An Odyssey into Ownership (Part 1)

Hello, all. Since there always seem to be questions on the group,
both mechanical and philosophical, about purchasing an aircraft, I
thought you might be interested in one pilot's odyssey from renter to
owner. During that trip, I have lurked here, read volumes about
purchasing and owning, and talked to a lot of people about their
experiences. In the end, I've concluded there is no right or wrong way
to make the choice/purchase, just a series of checks and balances that
make sense and protect the buyer to the greatest extent he can be.
This is my story.

Going on three years ago, I started to fly again after being off the
stick for 20 or more years. I had over a thousand hours, but man! the
world had changed. There was a lot to cram into the old head. But I
did it, received a tough BFR, and once again started converting U.S.
currency to AMUs and taking to the skies.

The more I flew and experienced the vagaries of our weather, the more
I wanted to pursue an instrument rating. The Gulf of Mexico
frequently comes to visit Central Texas on spring and summer mornings,
and I'd had to cancel any numbers of early flights and surrender to
cloud decks that were 500-600 feet thick with CAVU atop. I did my
rating with a fellow in South Carolina and learned more about flying
than I ever had.

Now that I had the instrument rating, it was possible to rent locally
and fly aircraft that were fairly well equipped. The problem was that
one never could be sure what airplane one could rent, and they all had
different boxes and slightly different flying characteristics, a
situation that made me slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't hard IFR, but
still. . .

"Airplane Ownership," by Ronald Wanttaja, mysteriously appeared on my
night stand and had to be read. I'm a member of AOPA, so those
archives were gleaned. I talked to countless folks I know who own or
have owned airplanes. During this time, I read any articles I could
find on the aircraft I thought were in my price range and I might want
to own: Cessna 172, Cessna 182, Piper Comanche, Grumman Tiger/Cheetah,
Piper Dakota.

Without boring you with that process, I finally opted to see if I
could find a good Tiger or Cheetah. Basically, the reasons were that
they provided adequate payload for what I wanted, were friendly at the
gas pump, had great visibility, and looked good to my eye. Oh, did I
mention that they fly like a dream? I did part of my IFR rating in a
Tiger, and they do.

With the final objective so clearly stated, you'd think the whole
process was now a lot easier, wouldn't you? Well, it wasn't. First of
all, there weren't as many Tigers/Cheetahs made as there were 172s,
182s or Comanches, hence there aren't anywhere near as many for sale
at any given time. Ahh, but that makes the hunt all the more
exhilarating. Well, sort of.

I learned early on that searching for an airplane can be very time
consuming. I utilized all the usual sources: Trade-a-Plane, Internet
sites devoted to aircraft sales (especially Global Plane Search, since
they mine everybody else's ads but Trade-a-Plane's and conveniently
direct you to them from one place), and did Grumman searches.

I joined the American Yankee Association.What a gold mine of
information. With my membership package came a list of all the Ads,
Sls, and Sbs for Tigers and Cheetahs, something it would have taken
considerable time to research on the Web. I thought we were looking
for an airplane, not still reading about it.

By this time, it was late in November. One lovely day I drove to an
airport about a hundred miles away to look at a Grumman Traveler. I
enjoyed lunch with the owner but did not care for the plane. It did
not have updated avionics and just didn't ring my bell. And it wasn't
what I wanted in the first place. But it was a good experience for a
reason that I'd never even thought about. It allowed me to talk with a
fellow about a plane he obviously liked and yet decline to buy it,
departing as friends. Aviation is a small world, and in my opinion it
pays to keep as many friends as you can.

Many false starts. Many phone calls. Many "too bad you didn't call
this morning; we've got a contract on that one" conversations. At
least one encounter where I told the owner that a look at the NTSB
database indicated an accident 10 years previously, and the owner
either genuinely didn't know about it or was an accomplished
prevaricator. I learned that most owners would talk as long as you
wanted about their birds. You can learn an awful lot if you'll just
listen. They often tell you more than they know.

It is now mid-December, and an airplane broker in Arizona is
advertising a Tiger. The price was below average, but the explanation
is that "we just want to move it and not let it sit around." The
pictures looked OK, and it had decent avionics. The plane wasn't in
Arizona yet but would be soon. I thought it might be worth a look, so
I wired money to place a hold on it.

