Hello all! I'm new to this forum and just registered today. I'll try to keep it short. I'm 45 years old and have been flying since I was 17, mostly Piper Warriors over the years. Have not flown for past 10 years for various reasons and have much to catch up on. I plan to fly with an instructor for a while to become proficient again. I also have a sixteen year old daughter who has just begun to take flying lessons. Very recently I decided to purchase a 1968 Cessna 150. This came about through a friend who is an A&P familiar with the plane and has been the one taking care of it for the past 10 years. The plane is sound and has been thoroughly checked out.

My question, since I've never owned an airplane before, is I'm unsure of the paperwork process going forward. A licensed airplane dealer currently owns the airplane and they are telling me that when I make payment (including sales tax) they will issue a bill of sale and send a form to the FAA to register the airplane in my name. Before I make payment I also plan on checking the title, etc. My understanding is they have just owned the plane for a short period of time and they recently purchased it from the owner that my A&P knows. When I check the title is it possible it's not in their name yet since they recently purchased it...

In my mind the way I see this going is...when I make payment they will give me a bill of sale and a form will be sent to the FAA registering it in my name. As long as the title checks out and they have the right to sell the airplane - I assume all should be ok? I know that people open up escrow accounts and so forth but does one need to do that?...is the way I described the process ok or is there anything else I should do or ask for from the seller to protect myself and to make sure all is done correctly? We are talking about a $15,000 sale here.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated. As excited as I am about owning my first airplane, I'm concerned about the paperwork being done correctly and not have to count on the seller to inform me.

I'll fill all in about the airplane itself later as this is getting pretty long winded now.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.