should I buy a cessna for training?

[comander]

Thanks for some great addvice...

No I am not rich but I wish to continue with my flying career, The real deal is, lets say I can get 50k Would it be better to buy a plane like we are talking about or get into a flight academy? what would give me more in this industry ?

 

[Immelman]

Isn't this "rich boy" PFT?






Sorry, I couldn't resist!

No, this is "smart" boy P(?)FT. You selll the airplane at the end. Dumb PFT guys cannot do this. You also save money versus renting if you fly it > 100 hours a year or so....

 

[Vector4fun]

If you can find an IFR C150, and you fit comfortably in it's smaller seats, then by all means buy one. By IFR, I mean it needs to have the radios necessary to get your IFR training, and then have the inspections required to make it legal for IFR flight. A lot of C150s won't have enough nav equipment to get you through the Instrument rating.

Insurance is going to be a bit steep until you have around 200 hrs and the instrument rating. It should get pretty reasonable afterwards. I pay $800/yr for an IFR C172 insured for around $50K. If you can afford a hanger where you're at, then I recommend you hangar it. If you leave it tied down outside, it's going to need an interior and paint in about 5-7 years. (At least in Texas it would). That's if a hail storm or microburst doesn't destroy it first. If you get a good one, I'd budget around $100/mo for maint and annuals. Could run more or a bit less depending on the condition of the aircraft and the price of maint where you are. My C172 has cost around $4K per year for fixed costs, insurance, hangar, and maint./annuals.

 

[Publishers]

We just had this discussion this morning.. I think that it depends on your ability to handle the cash requirements of the capital expenses.

While it has been a few years, we bought a Cherokee 180, then an Arrow, and then an Aztec. We never sold an aircraft for less than we paid for it and made money on the Arrow and Aztec. We custom painted and N numbered and did little things that ended up increasing the value.

The question this morning was should we have just bought the Arrow and skipped the 180 as we knew the objective was a multi instrument ticket and headed there from the start. I think that it would have made sense. The operating cost was not significantly different and we made money and had a larger market for the Arrow.

If money had not been an object, we would have done the instrument in the Aztec to have better training for later. Sort of get the maximum training in the aircraft you think you will end up flying trips in.

 

[A1FlyBoy]

While that was a joke, I'm sure there are some who consider airplane ownership of any sort, including a C-152, 'rich boy PFT'....

 

[Vik]

172RG is cursed. Its a mx nightmare. Please don't do something that stupid.

Do buy a C-152 to get your private, insturment and build time. It'll also initiate you very cheaply into aircraft ownership.

I own a twin and its a huge learning curve. I'm thinking of going back to a single.