To any A&Ps out there.......

[Tupac]

Flying 10.5-11 hours with a stranger you don't know through the day into the night in an airplane with a history you know nothing about in terrain you're not familiar with?

I don't see what could go wrong.

We wouldnt fly during the night. It's just an idea I'm entertaining

[Golfer]

If nothing else this is a good opportunity for a preflight planning exercise.  Plan that flight out. Route, where you will buy fuel, where you will buy fuel if that airport ends up not having any, where you'll stay the night, where you'll go if the weather goes to hell, etc.

Sharpen your pencil and have fun with it.  Let me know what you come up with.

Caution:

There's a whole lot of nothing out there.  What are you packing?  What aren't you packing?  What can you do to improve the odds you might actually be found in the event of a forced landing?  First aid training?  Kit?  Buy one or make your own?  Do you have a handheld GPS?  Radio?  Extra batteries for everything?  Water?  Food?  Water?  Shelter?  Water?  Think about these things too.

[CAP1]

Flying 10.5-11 hours with a stranger you don't know through the day into the night in an airplane with a history you know nothing about in terrain you're not familiar with?

I don't see what could go wrong.

SO?

 what're ya tryin to say?

[Golfer]

SO?

 what're ya tryin to say?

I'm telling em there's a chance.

[Babalonian]

I'm telling em there's a chance.

(Image removed from quote.)

Sound more like you're volunteering.      

[Golfer]

That's it! 

I realize it's the motto of the PJ's but I think of it as "so that others may live."

Or at least have a chance at surviving.  Themselves.

What do I know anyway?  I'm happy that I still have the courage to hop in an airplane that has only one piston engine bolted on it and fly it upside down.

[Tupac]

Okay, so we got a call from the avionics place today, and they recommended that we install a second VOR aswell, and since I live in Texas and we have to pay sales tax, the cost of the plane hit 50k, which my dad didn't like.

Anyways, he decided to keep looking, he said "You could buy a damn 182 for that"

Fingers crossed.

[Tupac]

I guess I should learn never to count my chickens before they hatch.

I'm disappointed, but not discouraged. Lots of airplanes for sale out there though.

[flight17]

that sucks! keep looking on ebay and Controller.com might even find something other than a cessna there that you like.

[Golfer]

Tupac of all the people I know who are seriously trying to buy an airplane very few actually find sellers who are really selling.  There's a reason your dad is buying an airplane and not you.  It's a business transaction and you have to detach as best you can emotions from the mix.  It's hard and sometimes it's not possible but it's not something that happens overnight based on the recent experiences of those I know looking.  Add me to that mix later this year when I'll be shopping for one of 4 types of airplanes to park in the hangar next to the work airplane. It won't happen quickly and a buddy of mine just bought the share for sale in a local Pitts S2C I'd had my eye on so that ship sailed.  

There are more and better airplanes out there.

[Tupac]

My dad has already found another one on the interwebz that he likes. He's like James woods on family guy.

"Ooh, piece of candy. Ooh, piece of candy etc etc"

[VonMessa]

Tupac of all the people I know who are seriously trying to buy an airplane very few actually find sellers who are really selling.  There's a reason your dad is buying an airplane and not you.  It's a business transaction and you have to detach as best you can emotions from the mix.  It's hard and sometimes it's not possible but it's not something that happens overnight based on the recent experiences of those I know looking.  Add me to that mix later this year when I'll be shopping for one of 4 types of airplanes to park in the hangar next to the work airplane. It won't happen quickly and a buddy of mine just bought the share for sale in a local Pitts S2C I'd had my eye on so that ship sailed.  

There are more and better airplanes out there.

This is why I will hire a test pilot for the first few hours after I finish my build.

It has been said that after 5-10 years of blood sweat and tears that if something goes South, guys are too emotionally attached to all of their hard work and tend to try to save the a/c rather than get on the ground safely and , more often than not , wind up ruining the plane and themselves...

 

[CAP1]

My dad has already found another one on the interwebz that he likes. He's like James woods on family guy.

"Ooh, piece of candy. Ooh, piece of candy etc etc"

i'm not sure about this......golfer would be much better fiinformed than i on it....but i seem to recall sdome adviuce from a couple of flying friends also, from when i was looking at that 152.......

 there is a cutoff point. i think that to make it worth owning the aircraft(mone-wise) you need to fly it a certain number of hours a month or year.

[Golfer]

Worth it?  Never. Always. Both at the same time.

There are many factors that go into owning a share of or owning outright an airplane. Some you can't put a price on others you can.  I had spreadsheets upon spreadsheets for break-even points for numerous aircraft types compared ro renting based on local going rates but the data is old and not as accurate.  Generally I believe I remember the number being around 100 hours assuming you paid cash for the airplane and don't count the cost of money. It's been years since I even thought about the data so don't take my word for it.  My budgets for maintenance were all a little padded because I wouldn't want to have to worry about regular dips into the non airplane allocations so to speak so my budget for maintaining even a C150 was higher than average but stuff breaks. The guys on a shoestring budget planning on minimum cost annuals and no AOG or unplanned items are the ones that get the most heartburn.

While money is a big factor for many sometimes mission drives things more than dollars.  In my case my ideal criteria is a 200mph airplane that can take me 450 miles with 2 seats, basic aerobatic capability, doesn't stall at some ridiculusly high number for forced landing survivability and somewhere to put a bag or two makes the list pretty short when you factor in what's affordable. (For me) That would be perfect and by compromising on any of those I can have great swings in price. Then comes actually owning it and I'm still in the "saving to aquire" phase now that I can afford to operate something. I really need one of my dead uncles in Nigeria to come through with my lost millions.

[Tupac]

I fly 15 hours a month. Money isn't a huge issue, but my dad is picky.

Anyways the one he is looking at now has the 180hp and bushmaster conversion. I'll post some pics soon, it's IFR ready, but not certified.