EdFred
Taxi to Parking
A retract for a 0 time pilot? Yeaahhhh. I bet he won't even get a quote until 100 hours TT.
I got a quote on a 59 before I got my private. I don't recall the number they gave me.
A retract for a 0 time pilot? Yeaahhhh. I bet he won't even get a quote until 100 hours TT.
As for insurance - I already know it will be expensive (if I can get it) but since I plan to pay cash for the plane, I am willing to go without coverage on the hull - my only concern would be coverage for liability - to protect the estate, since I figure if I need that coverage I will be gone
I do intend to spend plenty of hours in dual before I go off on my own and I know it is not going to be cheap, but my gut says I am better buying the plane that meets my end needs - as long as I do not over reach.
Hence the question: am I over reaching?
No, not for the pilot. But it might be a tad much for the first time plane buyer. It looks like a fine bird that's priced right. But, one of these all dolled up with a newerish to mid time engine on it will sell for double or more the asking price. It's discounted for a reason, you want to fully understand what those reasons are. You'd also want an A&P who's very familiar with Comanche's to take a look at it and the logs.
I got a quote on a 59 before I got my private. I don't recall the number they gave me.
Knew a guy who got insured on a PA32R when he had 18 hours. It was about $3000.A retract for a 0 time pilot? Yeaahhhh. I bet he won't even get a quote until 100 hours TT.
You didn't ask but here's my take, having known the owner and the representative I've referenced to three who have contacted me.
The asking price of recent was $35,000. The widow owner is not an aviator and has had to deal with Morris's death. She has no desire, nor is she capable of flying the a/c, so it's been for sale for a year or so. Morris, Tom(representing the owner's interest in the plane's sale), and I were all in the same EAA chapter.
Tom told me tonight that all the wind screens are crystal clear; Morris always kept the plane covered, was very fussy about his bird. Tom also said
that this is no beginning pilot's plane; of course, that's his opinion.
"Discounted for a reason?" I think I covered that, above. There are no hidden motives(mechanical) in the desire to sell the plane.
HR
Chip: When I was talking with Tom(plane's rep.) tonight I read to him the posts.A retract for a 0 time pilot? Yeaahhhh. I bet he won't even get a quote until 100 hours TT.
You didn't ask but here's my take, having known the owner and the representative I've referenced to three who have contacted me.
The asking price of recent was $35,000. The widow owner is not an aviator and has had to deal with Morris's death. She has no desire, nor is she capable of flying the a/c, so it's been for sale for a year or so. Morris, Tom(representing the owner's interest in the plane's sale), and I were all in the same EAA chapter.
Tom told me tonight that all the wind screens are crystal clear; Morris always kept the plane covered, was very fussy about his bird. Tom also said
that this is no beginning pilot's plane; of course, that's his opinion.
"Discounted for a reason?" I think I covered that, above. There are no hidden motives(mechanical) in the desire to sell the plane.
HR
When I was at AVEMCO, we wouldn't have touched it, but that was some time ago.
Chip: When I was talking with Tom(plane's rep.) tonight I read to him the posts.
He quickly remembered your name and the intense research you did re this a/c.
HR
Avemco is still almost double what I pay now, so it doesn't surprise me they would pass.
Back off dudes! This one's mine!
The only obstacle will be getting my wife to agree
The RV is well and flying; he's been all over the country with it. Lately, he's been installing some upgraded avionics, though I don't remember just what. A week or so ago the Zenith arrived. He said tonight that he's yet to "pull the rivets," but he's estimating a three-year project. Below are some shots of his RV, taken April 02, 2011, same day I took the shots of the subject Comanche.Is that good or bad?
Does he have the RV flying? I don't recall if he had it finished, or was about to. He's a good guy too, very forthright. I was afraid I had insulted them.
..my wife INSISTED that I buy a Bonanza.... who was I to argue?
Have her call my wife, my wife INSISTED that I buy a Bonanza.... who was I to argue?
I have already been well-briefed by my CFI and the collective brain trust at my field about buying an airplane (and then pitfalls thereof), in this case I have been eyeing 235s and 6s to meet my mission requirements.
The Comanche in the only retractable I have seen in the affordable range that can actually carry four adults. I am just worries about whether it is too much too soon...
I was more referring to the "classic" panel with the weird radio placement, older radios and an engine that's nearing TBO. Overhaul the engine, drop a 6 pack (or even better, an Aspen or the like) in there with a 530 in a center stack and you're looking a $60K-$70K plane. It's priced right, you could buy it, spend $30,000 on it and not be upside down in it assuming everything else is how it appears.
The math is more like this:
$28k - buy
$30k - rebuild - and that's tight for an IO-540
$25k - Aspen, 530, move things around avionics wise - it has a NICE autopilot
We're at 83k.
