Looped Cessna 120

KyanaSiepe

Filing Flight Plan
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Sep 5, 2021
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Kyana
Edit: won’t be buying the plane.
I’m looking to buy a Cessna 120 that was ground looped. The plane has been sitting and the engine was removed. One wing is bent and the floor on the left side is deformed. This will be our first plane. First, do you feel it’s fixable? Second, what’s a rough value in this condition? Thanks!
 
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I’m looking to buy a Cessna 120 that was ground looped. The plane has been sitting and the engine was removed. One wing is bent and the floor on the left side is deformed. This will be our first plane. First, do you feel it’s fixable? Second, what’s a rough value in this condition? Thanks!

Almost anything can be fixed - for a price. Don’t expect to save money over buying an intact example.
 
Landing gear shot, firewall shot, wings bent, elevator damaged, busted windshield engine teardown required, junk instruments... There is zero value here. It will likely cost twice as much to fix this compared to buying a flying one.
 
The 120/140 is a great plane. I fly a 140. But yes they would need to give you 5 figures to take that one away for you to come out ahead…

you can find a fly able ones 25-35k and just jump in and holler clear prop!

now many will have a loop in their history but was repaired properly…
 
Thank you for all the useful comments. The plane is listed for $3500 and I was wondering if it would be worth fixing or not. I went to look at it today but I will pass on it.
 
Just ask yourself this question: Am I looking for an airplane to restore? Or, would I rather be flying? The "value" of something is usually subjective, regardless of what the market will bear.
 
I have found that there are VERY few folks with both the capabilities and the motivation to see a restoration through all the way. Very few. It's a big pile of work, and sheet metal is a lot more involved than tube and rag. Even I, as a licensed mechanic, would walk away from that. If I paid myself only $20 an hour it would still come out to be a $75K airplane once it had an engine and instruments and radios. And it would have a damage history. Parts for 120s will be scarce and expensive. When was it last built? 1950 maybe?

I regularly see ads for partially-restored airplanes. They don't bring much money just because there is so much more that you need to know that you don't know, and even if one restored it, it still needs an IA signoff certifying that it conforms to type design. That can present problems if it hasn't been done just about perfectly. Better to buy a kitplane.

There is no such thing as a cheap old airplane.
 
I have fixed that exact damage on a 140.
about 20 years ago. Non pilot went for a high speed taxi test.
Gear leg poked into the cockpit, could easily have messed him up bad.

Thanks to some generous people (a wing for $100!, a front cabin section for $500!) I was able to keep costs down.
Seems to me I got $20K? for it? I had a "spare" 0-200 & prop.
No I didn't break even, with taking it all down to the last rivet, then full recover & paint, basic radios, but I
-got experience towards my A&P
-got my taildragger endorsement
 
I have fixed that exact damage on a 140.
about 20 years ago. Non pilot went for a high speed taxi test.
Gear leg poked into the cockpit, could easily have messed him up bad.

Thanks to some generous people (a wing for $100!, a front cabin section for $500!) I was able to keep costs down.
Seems to me I got $20K? for it? I had a "spare" 0-200 & prop.
No I didn't break even, with taking it all down to the last rivet, then full recover & paint, basic radios, but I
-got experience towards my A&P
-got my taildragger endorsement

This it the kind of person that will buy it, someone that doesn’t have to pay for labor to fix it. Someone like an A&P Apprentice working under an A&P to build experience. Or just an A&P wanting a personal project airplane to rebuild, Maybe already has a wrecked 120/140 to donor parts to one way or the other.

Brian
 
A plane like that is for a specific person such as an experienced A&P who might have a spare engine or even a wing for it (somewhere in the world there is a 120 that bent the opposite wing) It's definitely not for a regular Joe who intends to pay someone else to fix it for him.
 
I have found that there are VERY few folks with both the capabilities and the motivation to see a restoration through all the way. Very few. It's a big pile of work, and sheet metal is a lot more involved than tube and rag. Even I, as a licensed mechanic, would walk away from that. If I paid myself only $20 an hour it would still come out to be a $75K airplane once it had an engine and instruments and radios. And it would have a damage history. Parts for 120s will be scarce and expensive. When was it last built? 1950 maybe?

I regularly see ads for partially-restored airplanes. They don't bring much money just because there is so much more that you need to know that you don't know, and even if one restored it, it still needs an IA signoff certifying that it conforms to type design. That can present problems if it hasn't been done just about perfectly. Better to buy a kitplane.

There is no such thing as a cheap old airplane.
The number of mechanics that have been burned trying to flip AC is a lot higher than you would expect.

But unless you had ready access to a hull with the exact opposite damage to use for parts, hard pass unless you really see it as your lifes mission to restore this plane.

How many covers of Sport Avation are of otherwise meh AC that some rich dude pumps a ton of money into?

Dont you want to be on the cover also?
 
The number of mechanics that have been burned trying to flip AC is a lot higher than you would expect.
You're so clueless. Really. My bet you're merely a low time pilot who wants to be relevant and has zero experience with actual aircraft maintence. Or you're from the PNW area and prefer to troll PoA. The actual number of APIAs who have flipped AC at a profit would boggle your little mind. Me included. The funny thing is to those who actually practice aircraft maintenance, from you're combined answers (or lack of answers) on PoA, its very obvious you have very limited experience with aircraft mx other than what you learned at the FBO coffee shop. Really.:rolleyes:
 
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You're so clueless. Really. My bet you're merely a low time pilot who wants to be relevant and has zero experience with actual aircraft maintence. Or you're from the PNW area and prefer to troll PoA. The actual number of APIAs who have flipped AC at a profit would boggle your little mind. Me included. The funny thing is to those who actually practice aircraft maintenance, from you're combined answers (or lack of answers) on PoA, its very obvious you have very limited experience with aircraft mx other than what you learned at the FBO coffee shop. Really.:rolleyes:
This is true, and for some, it's a labor of love, and a hobby that they get a return on.
 
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