New guy. Kinda. Buy plane for training or wait?

Tango Golf Sierra

Tango Golf Sierra

Filing Flight Plan
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Oct 21, 2017
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Tango Golf Sierra
Hey yal. Kinda late intro here. I been reading post for awhile. Started lesson with a local (CVN) CFI a year ago and about 7 hours in had to quit cuz my daughter was in hospital. Now I’m trying to get back in and CFI has moved. Anyway i have a opportunity to buy a plane locally and i know its a clean one. What yal think about buying to train in?
 
I'd certainly hope you will get an A&P near by that is familiar with the plane before throwing money down, there can be expensive items hiding behind a"clean one", it will be money well spent to know for sure what you are getting into, wish you the best and hope all is well with your daughter, tonight is the anniversary of our losing our 23 year old son, a hard time
 
Waste your money on a rental for a while. Stuff happens, as you well know. It’s just easier to rent and focus on learning while other life is happening all around you. Owning a plane can be a time suck (a fun one, but still a major distraction from other stuff). My personal opinion.
 
Gary Austin said:
I'd certainly hope you will get an A&P near by that is familiar with the plane before throwing money down, there can be expensive items hiding behind a"clean one", it will be money well spent to know for sure what you are getting into, wish you the best and hope all is well with your daughter, tonight is the anniversary of our losing our 23 year old son, a hard time
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I dont personally know the A&P but know guys who do. And ya “clean” a lotta times aint “clean” All is well with her just a rough start. Sorry to hear about your son. Cant imagine.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Waste your money on a rental for a while. Stuff happens, as you well know. It’s just easier to rent and focus on learning while other life is happening all around you. Owning a plane can be a time suck (a fun one, but still a major distraction from other stuff). My personal opinion.
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Ya stuff does happen. Life, work and everything else in between. Shoulda got back in the seat sooner but got busy of course...
 
I'm going to go the other way on this one. I say that if you're committed to flying and know beyond a shadow of doubt that owning an airplane is what you want to do, then go for it with the caveat of the aforementioned pre-buy. I started flying in the 80's at the Aero Club at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. I soloed at 9 hours and had 18 hours when I rotated back to the states. At the time the plane was $40 wet plus $12 for the instructor. Fast forward to four years ago. I found that for ONE hour of instruction in a flight school's airplane, the cost was $185 an hour. ($135 plus $50 for the instructor) I bought my own Cherokee. The payments were $209 per month, the hangar rent is $295. So for roughly three hours of instruction in someone else's airplane, I can own my own and fly whenever I like. Now I will say that I have a personal friend that was my instructor (I was actually HIS instructor for ATC) and the costs of fuel and maintenance are not included in that price. But for having a plane at your disposal at any time you want for instruction beats today's flight schools hands down.
 
I'm going to split the difference and say that it depends on the rental situation in your area. Does your flight school have a hundred planes on the line with dozens of each type ranging from J-3 to Cirrus to DA62? Or is it just a couple of ratty 172 from the 1970's?
 
If you have the cash to burn, and understand you may end up buying another plane later, it will potentially save you money in the long run - if you buy well (good deal, marketable plane) and treat the plane well. If not, rent.
 
Buy it, whichever "IT" turns out to be the plane for you. Then you'll have absolutely no excuse to not finish training and keep flying. Well, except being totally broke, lol but I for one am used to that situation....
 
Buy it!
When I started training I rented a few times. I decided to buy a plane and not rent anymore. That was the best decision I ever made.
 
I did just that. No regrets. Took the gamble and won so to speak. Many Nah sayers advising against it but I absolutely despise renting. I started with a C150 valued in the low 20s so nothing fancy and would not bankrupt me if something major happened or engine decided to let go. Myself and daughter got our PPLs then Sold it in the low 20s.

Make a wise educated decision during purchase and the odds will be in your favor.

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk
 
Buy one even if this one isn't "the one". There are far more benefits to owning than just saving money. IE: Scheduling, overnight trips, familiarity, flying just because you want to, avionic decisions, etc.
 
lancie00 said:
Buy one even if this one isn't "the one". There are far more benefits to owning than just saving money. IE: Scheduling, overnight trips, familiarity, flying just because you want to, avionic decisions, etc.
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I'd second this...and buying, then later selling to upgrade, can be a pain, but renting/scheduling is a bigger pain.
 
I've done some prebuys, and I've worked on airplanes that were bought without prebuys. The prebuys often revealed serious issues but the buyer wanted an airplane so bad...

The none-prebuy airplanes needed a LOT of expensive work.

Beware of the pretty paint and interior. Owners tend to spend lots on the visible stuff and ignore the stuff that's actually holding you up there.
 
I rented until after I soloed, at that point I was positive that GA was for me; once I reached that point, I bought a 152 to finish up in. For me, it was a great way to sort of test the waters of airplane ownership to see if it would work for me and my family. I just bought my third airplane a few months back, so I'd say it's worked out well. I don't think I would alter the way I did things, I've enjoyed owning each of them. There's a host of issues involved with airplane ownership to make it worthwhile or not, however:
  • How close do you live to the airport where you'll hangar the plane?
  • Are you even putting the plane in a hangar, is one available, what's the cost?
  • Is a CFI available to meet you at that airport?
  • Are there rentals available closer to you than the airport where you'll hangar?
  • Are the rentals reasonably priced?
  • Is an A&P available on the field where you'll hangar?
  • How are the fuel prices on the field where you'll hangar?
  • What are the insurance requirements on the field?
At the time when I bought my 152, the local airport was ~ 5 minutes from my house, with a CFI and A&P both on the field. The nearest airplane rentals were 45 minutes away, so the logistics of owning made some sense for me.
 
I kind of "lucked out" (don't really believe in luck, though) with the Cessna 120 I used to own. Didn't really do a pre-buy at all except my own looking at it. Would have flown home commercial if I didn't like what I saw. Flew on an airliner to New Mexico and flew it home. It helps if you have 4 previous airplanes and 8-10 years under your belt, though. Make the right kinds of friends - old timers who have owned more than one similar aircraft for some period of time or see if an owners group has guidelines on what to look for and that can be very, very helpful.
 
RyanShort1 said:
I kind of "lucked out" (don't really believe in luck, though) with the Cessna 120 I used to own. Didn't really do a pre-buy at all except my own looking at it. Would have flown home commercial if I didn't like what I saw. Flew on an airliner to New Mexico and flew it home. It helps if you have 4 previous airplanes and 8-10 years under your belt, though. Make the right kinds of friends - old timers who have owned more than one similar aircraft for some period of time or see if an owners group has guidelines on what to look for and that can be very, very helpful.
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A simple plane helps too. I did the same thing with a Cessna 150. No pre-buy, but not my first rodeo either.
 
Man you guys are a great help! Thanks for all the replies so far!
 
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