Hey Greg, good luck. My experience is only in having baought and sold one
aircraft, a PA28-180, and buying into another partnership. There are others here
with much more experience. I'll offer what I think I know.

Greg Copeland wrote:
According to schedule, I anticipate to be in the market for something like
an Archer II (most likely) or an Archer III around the end of the year.
I've been drooling on various shoping rags for about a year now. As such
I have several questions. Hopefully you won't mind answering!

Is plane shopping in any way (down south - Texas) influenced by season?

What type of lead time should I expect in shopping for a plane? Is this
typically a one month effort or so or possibly many, many months trying to
find a good deal on a good plane?

As you might expect, it probably depends more on you and your shopping style
than anything else. If you want to make it a one-month effort, that's doable. If
you want to shop around, you might get a better price or a better airplane (or
not). In the shopping-around process, you learn to recognize a cream-puff when
you see it, and that makes it possible to act quickly when one comes on the
market. The real cream-puffs don't stay on the market for very long.


I figure in a state as large as Texas (with OK, and LA not too
far away), on a fairly common plane like an Archer, finding one shouldn't
be too hard. Am I being naive here?

No, I think that's a reasonable assumption. Don't overlook local advertising
like local newspapers and FBO bulletin boards. The best planes are sold locally
and never get advertised in publications with wider distribution.


While there seems to be a wealth of plane information, I'm having trouble
finding information on various avionics. Is there a place you guys can
point me? What brands to stay away from? What brands are preferred? I
know enough to know I want a plane that already has the avionics I want.
The problem is, I don't know enough about the brands to have any sense of
general worth or reliability.

http://www.avionix.com Look for "Avionics Guidebook"

I found the valuation software from http://www.aeroprice.com useful for
evaluating avionics and also general value of an aircraft. It's particularly
useful if you've decided on a particular model, i.e. PA28. The price is
reasonable, I think, and is small potatos compared to the amount you're about to
invest. I'm a satisfied customer. It's been a few years since I've used it, though.

The AOPA and Trade-A-Plane online valuations are also useful for comparing
avionics, but keep in mind that they both tend to overestimate the value of the
overall aircraft.


Another pilot offered to give me a plane buyer's book of some type which
talks about the over all process. As I get a little closer I figure I'll
get the book which talk about buying a Piper PA28 series of planes. I'll
have to google for the book name. This all sound like I'm heading down
the right path?

Sure.

My father is an experienced plane buyer so I won't be doing this alone.
Just the same, I want to learn as much as I can. This sound like I'm
heading in the right direction?

You'll do OK. Keep us informed!

Dave