Joe Gremlin
Pre-Flight
First off I realize that I'm late to the thread and whatever was going to happen has already happened.
However when I read the original post I had a thought. That thought was that just because a guy sucks at buying airplanes doesn't automatically make him a bad pilot. Therefore I can't really say whether or not this guy is a good enough pilot to own and fly a superviking. It certainly doesn't sound like he's a person who makes good airplane buying decisions but that's a whole different beast than actually flying or owning an airplane.
Case in point, I consider myself an above average pilot for my experience level and I never practiced steep turns and such until I became a commercial pilot and had to do them regularly for a living.
Further case in point, my former boss didn't believe in doing prebuy inspections. He's bought as many good airplanes as bad. And by bad I mean airplanes that he's put down in corn fields and totaled on the flight home because he didn't do a prebuy and the engine exploded on the way home. Yet he's a pilot I look up to and respect and I don't do that with just anyone. IOW, I don't agree at all with his airplane buying methods but I'd let my wife fly with him any day of the week.
So given that, I can say that this guy doesn't sound qualified to make a good buying decision on his own but I can't say whether or not he can actually handle the plane he buys because I haven't actually flown with him. Then I read the post where the OP stated she hasn't actually flown with him either. So honestly, her and I are just about in the same boat when it comes to this pilot.
He doesn't sound like he makes good decisions when it comes to buying airplanes. But that doesn't mean he's not a capable pilot. He may not be a capable pilot, but until someone in this thread has actually flown with him, none of us can really say.
So now that I've got that off my chest, how did the lunch go? Details, we want details.
However when I read the original post I had a thought. That thought was that just because a guy sucks at buying airplanes doesn't automatically make him a bad pilot. Therefore I can't really say whether or not this guy is a good enough pilot to own and fly a superviking. It certainly doesn't sound like he's a person who makes good airplane buying decisions but that's a whole different beast than actually flying or owning an airplane.
Case in point, I consider myself an above average pilot for my experience level and I never practiced steep turns and such until I became a commercial pilot and had to do them regularly for a living.
Further case in point, my former boss didn't believe in doing prebuy inspections. He's bought as many good airplanes as bad. And by bad I mean airplanes that he's put down in corn fields and totaled on the flight home because he didn't do a prebuy and the engine exploded on the way home. Yet he's a pilot I look up to and respect and I don't do that with just anyone. IOW, I don't agree at all with his airplane buying methods but I'd let my wife fly with him any day of the week.
So given that, I can say that this guy doesn't sound qualified to make a good buying decision on his own but I can't say whether or not he can actually handle the plane he buys because I haven't actually flown with him. Then I read the post where the OP stated she hasn't actually flown with him either. So honestly, her and I are just about in the same boat when it comes to this pilot.
He doesn't sound like he makes good decisions when it comes to buying airplanes. But that doesn't mean he's not a capable pilot. He may not be a capable pilot, but until someone in this thread has actually flown with him, none of us can really say.
So now that I've got that off my chest, how did the lunch go? Details, we want details.
However, it seems that over the last couple of months he's had some sort of revelation. When I got to their house last night, he couldn't wait to show me the pictures of the Viking. After a 2 second glance at the panel, I blurted out, in a less than subtle way, "If you don't get your instrument rating in this airplane you're an idiot." To which he responded that his plan was to get instruction in the airplane and then go right to flying with a CFII and get his IR. (insert pleasantly surprised smiley) He also said that the pre-purchase was going to be very extensive and not cheap. (insert relieved smiley).
He’d found it on e-Bay. 