Long time reader, first time poster.
I'm a 51yo student, pre-solo (but not much hopefully), with the nutty idea of doing a sprint to commercial/cfi certs and potentially even pursuing a 4th career in aviation. My local airport only has one plane for rent and there are no clubs around. So, in the interest of convenience, expedience and hopefully financial efficiency, I have been researching planes to purchase. I'm on the Western Slope of Colorado, field elevation 5,800 (with hot summer DAs much higher) and everyone I've talked to tells me I must have 180hp to fly here. I think they are projecting their mission onto mine.
Mission Statement: Build time in the most economical way and pass checkrides, including instrument.
My instructor is a cherokee fan, so recommends a 180.
I've just been bouncing around Barnstomers, Trade-a-Plane and Controller in all my free time, learning as much as I can about avionics etc. (when not studying for PPL checkride) so I can try to nail down an objective. I lean towards a plane that is ready to meet my mission without upgrades and that has TBO remaining so I can at least get to 500 hours before needing overhaul. I want WAAS-GPS at the very least, if not glass avionics and 1000ish hours or less.
Certified planes with 180hp and all the trimmings are going to run $90k and up in this unfortunately (for me, not all the people who already own planes) ill-timed inflationary wave in plane prices. This includes as Cessnas, Pipers and Grummans primarily and I've been considering the 150 and 160hp versions as well (don't tell my local aviation advice givers but what do you think?). The ones that look most interesting are in the $120k+ range and they all seem to be in Florida, which makes my instructor wary of corrosion and the like. Or there are a few P28-140/160s but will they work here if I'm mostly flying alone or will I kill myself trying?
I can do the instrument checkride in a non-IMC certified aircraft that has fully capable IFR avionics, so I have also been looking at the DA20 on the certified side and scouting for capable LSAs. There are a lot of Sportcruiser and similar aircraft around but few, if any, have WAAS-GPS. Then I stumbled upon the PIpistrel Alpha Trainer. New ones are outfitted for IFR training in VFR conditions. But they're only 80hp. But they're super light and aerodynamic. But I couldn't ever fly in actual in IMC. But where I live, IMC almost always equals icing or crazy convection so I wouldn't fly in it anyhow... Oh yeah and they're $185k.
I'm enticed by the newness and the lack of somebody else's sqwaks to take care of after purchase of a plane as old as I am. And there's the ease of purchase, relative to the pre-purchase due diligence hoop jumping required for buying vintage airframes (and the inevitable triple cost first annual). The operating efficiency of the Alpha Trainer can't be beat for time building, as evidenced by the Mesa Airlines purchase of a bunch of them for their pilot development program. Sub 3gph at low speed cruise on MOGAS is amazing.
I am planning on treating flying as a second job for the next 18 months. I don't have family to take places or anything that requires extra space. I am in no hurry to get anywhere because I want to build time not miles. The Pipistrel would be a no-brainer for me if I wasn't concerned it will lose 50% of it's value in those 18 months. Although, since there is only one plane for hire and two septuagenarian CFIs local, perhaps I would just use it to start my own flight training operation at that point. But, I think I want to go 121 or 135, or if I get luck, fly a jet for someone who lives around here.
As I said in the title, paralysis by analysis. In the mean time, I'll keep flying the beater 172 I have been. I feel though that every flight in it is hours that could be more economical in my own plane so there's a sense of urgency to finding and procuring something of my own.
Thoughts? Comments? I'm sure there are concerns for my sanity... please keep those to yourself. And I know according to many in the "if it floats, flies or fornicates, rent it" camp I'm barking up the wrong tree. Just writing this has been a little cathartic. I think I'll spend the rest of the evening poring over Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide, which is probably a much better use of my time anyhow.
I'm a 51yo student, pre-solo (but not much hopefully), with the nutty idea of doing a sprint to commercial/cfi certs and potentially even pursuing a 4th career in aviation. My local airport only has one plane for rent and there are no clubs around. So, in the interest of convenience, expedience and hopefully financial efficiency, I have been researching planes to purchase. I'm on the Western Slope of Colorado, field elevation 5,800 (with hot summer DAs much higher) and everyone I've talked to tells me I must have 180hp to fly here. I think they are projecting their mission onto mine.
Mission Statement: Build time in the most economical way and pass checkrides, including instrument.
My instructor is a cherokee fan, so recommends a 180.
I've just been bouncing around Barnstomers, Trade-a-Plane and Controller in all my free time, learning as much as I can about avionics etc. (when not studying for PPL checkride) so I can try to nail down an objective. I lean towards a plane that is ready to meet my mission without upgrades and that has TBO remaining so I can at least get to 500 hours before needing overhaul. I want WAAS-GPS at the very least, if not glass avionics and 1000ish hours or less.
Certified planes with 180hp and all the trimmings are going to run $90k and up in this unfortunately (for me, not all the people who already own planes) ill-timed inflationary wave in plane prices. This includes as Cessnas, Pipers and Grummans primarily and I've been considering the 150 and 160hp versions as well (don't tell my local aviation advice givers but what do you think?). The ones that look most interesting are in the $120k+ range and they all seem to be in Florida, which makes my instructor wary of corrosion and the like. Or there are a few P28-140/160s but will they work here if I'm mostly flying alone or will I kill myself trying?
I can do the instrument checkride in a non-IMC certified aircraft that has fully capable IFR avionics, so I have also been looking at the DA20 on the certified side and scouting for capable LSAs. There are a lot of Sportcruiser and similar aircraft around but few, if any, have WAAS-GPS. Then I stumbled upon the PIpistrel Alpha Trainer. New ones are outfitted for IFR training in VFR conditions. But they're only 80hp. But they're super light and aerodynamic. But I couldn't ever fly in actual in IMC. But where I live, IMC almost always equals icing or crazy convection so I wouldn't fly in it anyhow... Oh yeah and they're $185k.
I'm enticed by the newness and the lack of somebody else's sqwaks to take care of after purchase of a plane as old as I am. And there's the ease of purchase, relative to the pre-purchase due diligence hoop jumping required for buying vintage airframes (and the inevitable triple cost first annual). The operating efficiency of the Alpha Trainer can't be beat for time building, as evidenced by the Mesa Airlines purchase of a bunch of them for their pilot development program. Sub 3gph at low speed cruise on MOGAS is amazing.
I am planning on treating flying as a second job for the next 18 months. I don't have family to take places or anything that requires extra space. I am in no hurry to get anywhere because I want to build time not miles. The Pipistrel would be a no-brainer for me if I wasn't concerned it will lose 50% of it's value in those 18 months. Although, since there is only one plane for hire and two septuagenarian CFIs local, perhaps I would just use it to start my own flight training operation at that point. But, I think I want to go 121 or 135, or if I get luck, fly a jet for someone who lives around here.
As I said in the title, paralysis by analysis. In the mean time, I'll keep flying the beater 172 I have been. I feel though that every flight in it is hours that could be more economical in my own plane so there's a sense of urgency to finding and procuring something of my own.
Thoughts? Comments? I'm sure there are concerns for my sanity... please keep those to yourself. And I know according to many in the "if it floats, flies or fornicates, rent it" camp I'm barking up the wrong tree. Just writing this has been a little cathartic. I think I'll spend the rest of the evening poring over Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide, which is probably a much better use of my time anyhow.
.