying 100-150 hours per
: year renting is going to save you a lot of money and be more
: predictable.
:
: Owning carries implicitly 'you _will_ fly more' however, at least it
: has for me. "You should only buy if your fly 100 hours or more per
: year" isn't necessarily the best advice, unless your schedule is such
: that you _cant_ fly more than 100-150 hours a year.

: What is the deal with emphasizing so much? It is really annoying and
: doesn't add anything to your message.

: Matt

I thought it was *really* annoying and doesn't add *anything* to the message?

;-)

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

"Michael Adams" wrote in message
t...
I am looking for some input on the least expensive airplanes to own. I've
heard so many horror stories about the $5000 or even $15,000 annual, or the
seat adjuster that costs $600, that I thought I would get some input on
this before buying. So I'm looking for low purchase price (used), low
repair and parts costs, and low $ per hour to run.

Michael

Least expensive is an older glider. $10K gets you something decent. If you
hook up with a club that has a winch for launching your major expense will
be gas for your car getting too and from...

If you just gotta have a noisemaker up front, your best bet is a low
performance homebuilt. You save in a couple ways - first the purchase price
will be lower, and, second, you can (can, not will) save on maintainance
since it is legal (but not always practical) to do your own maintainance.
And not every part has to be "certified".

Note: Ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Homebuilts don't get an annual
inspection from an A/I, they get a "condition inspection" from an A/I, A/P
or the original builder- here's the catch - if you do your own work and when
you get to the "condition inspection" and your friendly A/P opens up the
cowl and says "Who the @#$% was the moron that did this?" you are, as they
say, screwed. You really need to work WITH your A/P to avoid surprises.
And, you need to have YOUR A/P do an inspection before you buy for the same
reason - could be this is the first time ANY A/P has looked under the hood,
eh?

On the other hand, if you are a decent wrench and you are able to build some
trust with your A/P you will most likely save quite a bit on the
maintainance.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
: EridanMan wrote:
: That is the nature of renting. Unless you are flying 100-150 hours per
: year renting is going to save you a lot of money and be more
: predictable.
:
: Owning carries implicitly 'you _will_ fly more' however, at least it
: has for me. "You should only buy if your fly 100 hours or more per
: year" isn't necessarily the best advice, unless your schedule is such
: that you _cant_ fly more than 100-150 hours a year.

: What is the deal with emphasizing so much? It is really annoying and
: doesn't add anything to your message.

: Matt

I thought it was *really* annoying and doesn't add *anything* to the message?

;-)


I'd comment, but my experience with Ph.D.s (I work with a lot of them)
is that they aren't teachable. :-)

Matt

"Michael Adams" wrote in message

I am looking for some input on the least expensive airplanes to own.

Can only speak for myself but a Cessna 150 is tuff to beat for just
simple pleasurable flying. Here's my stats on mine.

Purchased in 2000 for $12,000.00 had engine rebuilt for $8,000.00
airplane in great shape except for high time on engine. New radios,
all upgraded avionics etc came in the airplane.

NO annual in last seven years over $275.00
Fuel burn approx 6 gallons per hour.
Insurance cost $770.00 per year.
Purchased one set of tires, forget what I paid for them.
800+ hours later, Best airplane I've ever owned for my kind of flying.

Figure I still can sell it for close to $20,000.00.

Terry
N6401F

: I thought it was *really* annoying and doesn't add *anything* to the message?
:
: ;-)
:

: I'd comment, but my experience with Ph.D.s (I work with a lot of them)
: is that they aren't teachable. :-)

: Matt

Already taught as much as will fit, eh?

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************