It was an anxious Christmas. The airplane did not get to Arizona until
January. I met my friend, the Grumman expert, in Arizona, and we went
airplane inspecting. I read logs for perhaps an hour, then decided to
view the airplane itself. From twenty feet away, she looked OK. Not
great, but OK. We began an inspection that included removal of
inspection plates, a close look at the engine, and an inventory of the
avionics. We did not get much past the first of those when corrosion
became apparent. Quietly, we replaced everything, talked seriously
about the reasons with the broker, and declined to purchase.

My friend gets shipped back home, and I return to Texas. Since I am
paying both fares, this could get expensive in a hurry. I am
disappointed but I have learned a great deal. I realize that this is
in the same category as "well, she was a great dancer." but once you
learn to look at it that way, antacid consumption goes way down.
"Besides, honey, being a senior, his ticket was only 0.16 AMU."

More phone calls. More Internet search. But wait. Here's one that
looks promising. Hmmm, a Cheetah with a GNS-430, an STEC 30 w/altitude
hold, a Stormscope, high-compression engine. Looks like it may be
worth a call.

In the final installment, dear readers, an icy trip to the Midwest.


Michael
Grumman 46U

Michael,
Thanks for posting your experience. It's tough spending money to look
at airplanes and not buy them but obviously better than the other way
round. Good luck with your new ship.
Dave
M35



Grumman 46U wrote:
Hello, all. Since there always seem to be questions on the group,
both mechanical and philosophical, about purchasing an aircraft, I
thought you might be interested in one pilot's odyssey from renter to
owner. During that trip, I have lurked here, read volumes about
purchasing and owning, and talked to a lot of people about their
experiences. In the end, I've concluded there is no right or wrong way
to make the choice/purchase, just a series of checks and balances that
make sense and protect the buyer to the greatest extent he can be.
This is my story.

In the final installment, dear readers, an icy trip to the Midwest.

Great write up! Thanks for sharing it.

I think it points out a number of things, some not so obvious, about
buying an airplane:

1. Patience is a virtue

2. Pining for an unusual make and model is MUCH more difficult than
looking for a (relatively) more common bird.

3. The benefits of finding a great airplane locally are legion, and
are probably worth paying a premium for, in the long run.

So where in the Midwest are you looking?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Let me guess who the broker in Arizona was... Barron Thomas? If so, it
sounds like a typical experience. Anyway, good luck in your search.. It
is a great time to be a buyer of an aircraft. Take your time and you'll
find what you want.

Jon Kraus
'79 Mooney 201
4443H @ UMP

Grumman 46U wrote:
Hello, all. Since there always seem to be questions on the group,
both mechanical and philosophical, about purchasing an aircraft, I
thought you might be interested in one pilot's odyssey from renter to
owner. During that trip, I have lurked here, read volumes about
purchasing and owning, and talked to a lot of people about their
experiences. In the end, I've concluded there is no right or wrong way
to make the choice/purchase, just a series of checks and balances that
make sense and protect the buyer to the greatest extent he can be.
This is my story.

Going on three years ago, I started to fly again after being off the
stick for 20 or more years. I had over a thousand hours, but man! the
world had changed. There was a lot to cram into the old head. But I
did it, received a tough BFR, and once again started converting U.S.
currency to AMUs and taking to the skies.

The more I flew and experienced the vagaries of our weather, the more
I wanted to pursue an instrument rating. The Gulf of Mexico
frequently comes to visit Central Texas on spring and summer mornings,
and I'd had to cancel any numbers of early flights and surrender to
cloud decks that were 500-600 feet thick with CAVU atop. I did my
rating with a fellow in South Carolina and learned more about flying
than I ever had.

Now that I had the instrument rating, it was possible to rent locally
and fly aircraft that were fairly well equipped. The problem was that
one never could be sure what airplane one could rent, and they all had
different boxes and slightly different flying characteristics, a
situation that made me slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't hard IFR, but
still. . .

