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

[CAP1]

I've flown an older Cesna 172 with the 0300 in it. It was a decent bird other than a corrosion issue. I happened to like the smoothness of the 0300 and the manual flaps were not anything to be concerned about. In my opinion, as a pilot and an A&P the manual flap system is simpler. I like simple things in an airplane and most powered items introduce more complexity and things that can fail.

The flaps can be lowered or raised faster manually than with an electric motor. They will not fail if you lose all electric power in the bird. You never need to worry about the motor burning out. If there is a problem with them it will cost less to fix.

Yes the 0300 has an 1800 TBO. It's not a big deal. There are 6 cylinders so that will increase costs in doing a top or full overhaul. If treated right, the engine should last at least the entire TBO period. Continentals tend to drop compression in cylinders faster than Lycomings. That just means you will need to start keeping an eye on them about 700 to 900 hours of use. During your annual inspection the mechanic will be doing a compression check on each cylinder as part of the inspection. A pre purchase compression check should be done before you buy the bird.

A 63 bird is just fine to fly as long as it checks out properly. My old Comanche was a 59 and flew wonderfully for the decade I had her. I sold her when we started to RV full time and I still miss being able to drive up the airport and take a hop whenever I wanted to.

i landed a 78 c-172 without flaps....thanks to an electrical system failure. it was no big deal.....thanks to the CFI i fly with. flying with bob........it's never boring, and there is ALWAYS some sort of "failure".
 and i did call him up that night, when i parked the airplane, and finished writing it up./......and i thanked him for doing what he always does.

[Tupac]

My instructor was just like that, if something wasn't broke, he made it broke, and I had to work around it.

My instructor got offered a job by American eagle last week, so right now I'm up in the air. (no pun intended)
I drive 50 miles one way to get to the airport I fly out of, so hopefully with the plane I can either find someone locally, or fly to boerne and pick up an instructor

[Tordon22]

Is the button above the right side yoke labeled 'panic button'? lol

[Tupac]

Is the button above the right side yoke labeled 'panic button'? lol

Lol, I didn't even notice that.

I hope it's just a joke

[CAP1]

My instructor was just like that, if something wasn't broke, he made it broke, and I had to work around it.

My instructor got offered a job by American eagle last week, so right now I'm up in the air. (no pun intended)
I drive 50 miles one way to get to the airport I fly out of, so hopefully with the plane I can either find someone locally, or fly to boerne and pick up an instructor

look around for a CFI that's a little older. try to find one that does it because he loves it.

 my CFI's name is bob mccabe. he has a full time job, and teaches only because he loves it, and flying. he also has a teaching style that i absolute love. he does not teach as if you're a student. he teaches as if you're his kid. i friggin love that attitude. it works. he's the best cfi i've met.....and as far as i'm concerned, he's saved my bacon(referencing the electrical failure. it was at night....and i had a few weeks later suffered a partial engine failure on take off.) on neither occasion did i do anything except fly the plane, and because of his training, i didn't damage the aircraft, or injure/kill myself.

[Tupac]

The one I'm looking at right now is named Tom Adams, he is in his 60s and is the chief instructor out at boerne stage.

Still looking around though.

[Golfer]

look around for a CFI that's a little older. try to find one that does it because he loves it.

Who says you need to be the former to have the latter?

I'd really like to be a DPE however the ones out of the local FSDOs aren't busy performing half (or less) the number of checks they did even 2-3 years ago.  Tell your friends to learn to fly.

[AAJagerX]

Funny story...  My instructor had a slight case of the flu the day we did stall/spin training.  We made an unplanned landing at a small airstrip (Oskaloosa, IA)...  He opened the door and puked.  His next words were "Ok, let's head back.".  That dude was cool as a cucumber.  I'll never forget that one. 

[CAP1]

Who says you need to be the former to have the latter?

I'd really like to be a DPE however the ones out of the local FSDOs aren't busy performing half (or less) the number of checks they did even 2-3 years ago.  Tell your friends to learn to fly.

there was no insult intended to anyone on my former statement.

 personal experience is why i said that.

 my first instructor was a good guy......mid 40's, loved flying......but he taught like one of those shcool teachers that had trouble keeping their students awake. i did like the guy though.
 after he moved on to another job, i went through 3 cfi's in their 20's. all of them were only there putting in time till they got another job.
 
i flew with one guy........he looks like an old hippy, and i friggin LOVED flying with this guy. only problem was that the way his voice came through the headset gave me headaches.
  then i met bob.......and it seemed as i suddenly started learning so much more than i had for the previous years.

[Maverick]

Cap, off topic.

I had an instructor like that when I was getting my PPL. She is no longer with us as she succumbed to vertigo in a night flight IFR situation in a storm. Vertical into the ground. Now she flies with the angels.

When I was doing my night dual she saw I was spending a bit too much time with my head on the gauges in the pattern. While half way through downwind in the traumahawk she turned off the dash lights and told me to fly the airplane not just watch the dials and concentrate on the numbers. It was the best landing of the night. Some time later I heeded her advice when I lost pitot tube input on a rental Cessna at take off. Airspeed went to 0 while I was headed down the runway at lift off on a cross country home. It was interesting but the plane "told" me everything I needed to know through the seat cushion.

[VonMessa]

Cap, off topic.

I had an instructor like that when I was getting my PPL. She is no longer with us as she succumbed to vertigo in a night flight IFR situation in a storm. Vertical into the ground. Now she flies with the angels.

When I was doing my night dual she saw I was spending a bit too much time with my head on the gauges in the pattern. While half way through downwind in the traumahawk she turned off the dash lights and told me to fly the airplane not just watch the dials and concentrate on the numbers. It was the best landing of the night. Some time later I heeded her advice when I lost pitot tube input on a rental Cessna at take off. Airspeed went to 0 while I was headed down the runway at lift off on a cross country home. It was interesting but the plane "told" me everything I needed to know through the seat cushion.

There was just an article in Sport Aviation entitled "Flying by the seat of your pants" describing a lot of what you are saying.

It was a really informative article that made a lot of sense 

[Tupac]

I had to make an "emergency landing" when I was in the pattern a couple days ago. The taco bell hit me like a sledgehammer. Thankfully I was on downwind, I landed the plane, stopped infront of the FBO and turned everything off, then pulled out the parking brake and ran inside.


It was a photo finish.

[VonMessa]

I had to make an "emergency landing" when I was in the pattern a couple days ago. The taco bell hit me like a sledgehammer. Thankfully I was on downwind, I landed the plane, stopped infront of the FBO and turned everything off, then pulled out the parking brake and ran inside.


It was a photo finish.

 

[Tupac]

Today the seller in Reno called wondering if I would like to fly to NB with him in the plane. I think it would be a really cool experience, and i think I'm going to go. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

PS: if I go I promise to take lots of pictures

[Golfer]

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.