Does anyone doubt that the OP can find a later model injected 260/B and maybe a C Comanche for $83k with a 6 pack panel, good mid time engine, and newer airframe . . . it may not have an Aspen but I bet it will have a 530 and a good autopilot . . .
And I think it would cost a few grand more than $55k to do the avionics, engine, the hoses, the other stuff that always needs to be done at an overhaul, along with the avionics . . . . cutting the new panel alone will cost a few hundred. . .
The math is more like this:
$28k - buy
$30k - rebuild - and that's tight for an IO-540
$25k - Aspen, 530, move things around avionics wise - it has a NICE autopilot
We're at 83k.
Does anyone doubt that the OP can find a later model injected 260/B and maybe a C Comanche for $83k with a 6 pack panel, good mid time engine, and newer airframe . . . it may not have an Aspen but I bet it will have a 530 and a good autopilot . . .
Not at all. Plenty of people have trained from scratch in comanches and bonanzas.A question for the collective brain trust. As a beginning pilot (about 5 hours into training) but planning to buy something soon. Is this too much plane for a new pilot?
All true, and flying it would be fine, but an E-engine and some flavor of beech prop are not candidates for neophyte ownership and maintenance.Early Bonanza will carry four easily. Often priced similarly. Faster, safer, better looking and easier to land by a long shot.
Alternative view:The math is more like this:
$28k - buy
$30k - rebuild - and that's tight for an IO-540
$25k - Aspen, 530, move things around avionics wise - it has a NICE autopilot
Harley, why don't you or Tom post it up over on the Delphi Airworthy Comanche board? Would get good exposure there too.
I don't disagree Jeff with Buy and Fly, I just pointing out the cost of what someone else recommended . . . . it never pays to buy and fix and replace - it pays to buy and fly.
Buy the Airplane the way you want it - not because you see a great project at cheap price.
It NEVER pays off to do avionics - and you get about 75 cents on the dollar for engine and prop.. . .
The math is more like this:
$28k - buy
$30k - rebuild - and that's tight for an IO-540
$25k - Aspen, 530, move things around avionics wise - it has a NICE autopilot
We're at 83k.
Does anyone doubt that the OP can find a later model injected 260/B and maybe a C Comanche for $83k with a 6 pack panel, good mid time engine, and newer airframe . . . it may not have an Aspen but I bet it will have a 530 and a good autopilot . . .
And I think it would cost a few grand more than $55k to do the avionics, engine, the hoses, the other stuff that always needs to be done at an overhaul, along with the avionics . . . . cutting the new panel alone will cost a few hundred. . .
or a couple hundred if you do it yourself. Here's my first foray into panels with my cherokee 180 when I was in college. It was a 2-weekend job. I viewed it as a safety requirement since I was flying twin cessnas with standard-layout panels every night. However, if it was the only plane I was flying, I could get used to the scan with the shotgun panel.PS cutting a new panel is a couple grand if you have it done professionally.
I did a lot of research on that aircraft last year about this time. I made an offer just about where he's at now. That's a good, fair price for that bird.
PS cutting a new panel is a couple grand if you have it done professionally.
More to it than that, you have to build a radio tray in the old comanche's it's not just rearranging the circles.
Has the plane flown regularly in the time since ?
i can't answer that question. The a&p was flying it when I was interested, and one of the posts above mentioned 80 hours till the tail ad is due, so it must have flown at least 20 hours since October or November. Not sure exactly when that ad came out off the top of my head.
Just checked, October 22, 2012. I tossed my notes, so I cant tell you the tt or tsmoh as of last March or April. IIRC, the compressions were very good, oil changed at regular 50 hours intervals. The a/p and no ad prop was a big plus. My impression was it was a nice, solid airframe, not a pristine show bird but well cared for, all paperwork in order, no long periods out of annual, clean logs, no history of major repairs. I have no in- person impression because it wasn't local and I didn't go to see the bird because my offer was considerably below the asking at the time, about where it is now, and Mo rejected it out of hand.
How much is compliance with the tail AD ? Is that the one where the stabilator horn fitting has to be either tested or replaced ?
This is an early model, they had issues with the fitting a while back, may well have already received the updated PA30 version of the part.
Can't just be tested. The whole assembly has to be taken apart, visually inspected on the inside, and put back together or replaced, and repeated every 500 hours or 5 years whichever comes first.
Or replace the parts with new and be good for ten years. My plan is to milk the 100 hrs and hope for an amoc in the meantime. Very few horns have been found cracked, and research by ICS has shown the root cause may have been overtorquing of the bolts at the factory. My gut is that more damage will be done by continually r&ring than inspecting once and leaving well enough alone.
Rumor has it compliance cost is around $3k plus parts.