"Airplane Ownership," by Ronald Wanttaja, mysteriously appeared on my
night stand and had to be read. I'm a member of AOPA, so those
archives were gleaned. I talked to countless folks I know who own or
have owned airplanes. During this time, I read any articles I could
find on the aircraft I thought were in my price range and I might want
to own: Cessna 172, Cessna 182, Piper Comanche, Grumman Tiger/Cheetah,
Piper Dakota.

Without boring you with that process, I finally opted to see if I
could find a good Tiger or Cheetah. Basically, the reasons were that
they provided adequate payload for what I wanted, were friendly at the
gas pump, had great visibility, and looked good to my eye. Oh, did I
mention that they fly like a dream? I did part of my IFR rating in a
Tiger, and they do.

With the final objective so clearly stated, you'd think the whole
process was now a lot easier, wouldn't you? Well, it wasn't. First of
all, there weren't as many Tigers/Cheetahs made as there were 172s,
182s or Comanches, hence there aren't anywhere near as many for sale
at any given time. Ahh, but that makes the hunt all the more
exhilarating. Well, sort of.

I learned early on that searching for an airplane can be very time
consuming. I utilized all the usual sources: Trade-a-Plane, Internet
sites devoted to aircraft sales (especially Global Plane Search, since
they mine everybody else's ads but Trade-a-Plane's and conveniently
direct you to them from one place), and did Grumman searches.

I joined the American Yankee Association.What a gold mine of
information. With my membership package came a list of all the Ads,
Sls, and Sbs for Tigers and Cheetahs, something it would have taken
considerable time to research on the Web. I thought we were looking
for an airplane, not still reading about it.

By this time, it was late in November. One lovely day I drove to an
airport about a hundred miles away to look at a Grumman Traveler. I
enjoyed lunch with the owner but did not care for the plane. It did
not have updated avionics and just didn't ring my bell. And it wasn't
what I wanted in the first place. But it was a good experience for a
reason that I'd never even thought about. It allowed me to talk with a
fellow about a plane he obviously liked and yet decline to buy it,
departing as friends. Aviation is a small world, and in my opinion it
pays to keep as many friends as you can.

Many false starts. Many phone calls. Many "too bad you didn't call
this morning; we've got a contract on that one" conversations. At
least one encounter where I told the owner that a look at the NTSB
database indicated an accident 10 years previously, and the owner
either genuinely didn't know about it or was an accomplished
prevaricator. I learned that most owners would talk as long as you
wanted about their birds. You can learn an awful lot if you'll just
listen. They often tell you more than they know.

It is now mid-December, and an airplane broker in Arizona is
advertising a Tiger. The price was below average, but the explanation
is that "we just want to move it and not let it sit around." The
pictures looked OK, and it had decent avionics. The plane wasn't in
Arizona yet but would be soon. I thought it might be worth a look, so
I wired money to place a hold on it.

It was an anxious Christmas. The airplane did not get to Arizona until
January. I met my friend, the Grumman expert, in Arizona, and we went
airplane inspecting. I read logs for perhaps an hour, then decided to
view the airplane itself. From twenty feet away, she looked OK. Not
great, but OK. We began an inspection that included removal of
inspection plates, a close look at the engine, and an inventory of the
avionics. We did not get much past the first of those when corrosion
became apparent. Quietly, we replaced everything, talked seriously
about the reasons with the broker, and declined to purchase.

My friend gets shipped back home, and I return to Texas. Since I am
paying both fares, this could get expensive in a hurry. I am
disappointed but I have learned a great deal. I realize that this is
in the same category as "well, she was a great dancer." but once you
learn to look at it that way, antacid consumption goes way down.
"Besides, honey, being a senior, his ticket was only 0.16 AMU."

More phone calls. More Internet search. But wait. Here's one that
looks promising. Hmmm, a Cheetah with a GNS-430, an STEC 30 w/altitude
hold, a Stormscope, high-compression engine. Looks like it may be
worth a call.

In the final installment, dear readers, an icy trip to the Midwest.


Michael
Grumman 46U

"Jon Kraus" wrote in message
...
Let me guess who the broker in Arizona was... Barron Thomas? If so, it
sounds like a typical experience. Anyway, good luck in your search.. It
is a great time to be a buyer of an aircraft. Take your time and you'll
find what you want.

