Do you wonder what "might have been"?

fiveoboy01

fiveoboy01

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Dirty B
Even though I'm no longer searching for a purchase, I still look at classifieds for fun. And of course, I will first look in the Archer category.

Sometimes I see airplanes that are equipped as good as mine, maybe even better, with lower engine hours, maybe nicer paint, whatever. The price might be what I paid, or maybe even less.

Sometimes I sit and go "what if"... but I guess I can spend the rest of my life doing that.

Or I look at the Dakotas, and see what I'm going to have invested in my airplane after this engine overhaul is done, and realize that I could have just upped my budget and bought one, or an even nicer Archer.

Or, I could have bought a mint 150 for really cheap and maybe not be getting an overhaul 100 hours later.

What if, what if, what if...

I'm certainly not unhappy with the airplane I have, but always wonder if I made the right choice. I don't know if that will ever go away.

Anyone else "lament" what might have been?

(the parallel to women isn't that far off:D)
 
yeah. But I'm happy I bought my cherokee 140 when I did. A 180 would have been better, but I liked owning the 140 (had it for 18 years). I spent a lot of money on it, but definitely enjoyed working on it (under A&P supervision) and all that.
 
Each airplane I've owned was exactly the plane I wanted/needed at the time. When my eyes began to wander and my wants/needs began to shift, I sold my current plane and started shopping seriously for my next ride. The changes I've made have reflected very different kinds of flying. As a result, I've owned a Grumman Traveler, a Pitts S2A, a C-182 and now have a Maule in my hangar. Each plane has made me smile every time I flew it. As my wants and needs have shifted, I've moved on to preclude those "what if" thoughts over morning coffee or a drink at the end of the day. I'll never have the money to simultaneoudly own one of every type of aircraft I've ever been interested in, but realistically I don't have enough free time to stay proficient in multiple types of flying at once. Aerobatics require very different eye/hand coordination and pilot focus than back country flying at the bottom of the airspeed arc.
 
Did you rush the purchase process?

Likely if you were patient and deliberate in the purchase, there might be less "what if" moments as you already had seen similar???
 
Not really, but I am very happy with the path I've had with planes and where that path has taken me. Whenever I think about if I'd done something different, I'm quite certain I wouldn't be as happy with the result.
 
I don't worry about what I might have bought instead of the one I did buy but I have been known to look around Controller.com for the next plane...
 
I was flipping through old pictures on Facebook, and ran across pix of an RV we came within milliseconds of buying, until it failed the compression test at the prebuy. (Which turned out to be the A&P's faulty gauge, but that's another story.)

When I look at how much nicer our RV is (that one had no autopilot, and a fixed pitch prop), I shudder at how close I came to buying a lesser bird for the same money.
 
Buyers remorse.

I didnt do that so much as I imagined SELLING the plane right from the beginning. Which, I think is not a bad thing to keep in mind. Eventually it will be sold. Good to keep that in mind. Dont alter it in a negative way.

It IS fun to look at Tradeaplane and Controller and imagine. Wouldnt mind owning a P210 or Cessna 340 and fly some them a bit.
 
I don't look. I believe I got a good enough deal and there's no looking back.

I also won't look in the Cirrus section because that would trigger a "what if" cycle of a different and very expensive sort. :D
 
You just have to accept what you don't know. When I bought my Cherokee it was exactly what I wanted. I've spent a lot of money on it and have more "upgrades" to buy. I originally wanted it to learn in and build time while I build an RV-7 then sell it to buy the engine for the RV-7.

It's grown on me so much that I doubt I'll buy another one.
 
Nope. Never wonder. Just keep enjoying the ride I'm on.

I will say that I was an avid window shopper until I bought my current plane. Since that moment, the switch has been flipped to Off - absolutely no interest or curiosity. Apparently, I'm in the right plane for me, for now.
 
Instead of buying two sub 200 KT planes I should have waited and bought a nice Glasair III. I'll still get there eventually but no logic having 2 planes right now.
 
JoeSelch said:
Nope. Never wonder. Just keep enjoying the ride I'm on.

I will say that I was an avid window shopper until I bought my current plane. Since that moment, the switch has been flipped to Off - absolutely no interest or curiosity. Apparently, I'm in the right plane for me, for now.
Click to expand...

Which RV do you have? I forget?
 
Velocity173 said:
Instead of buying two sub 200 KT planes I should have waited and bought a nice Glasair III. I'll still get there eventually but no logic having 2 planes right now.
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I think my preference would be to take two 200 kt planes and make a 400 kt plane. Or does it not work that way?
 
I've been happy with every aircraft I've owned but I have to admit that my spouse has been the key to success.


"I can't go cross country unless I own a ship"
"Then why don't you buy one? Let's go shopping." (she's never seen a glider before)​


"A 2 place plane should do it. Just something to bang around in, a tail dragger, but we can both go somewhere when we want to"
"How much baggage can a 2 place carry? ....Say What!"​


"You know, these kit planes have evolved enough to meet me halfway."
"Then build one, but it has to carry all my shoes like the Maule."​


Love Her!
 
JoeSelch said:
Nope. Never wonder. Just keep enjoying the ride I'm on.

I will say that I was an avid window shopper until I bought my current plane. Since that moment, the switch has been flipped to Off - absolutely no interest or curiosity. Apparently, I'm in the right plane for me, for now.
Click to expand...


This is pretty much me. I spent 7-8 months looking... Once I got my airplane I quit looking as well. Then the case cracked and while I'm waiting for the engine to come back... Curiosity gets the best of me.

I wouldn't say buyer's remorse, but I wasn't planning on a major after owning the airplane for 97 hours..
 
fiveoboy01 said:
This is pretty much me. I spent 7-8 months looking... Once I got my airplane I quit looking as well. Then the case cracked and while I'm waiting for the engine to come back... Curiosity gets the best of me.

I wouldn't say buyer's remorse, but I wasn't planning on a major after owning the airplane for 97 hours..
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Oh, I didn't get it "right" on the first try - yet I sure had fun. And I'm quite surprised by where I am now, wouldn't have imagined it. We'll see what happens next. :)

Good luck with yours.
 
Thanks. **** happens, at least I'll know exactly what I've got now. And a 0 SMOH in the logs will be a nice feeling:)
 
I regret not going straight into a 182 like every one of my CFI and friends said I should.

Instead, I bought a nice 150. That plane has been zero regrets as it's been very cheap to own.

Then, I quickly bought a 172. I think what if on that one quite a bit. I paid $30k for an old 172 with an old basic panel. That's a lot of money for what it is. The good, though, was the zero time engine and the very decent paint.

So basically, I bought an engine with wings. I think often about whether I should have bought mid or high-time with an excellent IFR panel.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Thanks. **** happens, at least I'll know exactly what I've got now. And a 0 SMOH in the logs will be a nice feeling:)
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It is a nice feeling. Although then I look at the logs and realize that those 0 SMOH engines are now more than 400 SMOH and go "WTF?"

Oh well, just another 10,000 gallons of AvGas. :)
 
Are you all talking about women in code in this thread or what? :rofl:

Any married man knows you'll go insane if you don't stop "looking at other airplanes" after "buying the plane."

Sure, you can't help but notice from time to time, but obsessing over the ads will result in your airplane selling you and taking half your assets.
 
There is a difference between wishing you could have a different airplane and appreciating the characteristics and capabilities of a different airplane.
 
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