Worth it?

[almostthere]

I'm considering a 1977 Cessna 150 M for sale. Owner's asking $29,975 with
the following description:

"EXCELLENT Condition. 3600TT, 1370 SMOH Mattituck Chrome. Paint: 7 Interior:
8. Michel MX300 Nav/Comm. PS Engineering PM 501 Intercom. Skyroof. New glass
all-around. Wheel pants. Like new tires. Immaculately maintained, only used
50 hours in flight training. All logs, all ADs complied with. September
annual. "

I'm just starting my training, I have the cash to buy and I want my own
plane. Any advice as to whether this plane is priced right??

[Doug]

Use the Trade a Plane evaluator and subtract 10%.

[Juan Jimenez]

That's a lot of money for a 150 with a mid-time engine and minimal avionics.
If all you want is a bird you can use for training there's a lot more
options out there. Besides, why buy the 150, instead of renting and then
buying something better once you have your license and a little more time
and experience under your belt?

"almostthere" > wrote in message
m...
> I'm considering a 1977 Cessna 150 M for sale. Owner's asking $29,975 with
> the following description:
>
> "EXCELLENT Condition. 3600TT, 1370 SMOH Mattituck Chrome. Paint: 7
> Interior: 8. Michel MX300 Nav/Comm. PS Engineering PM 501 Intercom.
> Skyroof. New glass all-around. Wheel pants. Like new tires. Immaculately
> maintained, only used 50 hours in flight training. All logs, all ADs
> complied with. September annual. "
>
> I'm just starting my training, I have the cash to buy and I want my own
> plane. Any advice as to whether this plane is priced right??
>

[[email protected]]

almostthere > wrote:
: I'm considering a 1977 Cessna 150 M for sale. Owner's asking $29,975 with
: the following description:

: "EXCELLENT Condition. 3600TT, 1370 SMOH Mattituck Chrome. Paint: 7 Interior:
: 8. Michel MX300 Nav/Comm. PS Engineering PM 501 Intercom. Skyroof. New glass
: all-around. Wheel pants. Like new tires. Immaculately maintained, only used
: 50 hours in flight training. All logs, all ADs complied with. September
: annual. "

: I'm just starting my training, I have the cash to buy and I want my own
: plane. Any advice as to whether this plane is priced right??

Seems awfully high for a mid-time 150. Sounds like it's "worth more" because
it's a relatively low time and not as old as most 150 flight-line dogs. I think that
paying a premium for a 30 year old airplane over a 40 year old airplane (e.g. a '67
-150) is false economy... they're *ALL* old and require the same maintenance.

My suggestion would be to find a mid-high time -150 for $20k or less for
training. Even better would be to find a mid-time Cherokee 140 for your target of
$30k. It's a fine trainer, and when you've got your ticket you can actually *use* it
to go places. A -150 is a marginal 2-place plane with limited range for trips. A
Cherokee-140 is a marginal 3-place plane with long legs (for a trainer-class plane)
for trips. They'll both run autogas very happily if you live where you can do it.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

[Ron Wanttaja]

almostthere > wrote:
> I'm considering a 1977 Cessna 150 M for sale. Owner's asking $29,975 with
> the following description:
>
> "EXCELLENT Condition. 3600TT, 1370 SMOH Mattituck Chrome. Paint: 7 Interior:
> 8. Michel MX300 Nav/Comm. PS Engineering PM 501 Intercom. Skyroof. New glass
> all-around. Wheel pants. Like new tires. Immaculately maintained, only used
> 50 hours in flight training. All logs, all ADs complied with. September
> annual. "

When I bought my 150, it was advertised as "Never a trainer". Yet some
stretches of the logbooks had the plane flying ~300 hours per year with the
annuals being performed by "XYZ Flying Club." Just because the plane was owned
by a private individual doesn't mean it wasn't leased-back and used as a
trainer.

The nice thing is that this is the latest-model 150 you'll find; Cessna switched
to the 152 the year afterwards. With the 150, you'll still have the O-200 and a
12V electrical system....big plusses, in my book.

> I'm just starting my training, I have the cash to buy and I want my own
> plane.

I usually recommend folks don't buy airplanes to use as their own basic
trainers. Training is hard on airplanes, and if your plane develops maintenance
problems your lessons come to a halt. You'll have higher insurance premiums,
too.

Folks *have* done this, with good results, though. YMWV.

Ron Wanttaja

[George Patterson]

almostthere wrote:
>
> Any advice as to whether this plane is priced right??

I'd say it's way too high. You've got a mid-time airframe with only about 400
hours to go before TBO on the engine. Mediocre paint and only decent interior.
The avionics are only fair, though they *are* pretty new.

Ten years ago, a 150 like this would've brought *maybe* $17,000. I can't believe
the value has nearly doubled in that space of time.

Nine years ago, I sold my '69 model for $13,000 with higher airframe time, lower
engine time, better paint & interior, and equivalent avionics. Not the same
plane, but it might give you a data point.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.