Jon Kraus
'79 Mooney 201
4443H @ UMP

I'd noticed that airplane as well, and in an e-mail, was told that the
airplane was priced to sell, instead of overpriced like most other aircraft
on the market. I guess "priced to sell" means "priced to sell, complete
with warts which are not immediately apparent".

You're correct, of course, on all three counts. The real hooker to #3
is that when you're looking for a smaller-production aircraft in a
smaller city, you've really narrowed your opportunities. In my case,
there weren't any locally, at least not that I could feret out.

See my other post to get "the rest of the story."


On 27 Feb 2007 21:29:55 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:



Great write up! Thanks for sharing it.

I think it points out a number of things, some not so obvious, about
buying an airplane:

1. Patience is a virtue

2. Pining for an unusual make and model is MUCH more difficult than
looking for a (relatively) more common bird.

3. The benefits of finding a great airplane locally are legion, and
are probably worth paying a premium for, in the long run.

So where in the Midwest are you looking?

It is now mid-December, and an airplane broker in Arizona is
advertising a Tiger. The price was below average, but the explanation
is that "we just want to move it and not let it sit around." The
pictures looked OK, and it had decent avionics. The plane wasn't in
Arizona yet but would be soon. I thought it might be worth a look, so
I wired money to place a hold on it.

Bad move. A search of the archives will reveal my story about Barron
Thomas, as well as Blanche's and others.
---
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

--
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

Ken--

In retrospect, you're right. I had read stories quite similar to
mine--not the least of which was yours--but I guess I thought the
circumstances were enough different that the outcome would be more
favorable. There were clues along the way that should have set off the
alarm bells, but I either didn't see them or simply ignored them
altogether.

As it turned out, I did have a great time in Scottsdale. I saw a
longtime friend whom I hadn't seen in over seven years, had dinner
with him and his wife, and learned a great lesson about airplane
brokerages. I also had the ideal plane to inspect, since there was so
much wrong with it, both airframe and engine.

I suppose that the classic warning signal--whether buying airplanes or
houses or maybe cars--is a price that is substantially below market.
Every airplane I looked at that was priced low had some problem that
ultimately excluded it from the list of viable candidates.


Michael
Grumman 46U

On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:04:47 GMT, Ken Reed wrote:

It is now mid-December, and an airplane broker in Arizona is
advertising a Tiger. The price was below average, but the explanation
is that "we just want to move it and not let it sit around." The
pictures looked OK, and it had decent avionics. The plane wasn't in
Arizona yet but would be soon. I thought it might be worth a look, so
I wired money to place a hold on it.

Bad move. A search of the archives will reveal my story about Barron
Thomas, as well as Blanche's and others.
---
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

Grumman wrote:
Ken--

In retrospect, you're right. I had read stories quite similar to
mine--not the least of which was yours--but I guess I thought the
circumstances were enough different that the outcome would be more
favorable. There were clues along the way that should have set off the
alarm bells, but I either didn't see them or simply ignored them
altogether.

As it turned out, I did have a great time in Scottsdale. I saw a
longtime friend whom I hadn't seen in over seven years, had dinner
with him and his wife, and learned a great lesson about airplane
brokerages. I also had the ideal plane to inspect, since there was so
much wrong with it, both airframe and engine.

I suppose that the classic warning signal--whether buying airplanes or
houses or maybe cars--is a price that is substantially below market.
Every airplane I looked at that was priced low had some problem that
ultimately excluded it from the list of viable candidates.


Michael
Grumman 46U

On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:04:47 GMT, Ken Reed wrote:

It is now mid-December, and an airplane broker in Arizona is
advertising a Tiger. The price was below average, but the explanation
is that "we just want to move it and not let it sit around." The
pictures looked OK, and it had decent avionics. The plane wasn't in
Arizona yet but would be soon. I thought it might be worth a look, so
I wired money to place a hold on it.

Bad move. A search of the archives will reveal my story about Barron
Thomas, as well as Blanche's and others.
---
Ken Reed
M20M, N9124X

I bought my Tiger through a broker (not in Arizona).

The guy's I used were quite helpful through the entire process and
handled all the haggling over issues found in the prebuy.

I wouldn't hesitate to refer others to them or use them again myself.

Like everything else in life, there are good guys and bad guys.

--
Jim Pennino

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