I gave up... Selling the itty bitty airplane.

IK04

IK04

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Nov 6, 2018
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Location
Copperas Cove, Texas
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LNXGUY
After more than two years of frustration with attempting to completing an annual inspection and several other repairs, the local airport weenies were about to claim my airplane as abandoned because it has sat in a tiedown in a non-flyable condition.

In order to get the plane off the airport, I came up with a plan to remove the wings and trailer it to somewhere to do the few remaining repairs (primarily replacing the stretched aileron cables) and then moving it to my nearby airport to reassemble and fly...

I don't have a shop of any kind and there are not only no hangars or covered tiedowns available within 150 miles, but the waiting time for a hangar is longer than I will live. I convinced a friend to move the plane to his back yard and we could work on it there until I figured out a plan to move it to put it back together. He already has two airplanes he is restoring, so mine should be an easy and quick job, right?

The logistics of fitting a Cessna 140 on a 20 foot trailer and somehow carrying the wings without destroying them turned out to be a nightmare and finding an A+P mechanic/IA to finish off the annual turned out to be pretty much hopeless due to everyone on my list either quitting or dying of Covid...

After the third day of weather delays and further trailer problems and delays, I recognized the futility of my efforts and made the decision to give up my dream of having an affordable airplane and flying for fun. The guy who has been bugging me to sell it to him got his wish.

I am saddened, but relieved. I can now begin the next hairbrained plan for getting airborne. Whatever the future holds, it will most likely be either a Gyroplane or something that will live on a trailer and not depend on either an airport or a hangar.
 
At first it was, "Nooooo, not another one quitting!", but as long as you're gonna fly something, it's cool. Look at Kolbs, they're quick folders and good flyers.

I was in a similar situation with my Taylorcraft years ago, finances and family responsibilities kept me from fixing it. With the help of a couple of friends I took the wings off and hauled it home... the wings one at a time on the roof of an old station wagon, the fuselage on a homemade 10' trailer with a cradle I built and hanging WAY off the back, very scary... fortunately it was a short drive.

The plane sat untouched in the garage for over 10 years, even during our broke years it was, "I'm not selling it except to buy another plane." I finally sold it when the value of a T-Craft project intersected the cost of a new paramotor rig which got me flying again, then worked my back up through ultralights and cheap airplanes.
 
https://www.samsonsky.com/

Oh, wait...if you don't think you'll see a hangar open up in your lifetime, then you're probably not going to be around for the advent of flying cars, either. (Spoiler alert: None of us will be!)
 
Take the wings off, put in storage unit, list on craigslist for big $. Running when parked, no low-ballers, I know what I got.
 
IK04 said:
After more than two years of frustration with attempting to completing an annual inspection and several other repairs, the local airport weenies were about to claim my airplane as abandoned because it has sat in a tiedown in a non-flyable condition.

In order to get the plane off the airport, I came up with a plan to remove the wings and trailer it to somewhere to do the few remaining repairs (primarily replacing the stretched aileron cables) and then moving it to my nearby airport to reassemble and fly...

I don't have a shop of any kind and there are not only no hangars or covered tiedowns available within 150 miles, but the waiting time for a hangar is longer than I will live. I convinced a friend to move the plane to his back yard and we could work on it there until I figured out a plan to move it to put it back together. He already has two airplanes he is restoring, so mine should be an easy and quick job, right?

The logistics of fitting a Cessna 140 on a 20 foot trailer and somehow carrying the wings without destroying them turned out to be a nightmare and finding an A+P mechanic/IA to finish off the annual turned out to be pretty much hopeless due to everyone on my list either quitting or dying of Covid...

After the third day of weather delays and further trailer problems and delays, I recognized the futility of my efforts and made the decision to give up my dream of having an affordable airplane and flying for fun. The guy who has been bugging me to sell it to him got his wish.

I am saddened, but relieved. I can now begin the next hairbrained plan for getting airborne. Whatever the future holds, it will most likely be either a Gyroplane or something that will live on a trailer and not depend on either an airport or a hangar.
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Tough to let an old airplane go. Where's it going to live now?
 
Sorry to read of the woes with the Cessna 140 and difficulties with both airport and finding an A&P with parts available to fix the plane.

May I suggest maybe looking for a used Remos GX? Those wings fold back toward the empennage and can be stored in a trailer. It's a docile aircraft to fly as well.
 
When I was 15 my Dad bought a disassembled C140 about 75 miles away. We hauled it home with just a truck. One trip with the wings and a few parts. Another trip with the bed full of parts and the tailwheel tied down in the back of the truck. Not sure how the police would like that today. I soloed in it shortly after my 16th birthday.
 
it's that way around here too, it seems....the lack of hangars and tiedown space I mean. Has it always been this unwelcoming to own an airplane? I've always been a renter so never really paid all that much attention till a few years ago.....

