I need some advice on buying my own plane BEFORE training...

Anthony L wrote:

What I was hoping for was some advice from the people that have been through
this before. Is it worth it to be to buy my own plane? Say I spent $35k on
a Piper that is in good shape, and assume it has had a recent overhaul.
What can I expect to pay monthly to own a plane?

Expect about $5k/year. That's gas, oil, maintenance, the whole nine yards. Also
expect an extra $500 or so in some years.

What I don't know is what a plane will cost me to finance. Are they done on
15/20/30 year purchases, even though I obvoiusly wouldn't keep it that long?

You can easily get a 15 or 20 year loan.

Is there a "rule of thumb" that can be used to guestimate a round number
for a monthly payment?

At current interest rates, the monthly payment on a 15 year loan will be a little
more than 1% of the amount financed. At 10.5% interest, the monthly payment would be
about 1.3% of the amount financed.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".