Buying an airplane that's been sitting

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How much was it?

I'm not an expert by any means, but I recall that you can get a lot of speed improvement with gear doors, and nose gear mod with a clamshell system. I think they came on post 1972? Can be retrofitted. Contact the experts at the place in Plainview TX.
 
I flew it down after a lot of work-- mostly time but I spent a little money, overhauled the prop, and it's a runner. She's got pleanty of power, cruised at 145kts at 13gph. Trimmed out really nice, overall I'm satisfied. I might have been able to buy one that was current and flying for what I have in this one, but now I have a low time flyer that appears good. Not to say nothing could happen but as of now, I'm satisfied
 
Welcome to your very own flying money pit. :D The Vikings are nice flying planes.
 
I'm glad another airplane has been saved from the scrap yard. Perhaps it was not the cheapest way for the new owner to go, but there is some value in saving older interesting airplanes.
 
Looks great Jeff! I'm glad it all worked out for you.

My next door hangar neighbor, has a 150 and a super Viking in his hangar. He says the super Viking is his baby. Like yours, his is a beautiful bird. I hope to get a ride some day. I wouldn't mind having one as the second plane in my hangar.
 
So the way the world works... I brought the airplane home, flew it some & noticed my cht & oil temp guages were intermittant....but everything else was strong... I pursuaded my wife to let me purchase a jpi edm 900 (stc replacement for all engibe guages) and installed it... (Now i was in it $33k). The airplane was running strong & flying great... I love the speed & power compared to my 140.....
Then i had a landing mishap & a prop strike... Which led to a complete teardown & irsn inspection... And this is where the truth about this bird was revealed... There was cam corrosion, crank was fine... Oil pump gears were corroded- can u believe that? And corroded bad.... Case needed minor repair and one cylinder had a bad ring.... Cylinder walls were okay, not great, but not terrible... So the fact that this airplane wentvthrough annual & checked out, still had its issues, bummer for me on the prop strike, but the hidden gem was that i got to open her up and see what we coujd only soeculate about before... Yes tgere was corrosion but that got corrected and now i feel like i have a solid machine with no guesswork... And im in it $40k.... I ferl like for that price i coukd be into something more valuable, but not through a basic overhaul forcthat price... But as you say-- my beer goggles may be on
 
It will cost you 20k+ to get it fixed and airworthy if it has been a sitter! Offer low price and if you have the time and not risk averse get pretty and invest. Or buy one already in good shape that flies regular.
 
Jeff... just found your post. I also have an older Bellanca which has been sitting a while (actually I have 2 old Bellancas). I have the 14-19-3 with the triple tail, same engine as yours. Having read some of your posts I have complete empathy for what you have been through. Sorry to hear about the prop strike - that always leads to some unplanned dollars spent. Remember one thing: Bellanca owners can never look at their airplanes from an investment point of view. We have these birds because we love them from many reasons that most of the people posting to this thread do not understand or do not appreciate. Hope you are planning to make it to the annual Bellanca gathering next month - it's a great event and you will learn a lot... Rob
 
RalphInCA said:
I'm glad another airplane has been saved from the scrap yard. Perhaps it was not the cheapest way for the new owner to go, but there is some value in saving older interesting airplanes.
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That plane looks FAAR from anything that might head towards a scrap yard lol
 
Mine had little time in the past decade when I bought it. Just about everything rubber was suspect: pressure carb diaphrams, prop diapram, tires, baffle seals, gaskets, hoses, ... took a while to work through all of them and mostly it was a nuisance leak problem
 
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