Anyway, I'm sorry you're giving up on the dream, but it's exciting to find a new one.
I thought about gyros a while back. My fear is that the likelihood of flying often when it lives on a trailer is less because of the need to remove the blade...just seems like a fair bit of work for a joyride to nowhere. They do look fun though!
 
It’s all about the money. Airports don’t want antique airplanes because there is no tax revenue from them. My local airport has no interest in building t-hangars for the 96 person long wait list. In stead they’ve used federal grant money to re-grade and run electricity and plumbing to a bunch of vacant lots that they plan to have people build their own hangars on. Which by the way have to be a minimum of 50’x50x square with a 20 year land lease with no promise of renewal. most the hangars I’ve never seen open. The one beside me is leased by a guy that lives in Europe. He keeps an A36 bonanza in it for the 4-6 weeks a year he is in the US. Unless the FAA or AOPA do something, GA is going to keep getting squeezed out of airports.
 
IK04 said:
After more than two years of frustration with attempting to completing an annual inspection and several other repairs, the local airport weenies were about to claim my airplane as abandoned because it has sat in a tiedown in a non-flyable condition.

In order to get the plane off the airport, I came up with a plan to remove the wings and trailer it to somewhere to do the few remaining repairs (primarily replacing the stretched aileron cables) and then moving it to my nearby airport to reassemble and fly...

I don't have a shop of any kind and there are not only no hangars or covered tiedowns available within 150 miles, but the waiting time for a hangar is longer than I will live. I convinced a friend to move the plane to his back yard and we could work on it there until I figured out a plan to move it to put it back together. He already has two airplanes he is restoring, so mine should be an easy and quick job, right?

The logistics of fitting a Cessna 140 on a 20 foot trailer and somehow carrying the wings without destroying them turned out to be a nightmare and finding an A+P mechanic/IA to finish off the annual turned out to be pretty much hopeless due to everyone on my list either quitting or dying of Covid...

After the third day of weather delays and further trailer problems and delays, I recognized the futility of my efforts and made the decision to give up my dream of having an affordable airplane and flying for fun. The guy who has been bugging me to sell it to him got his wish.

I am saddened, but relieved. I can now begin the next hairbrained plan for getting airborne. Whatever the future holds, it will most likely be either a Gyroplane or something that will live on a trailer and not depend on either an airport or a hangar.
Click to expand...

Sorry, sounds incredibly frustrating.
Hope it finds a good home, and happy that you’ll keep flying. Hope you didn’t take a bloodbath, economically.
 
Piperonca said:
Tough to let an old airplane go. Where's it going to live now?
Click to expand...

Luckily, the guy has a hangar on the same airfield. He already owns four airplanes and will probably have it back in flying condition pretty quick.

Who knows, maybe I can buy it back from him for only 100% loss...
 
Guess if somebody wants to get into sole ownership of a plane nowadays it needs to come with a hangar and an A&P or no deal.
 
Grum.Man said:
... My local airport has no interest in building t-hangars for the 96 person long wait list. ... Unless the FAA or AOPA do something, GA is going to keep getting squeezed out of airports.
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This is one of the biggest problems with having various levels of government own and run the airports. They simply have no incentive to serve the needs of the people or the GA pilots. There is no reason for them to care how long the waiting list is for new hangers. By contrast, privately owned airports would see the demand for hangers as a potential revenue stream and satiate the demand. Since in a free society the only way to make money is to serve the needs of other people.

And certainly no one can expect the FAA to help GA in any way. The FAA has been intentionally strangling the life out of GA for decades.
 
Which is stupid.

You have a list of people who want hangars. You build them, lease them, make money. The American way.

And people WILL pay for a hangar. My local field built 3 rows (16 per row) of NICE T-hangars. Nice ramp/taxiways.
$550 per month, and they are FULL. $26,800 per month revenue. Plus fuel and maintenance from the aircraft on the field.

And there is space to build 3 more rows.
 
Depending on the area and what they can charge for them, hangars might take longer to pay back than the airport owner wants to have funds tied up. Or other investments might have a better return. Around here T-hangars rent for I think $260 with a long wait, or $210 per plane for the shared hangar I'm in.
 
Supply and demand, if there is a long waiting list, raise the price. Higher price means you can build more with a reasonable pay back.
 
The real issue is that there are all sorts of grants, government loans, bonds... etc to do airport improvements. Things that have no payback but it's free money for the taking if the airport does the paperwork to apply for them. Why does such a thing not exist for building hangars? My airport has used grant money for everything from upgrading security gates, re-paving when it wasn't needed, corporate hangars, adding or moving taxiways. Such a huge waste with zero payback yet there is an empty bucket just waiting to be filled.
 
Many airports may not want the obligations that go along with the grants.
 
