Reflections on a year of aircraft ownership

brian whatcott wrote:
Mike Ash wrote:

So far I do not regret my decision to purchase in the least. /snip/
Money wasn't a worry to me, but it's still something I thought about.
So far, so good. I put 55.4 hours on it over the past year /snip/

All in all, it's been a great year. All of the good things that I
anticipated in owning an aircraft have come true, and none of the bad
things. It was a great choice, and I'm looking forward to another year
with it.


For me it's just been a month or two. A C-150, like I owned 20 years ago
- and had to sell when I was out of work then.
Though this time I paid twice as much as I sold for back then, this
plane is in better shape, though only a year younger than the other one
- in better shape now at least. It had been flown to Dallas from
Wisconsin - which said something for it.

But the trial flight was a trial: water in the pitot, so the ASI was all
over the place - mostly slow - the transponder folded up, the loran (!)
was posted unserviceable, the radio was flakey, the mag compass was out
of fluid, several fixings were missing from the cowl, a floppy external
door handle, a missing ELT antenna.....

All fixed up quite quickly or replaced - at no great expense.
And here I am with ten plus hours of familiarization in it and finding
my comfort level again. Why did I wait so long? I ask myself.

I am full of joy - and though joy may not last for ever, it's enough
to taste it presently... The best moment was turning up unannounced at
the home field, and finding an open front tee hangar to keep it in,at a
price I could afford. The scariest moment to date was looking up the
price of a new door latch from Cessna - $1200 !! (no kidding)
..but there's always another way, even if salvage airframes have largely
gone away as a parts source. The happiest moment is deciding on a sunny
afternoon, to go flying, without much fuss. I am interested to see
what happens at my first annual, in four months: the days of $200
annuals are fading rapidly from memory, I reckon.

Brian W

Depends on the A&P/IA and how much work you want to do. Having done
owner assisted annuals the 12 years I owned my Cessna, I found that
there is a lot of grunt work that has to be done and I did it. I also
learned everything about the inside and outside of my plane. I got my
hands dirty and grease under my finger nails and loved every bit of it.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
Sold
KSWI