I’m crazy. Bought a 172 yesterday

Lance F

Lance F

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Lance F
Another independent CFI and I bought a 172 yesterday. It was just getting hard to find suitable and available planes at or near our airport to rent for training. So we decided to control our fate and buy one. It seems 172’s are pretty hot property right now. Prices are high and decent ones go fast. We ended up with one that had immediately sold, but the buyer couldn’t get financing. Learned of the availability yesterday morning. Flew to Montgomery, AL from east of Atlanta yesterday afternoon to look at it. Made an all cash offer on the spot which was accepted. Yeah, no official prebuy, no title search, heck we didn’t even fly it. But that’s the situation. I think we’ve got a solid plane at kind of a fair price. I think we’ll keep it busy immediately. We will see.
So now I have two Cessnas to worry about. Sigh. 7C895D6C-BFDC-4362-8E21-FF7D61CF584C.jpeg
 
Lance F said:
Yeah, no official prebuy, no title search, heck we didn’t even fly it. But that’s the situation. I think we’ve got a solid plane at kind of a fair price.
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Well, you’ll find out soon enough, right?
Either way, congrats. :)
 
Congrats ! Where are you based?
 
It's really sounding like buying a good airplane these days is difficult. Congrats.
 
Congrats! I bought my skywagon in an almost as rushed fashion and I think it absolutely worked out for the best as it will for you. :thumbsup:
 
It looks a lot nicer than any of the 172s I’ve rented!
 
Very nice, Lance! All the best!
 
Two Cessnas. It's going to be a dilemma which one to fly first each day. :D

Congrats!
 
Is that an M model? I know of an M that was a good one, albeit with a high time engine, changed hands last August for $45K.

How much will the insurance be for instructing in it? There is a guy at the airport that retired about three years ago and started giving lessons in his early 172. He never said exactly HOW expensive, but his insurance got so expensive that he gave up instructing in it.

Nice looking plane by the way.
 
Congrats. Looks pretty good on the outside. How’s the panel?
 
It’s a 1980 N model. Talking to others in this game I have learned that actual selling prices for these are up considerably since last August. Our insurance is a little over $5000. The plane will be at KCVC.
 
Lance, congrats, she's a clean looking bird. I have a soft spot for the N models, I earned my PPL and IR in an N model.
 
Very cool, although we need a panel pic! :D
 
Lance F said:
It’s a 1980 N model. Talking to others in this game I have learned that actual selling prices for these are up considerably since last August. Our insurance is a little over $5000. The plane will be at KCVC.
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The 'N' seems the most preferred in the flight training units. Of our now thirteen 172s all but two are 'N's.
 
Looks good! I too have a soft spot for the N's, especially those built in 1980, as I also did most of my initial training in one. Too bad some jackass stuck it in the side of a mountain in Nevada during a snow storm on a drug run.
 
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There's just something about it..I dunno..hmmmm. Oh, *snaps fingers* I got it, the wing's in the wrong place. ;)
 
A 172 is a 172. You can't really go wrong with it. Yeah, it can swallow a valve, but there's a good chance that a prebuy wouldn't have found that anyway.
 
GRG55 said:
The 'N' seems the most preferred in the flight training units. Of our now thirteen 172s all but two are 'N's.
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Same with the airplanes I am using at 52F near Roanoke, TX. All 3 are N models
 
I want to say all (or almost) all the ones in our fleet are also 'N' model. I can't find it now but weren't they also produced in the highest numbers? Might make sense why there are so many of them around.
 
Timbeck2 said:
There's just something about it..I dunno..hmmmm. Oh, *snaps fingers* I got it, the wing's in the wrong place. ;)
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Yeah, but it's so much easier to work on the master cylinders in it...
 
GRG55 said:
The 'N' seems the most preferred in the flight training units. Of our now thirteen 172s all but two are 'N's.
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The M was the best, in my experience. The N had the horrible H2AD engine that had much cam and lifter trouble. Many were STC'd out for O-360s, and I think Lycoming has likely been putting their roller lifters in them now, too.
 
You will have to change your screen name from Lance to Skyhawk...
 