Grum.Man said:
The real issue is that there are all sorts of grants, government loans, bonds... etc to do airport improvements. Things that have no payback but it's free money for the taking if the airport does the paperwork to apply for them. Why does such a thing not exist for building hangars? My airport has used grant money for everything from upgrading security gates, re-paving when it wasn't needed, corporate hangars, adding or moving taxiways. Such a huge waste with zero payback yet there is an empty bucket just waiting to be filled.
Click to expand...
There are several variables here. Some airports don’t receive federal funding, which means they’re at the mercy of what the state will pay for and when they’re able to pay for it. There is also a priority ranking system that goes along with it and the construction of new hangars and buildings is low on the list. Those who do receive federal funding are part of the NPIAS program and so there’s other obligations and requirements that most people don’t realize in order to accept federal grant monies.
 
E.W. said:
This is one of the biggest problems with having various levels of government own and run the airports. They simply have no incentive to serve the needs of the people or the GA pilots. There is no reason for them to care how long the waiting list is for new hangers. By contrast, privately owned airports would see the demand for hangers as a potential revenue stream and satiate the demand.
Click to expand...

Why work to make money when you can just take it.
 
E.W. said:
The FAA has been intentionally strangling the life out of GA for decades.
Click to expand...
Given there are many facets of "GA" that have never stopped growth over the past decades, are you just referring to the Part 91 recreational side of GA?
 
Pinecone said:
Which is stupid.

You have a list of people who want hangars. You build them, lease them, make money. The American way.

And people WILL pay for a hangar. My local field built 3 rows (16 per row) of NICE T-hangars. Nice ramp/taxiways.
$550 per month, and they are FULL. $26,800 per month revenue. Plus fuel and maintenance from the aircraft on the field.

And there is space to build 3 more rows.
Click to expand...
Pilots need to lobby the FAA to allow improvement funds to allow for hangar construction. Now its not an allowed expense. Even if its just a capital loan baid back with rental frees..

Its nice to have a resurfaced runway but people who live around and use the airport most would say hangars would give a bigger bang for the buck.
 
IK04 said:
After more than two years of frustration with attempting to completing an annual inspection and several other repairs, the local airport weenies were about to claim my airplane as abandoned because it has sat in a tiedown in a non-flyable condition.

In order to get the plane off the airport, I came up with a plan to remove the wings and trailer it to somewhere to do the few remaining repairs (primarily replacing the stretched aileron cables) and then moving it to my nearby airport to reassemble and fly...

I don't have a shop of any kind and there are not only no hangars or covered tiedowns available within 150 miles, but the waiting time for a hangar is longer than I will live. I convinced a friend to move the plane to his back yard and we could work on it there until I figured out a plan to move it to put it back together. He already has two airplanes he is restoring, so mine should be an easy and quick job, right?

The logistics of fitting a Cessna 140 on a 20 foot trailer and somehow carrying the wings without destroying them turned out to be a nightmare and finding an A+P mechanic/IA to finish off the annual turned out to be pretty much hopeless due to everyone on my list either quitting or dying of Covid...

After the third day of weather delays and further trailer problems and delays, I recognized the futility of my efforts and made the decision to give up my dream of having an affordable airplane and flying for fun. The guy who has been bugging me to sell it to him got his wish.

I am saddened, but relieved. I can now begin the next hairbrained plan for getting airborne. Whatever the future holds, it will most likely be either a Gyroplane or something that will live on a trailer and not depend on either an airport or a hangar.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I am a newb here. The issue you are having is finding someone to work on your plane because it is _____? experimental? old? rare?

someone above stated "Guess if somebody wants to get into sole ownership of a plane nowadays it needs to come with a hangar and an A&P or no deal." Is a hangar really a must? Our local airport has a forever waitlist. Is putting a plane outside with tiedowns really an issue? Or is it because it is so hard to find someone to work on the plane if you don't have a hangar for them to come work on it?
 
Michael Gallagher said:
Sorry, I am a newb here. The issue you are having is finding someone to work on your plane because it is _____? experimental? old? rare?

someone above stated "Guess if somebody wants to get into sole ownership of a plane nowadays it needs to come with a hangar and an A&P or no deal." Is a hangar really a must? Our local airport has a forever waitlist. Is putting a plane outside with tiedowns really an issue? Or is it because it is so hard to find someone to work on the plane if you don't have a hangar for them to come work on it?
Click to expand...

Depends on the aircraft. Wood/fabric aircraft? Hangar is pretty much a necessity or else you will see the UV and elements wear down the fabric quickly. Other aircraft can survive outside, but just like with autos, they paint will wear more quickly, damage from FOD and strong winds are increasingly likely, and theft of avionics becomes a bigger issue. Hangars are worth the expense to most everyone who has an aircraft in decent condition. If you have an old ratted-out 70s Cessna 152 with 7K hours on it, factory radios, and bare metal showing through original paint, a hangar isn't going to make much difference.
 
GaryM said:
Might make the airplane look inexpensive by comparison.
Click to expand...

I was going to say that it seems those exotic dancers oftentimes want to go to exotic places once they get someone else to foot the bill...and since you usually fly to those exotic places, that would mean she requires an airport, too... :D
 
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