Buy a plane?

[de727ups]

152's

I owned about 5 different 150/152's and for every $1500 annual, there has been two that were only $500. Expect your first annual to be expensive as your IA fixes things that the last guy let go. One the other hand, if I didn't have a few high dollar annuals once in a while, I'd figure my mechanic was skipping over too many things. Anyhow...I just wanted to point out that not every annual is gonna cost you 2K...unless you take it to an expensive shop.

I don't know why any potential employer would look down on personal aircraft time...I've never heard of such a problem.

You could use your plane to instruct in once you get your CFI, too.

Finding a mechanic who will trade for flight time/instruction time is great...if you find such a person, take good care of them and they will can save you a lot of money and keep your plane in tip-top shape.

Don't forget to check ebay. I just saw a high engine time Tramahawk go for 14K.

 

[s0ldier93]

goaliemn-

I thanks. I'll consider the club thing a little further. I have to say though, I'm starting to like the idea of getting a small plane of my own. It's starting to bring back thoughts i had when i got my first car.

de727ups-

5-152's? Sounds like you're the person to talk to when i run into something. I have a few friends that are A&P's talked to them a few times about "test flights" around the time of maintenance. There are a number of $100 hamburger sites in the area. I'll foot the bill for lunch if it will help me save on repairs.

 

[goaliemn]

goaliemn-

I thanks. I'll consider the club thing a little further. I have to say though, I'm starting to like the idea of getting a small plane of my own. It's starting to bring back thoughts i had when i got my first car.

OH yeah. I agree. I used to think like that until I got into the club and started seing all the bills.. fuel, insurance, hangar, annuals, other assorted repairs, etc.. It adds up very quickly.

www.yankeeflyingclub.org has the bylaws and rules of the club I'm in. Check out any rules and regs of any club you get into.

 

[rltoma]

It is kinda nice, as a renter, to be able to walk away from a problem with an aircraft and just fly a different one. Not to mention that once you start flying more powerfull airplanes, you may not want to fly a 152 anymore.

 

[tataki]

Anyone knows a very good flying Club around San Francisco and the bay area?

 

[s0ldier93]

goaliemn-

Still considering the club idea. Still can't find any in my area yet (might be able to make it out to the airport tomorrow). I'm in the Hampton Roads area of VA.

I'll check out your flying club's rules tomorrow when I'm hard at work.

rltoma-

I see the "maintenance-is-my-problem" thing being a definate drawback. But, I am planing on holding anything from 3 to 5k strictly for repairs. That is reasonable for a 152 or the like right?

As for flying better plans man I hope I don't fly anything too nice in the 1.5 to 2 years I have to. I can really see myself thinking exactly want you said after renting the SR20 over at the other airport. We'll see how that works out.

 

[rltoma]

s0ldier93, I don,t know what your goals are in aviation, but if making it to an airline is your goal, imagine how much time you can buy with all the money you would spend buying, maintaining, housing, fueling, possible AD's etc. Additionally, I know that 2 yrs seems like a ways away, but trust me, you will want to fly bigger and better aircraft as time goes on. If you are looking to build time for an airline position, you'll want to get more multi-time in your logbook than anything else. Can you afford to go in partners on a twin? That would be more valuable to an employer not to mention much more usefull to you. With a twin you can actually go somewhere, which will give you more experience in various weather conditions, as well as more utility for you and your family.
I have thought about buying a 152 in the past, it is tempting, they are relatively cheap, but I would suggest that maybe getting your CFI would be a good way to build total time and then spend that hard earned cash on multi-time. Just my 2 cents, best of luck with whatever you decide. Robert

 

[tataki]

Multi time yes Multi time is so important.
I think it is a good idea to buy a cheap 152 to build time for minimums(135 minimums) and then sell it, use the downpayment for twin time.
Any comments on that?

 

[s0ldier93]

Loving the feed back!!

rltoma & tataki-

I'm hoping to be coorporate/regional someday. At the moment though, I don't know enough about the industry to say definately where I'd like to end up. I do know that after getting off active duty, finding a decent job, and finishing college (next month!!), I did well putting my foot down and saying "I want to fly and that's that!!." I understand further that doing this at 28 isn't all that shabby. I won't get into my sob story but my PPL checkride (that I've been ready for since last year) is next week sometime.

The current plan is to use the 152 to get the rest of my ratings in the 152 (IFR, CPL, CFI), and fly my butt off between training. My understanding so far is this: provided you fly over XXX hours a year, looks like 100, buying is better than renting. Since I have a full time job that gives my daylight flying time (6am-2pm), I'm thinking that I can easily complete my ratings and "just fly" for about 1.5 years.

After that, I'm thinking I'll do exactly what you said and partner up on a multi. I do a good bit of networking everytime I get to the airport and have more than a few "flying friends" lined up. Hopefully I can work something with two others. This is after selling the 152 of coarse.

 

[tataki]

Sounds like a nice plan Soldier.
Good luck to you on that. I am trying to finish my ifr and trust me its not easy when you don't have much to spend at the moment I am really asking myself if it is better at the moment to get a 152 that would cost you about 47 dollards an hour including fix and variable expenses or joining a club. For a twin engine i would defenitly pair up with some budies and get a Apache for exemple.

Where are you located?

 

[s0ldier93]

tataki-

I am in Virginia Beach, VA. Thanks for the encouragement on my (current) plan. I hope it all works out that way. But, I like flying, and I'm ready to deal with it if it doesn't. Not sure I don't think I've posted my PPL sob story on this board, but I've been kicked from several angles so far. And still, all I can think about is getting that mixture right at 4.5k feet, and falling leaf stalls to landing. (my instructor showed off on a flight or two)

I am still very interested in hearing anything negative about aircraft ownership. Please let me know if there are any holes in my plan.


goaliemn-

Still looking into the club thing. I will give it due consideration.