OK. 82G is at its new home at KCVC. My partner flew it back, and everything worked. It tracked straight, and he's happy. Maybe I'll fly it tomorrow. Otherwise after Sun n Fun. Panel picture attached as demanded. Not much there, but we have a plan. Oh, and I'm not thrilled with the H2AD engine either, but we have a plan for that too. IMG_20210327_130713824_HDR.jpg
 
Lance F said:
OK. 82G is at its new home at KCVC. My partner flew it back, and everything worked. It tracked straight, and he's happy. Maybe I'll fly it tomorrow. Otherwise after Sun n Fun. Panel picture attached as demanded. Not much there, but we have a plan. Oh, and I'm not thrilled with the H2AD engine either, but we have a plan for that too. View attachment 95568
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You flying the 414 down? Where you parking? We head down Friday for GAC.
 
Lance F said:
OK. 82G is at its new home at KCVC. My partner flew it back, and everything worked. It tracked straight, and he's happy. Maybe I'll fly it tomorrow. Otherwise after Sun n Fun. Panel picture attached as demanded. Not much there, but we have a plan. Oh, and I'm not thrilled with the H2AD engine either, but we have a plan for that too. View attachment 95568
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That panel looks like a good starting point. I'd be afraid to look underneath that big cover between the radio stack and the Hobbs meter, though.
 
Bill said:
Lance, congrats, she's a clean looking bird. I have a soft spot for the N models, I earned my PPL and IR in an N model.
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As did I. Both PP and IR in the same N model (that the club still has, over 20 years since I joined and earned my PP in it).

I don't know about the stock engine for the N model as the club's has always had a Penn Yan 180 hp conversion (O-360) in it and that engine, other than being a challenge to start now and then, has been bullet proof (and it has been replaced a couple times over the years due to hours and a prop strike once).

Our club's other C-172 is a P model and it runs fine, too. It used to be a plane of last resort, but once we replaced the avionics and put GPS in it it is now the most popular plane (and still the least expensive) plane in the club.
 
Toss in a GTN 650 and GTX 345 and you'll be just like every rental school 172 on the planet. You're not a 141 school, so no reason for glass. Keep it simple and make money.
 
Dan Thomas said:
The M was the best, in my experience. The N had the horrible H2AD engine that had much cam and lifter trouble. Many were STC'd out for O-360s, and I think Lycoming has likely been putting their roller lifters in them now, too.
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We fly the ones in our FTU so much that we've just not had problems. Our Lycomings rarely ever need anything beyond routine consumables (oil/filters/plugs/etc) between overhauls and our engines almost always go past the TBO without issue. But we tend to log 900 to 1200 hours per year on each of our 172s, and we are at 4000 ASL so they are automatically "output derated".
 
Ghery said:
Our club's other C-172 is a P model and it runs fine, too. It used to be a plane of last resort, but once we replaced the avionics and put GPS in it it is now the most popular plane (and still the least expensive) plane in the club.
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I like the door latches in the P better than the N.
 
There was a change in the middle of the “P” production.

A second door latch pin was introduced in 1984.[16]

On an unrelated topic, I think it a bid funny that they skipped the “O” and went to “P” because they thought people / pilots couldn’t tell the number zero from the letter “O”.
 
RyanB said:
They’re the same.
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The N door latches look like this:
n140pc.jpg


while the P door latches look like this:
0945652.jpg
 
asicer said:
The N door latches look like this:
n140pc.jpg


while the P door latches look like this:
0945652.jpg
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Hmm, I wonder if that started on the later ‘P’ models, because the ones I’ve flown had the same latch as the ‘M’ and ‘N’ Skyhawks.


35AC273F-C0EE-4E18-B949-30097EB3E845.jpeg 8986CEE2-5A43-49E6-8F2E-42FB3AD2C120.jpeg
 
That panel is definitely a good starting point, but like others said, won’t take much to have the right equipment for training. Or throw enough dollars at it to get to TAA status for more training utility, though I am not sure if the ROI would be there.
 
RyanB said:
Hmm, I wonder if that started on the later ‘P’ models, because the ones I’ve flown had the same latch as the ‘M’ and ‘N’ Skyhawks.
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Very well could be. That would gel with post #34.
 
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