What can $30,000 plus buy?

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jimwomble

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jimw
Have 30,000 plus to spend. Already know about Cherokees Musketeers, C150's, PA38s but have fantasies about PA24-180's or early Bonanzas. Are complex airplanes too expensive to insure? Have about 450 hrs all in infixed gear planes. As far back as 1967 wanted a Comanche 180 - back then they sold for $10,000 used. Must be just daydreaming.
 
You might be able to buy an older Arrow with a bad panel. If you get a multi, you can get a decent Twin Comanche for $50000. Also, what qualifies as "expensive to insure." I see a lot of people complaining about insurance that is less than $100 a month.
 
Well $10k in 1967 USD is about $75k in 2018 USD, so...

$30k might get you an early mooney, navion, or viking if you're stuck on having a complex.
 
At $30K a Cherokee is your best bet, and actually a pretty good airplane. Buying a basket case just to meet a price point is a sure wayto kill a dream and loose $30K.

If you don't have the money to buy a nice example, where are you going to find the money to fix up the basket case?
 
It ain't the purchase price.....it's the operating costs. How much per month do you have to spend? You will need the following....
1. Insurance $600-900/yr
2. Tie down/hangar $250-500/ month
3. Annual inspection $500-1,500/yr
4. Misc maintenance $1,000-2,000/yr

All that adds to about $600/mo fixed costs.....and does not include a loan payment or gas money.
 
Many years of flying in a flying club or a share in a 4 way partnership.

What it won't buy you is a decent plane you can actually afford to operate after the purchase.
 
Stinson 108, Cessna 120-140, or a 150 with 150hp and a Tailwheel conversion, 7AC, Grumman AA1
 
You can buy a great Champ, Cessna 120/140/150, or Taylorcraft. You can buy a decent and serviceable Cherokee 140.

A $30,000 complex single will have a run out engine, accident history, ancient paint & interior, and a panel that's aging and finicky.
 
I didn't see the OP say 30k and never spend another dime. Geez. $30k is plenty to get into a decent mooney with an older panel and engine. It will cost a bit to make it a $60k plane (duh), but you have something to fly in the meanwhile.
 
$30k= ~200 rental hours (4 years at 50 hours/year) .
 
Would look for a share in a good club,that has both fixed and retract. Help share the expenses. Buying in cheap,by yourself,going to cost you in the long run.
 
It's pretty easy to look at Barnstormers or TAP to see what $30K will buy. You really need to look at defining your mission and then deciding what you need.
 
A Champ, T-Craft or Cub if you want a TW airplane. A very solid C150 with ADS-B if you’re patient. I would pick a solid late model 150 and update avionics with the $ left over.
 
A friend of mine is looking at a Cessna 310Q for $35k. That qualifies as $30k plus.

But of course, the engines are at TBO and the avionics are outdated, and the interior and exterior are worn and dated.
 
I keep seeing some nice Champs for less than that and it is really enticing.
 
I bought a run out '83 Warrior II in 2013 for 30K. /G (KLN 89B) capability plus legacy DME. Flew it IFR and night all the time. Drank oil like it was avgas, but I put almost 300 hours in 18 months. Cheapest flying I ever did. Mx was cheap.
 
Get 2-3 other partners and buy a $90-$120k plane. One person probably can’t keep it flying as much as it should be.
 
Beechcraft Sport seems to be the most for the money followed by various Cherokees -140, 160, 180 even early model Warriors. Even like Alon Ercoupes - almost bought one once. Then there is a 77 150 on Barnstormers under 20,000. Having owned 6 airplanes through the years I know how impractical aircraft ownership is. Just that I am 71 and want one more airplane and some one died and left me some money and going to do it. Still think Comanche 180s are neat but probably too expensive to maintain plus not in a hurry to get anywhere.
 
Experimental? A VFR LongEZ, perhaps, if you want to travel fast and far. Maybe an Emeraude, if you want a fun flyer. I saw a Mooney version of the Ercoupe ("normal" tail) on Barnstormers the other day, and it was in that price range, I think.
 
If you can get a Cherokee 180 (not one of those terrible Arrow 180s) for that, you'd be making a good investment. They are 99% of the newer Archers and actual cross country planes.
 
What do you want to do with the plane? That might suggest a direction. A 2 seater is good for puttering about, a four seater might be better for taking a friend and some luggage on trips. VFR or IFR? The latter requires paying more attention to the panel. I started with an AA1A (training and time building) the upgraded to an AA5 for light IFR capable regional travel for 2.
 
denverpilot said:
5000+ gallons of AvGas, or over 150 hours of Skyhawk rental time wet.
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2 1/2 to 3 good years of flying a beat up rental, when you can get a chance to reserve it... and after three years you have nothing left but logbook entries and memories. That’s cool.

Buy something affordable, fly the paint off it for 2 1/2 to 3 years, putting a little more money into it at annual, plus cheap insurance, and gas, and still have an airplane left over at the end of those three years to keep on flying for 10, 15, 30 more. That’s cooler.
 
Lachlan said:
2 1/2 to 3 good years of flying a beat up rental, when you can get a chance to reserve it... and after three years you have nothing left but logbook entries and memories. That’s cool.

Buy something affordable, fly the paint off it for 2 1/2 to 3 years, putting a little more money into it at annual, plus cheap insurance, and gas, and still have an airplane left over at the end of those three years to keep on flying for 10, 15, 30 more. That’s cooler.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree, I’m just sayin’, one has to weigh the options against the easiest way, which is renting.

I don’t rent, and love being an owner, but it’s damn spendy.

And there’s a secret to renting... rent the high(er) performance stuff that isn’t being used for Commerical training, and it’s nearly almost always available.

Various nice Pipers and Cessnas have come and gone from the local clubs over the years... owners lease them back, and then they don’t fly.

Anything like a Turbo 182 doesn’t get rented for training much, when there’s ten 172s on the flight line. But there’s always one or two airplanes like that in bigger rental fleets. They’re almost always not booked.

At smaller training only places that have few aircraft, yeah... all of them are flying.

I hate to say it but the airplanes that really sit and go nowhere are the older Cirri at the club that specializes in those. The prices aren’t truly all that awful for them either, but once you get above $200/hr, people want the fancy new glass paneled ones. The steam gauge birds don’t fly nearly as much.

I’ve talked to a number of owners (three now) who fell for the hype that leasing them back to the Cirrus specialty place would make them “affordable”. Then Cirrus moved on into newer panels and onboard toys and they’re disgruntled owners who want their airplanes to fly more.

Two of them still have a lot of years of airplane payments to go on them. I don’t know about the third.

Sounded good in the marketing material back in the early 2000s...
 
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