Is airventure a good place to buy a plane?

poadeleted21

poadeleted21

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Wondering if I should hop on a plane or drive (22hrs one way) to airventure? are there typically lots of planes for sale? Is it worth the 1AMU plane ticket + expenses to go for the sole mission of purchasing a plane? Anybody ever bought a plane there? I have no interest in standing among large crowds in the heat overpaying for nachos and beer, the show doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd rather spend my weekend at a remote mountain lake with a fly rod in my hand. Fly-ins aren't my cup of tea. My only purpose to go would be to look at planes for sale. Is it worth $1,000 to do that?
 
Based on what I've seen, it would be a waste of time and money. Sellers don't take their planes to OSH to sell them for less money than they think they could get at home. The EAA sponsored an auction for a while, with a cut of the proceeds going to the house. I don't think the results were good, nor do I know whether the auction will be held this year. Some of the die-hards probably have better info.


bartmc said:
Wondering if I should hop on a plane or drive (22hrs one way) to airventure? are there typically lots of planes for sale? Is it worth the 1AMU plane ticket + expenses to go for the sole mission of purchasing a plane? Anybody ever bought a plane there? I have no interest in standing among large crowds in the heat overpaying for nachos and beer, the show doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd rather spend my weekend at a remote mountain lake with a fly rod in my hand. Fly-ins aren't my cup of tea. My only purpose to go would be to look at planes for sale. Is it worth $1,000 to do that?
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OSH is an excellent place to buy a plane, but just kick tires and talk to the owner and get their names and numbers. Call them after the show and the price will have dropped substantially. Everyone thinks their plane is worth a fortune at OSH. ;)
 
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Haven't looked at the other GA aircraft but there are a bunch of Experimentals for sale last time I went. Lots of them in pristine condition as well.
 
I'm taking a plane to OSH in hopes of selling it - Well, I don't think it'll actually sell during the show, but it's a good opportunity to get it in front of people.

Going to OSH is a great way to see a whole bunch of airplanes all at once. In addition, the ones you see there will be flown in, so that eliminates the ramp queens right off the bat.
 
Geico266 said:
OSH is an excellent place to buy a plane, but just kick tires and talk to the owner and get their names and numbers. Call them after the show and the price will have dropped substantially. Everyone thinks their plane is worth a fortune at OSH. ;)
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This is what I've been thinking as well. Always wanted to go to Oshkosh, and will be in the market for a plane the next time I'm able to go, but I pretty much expect that prices will be inflated due to 11ty billion pilots with disposable income looking at all the bright shiny objects. :goofy:

But taking details/names/numbers of potential purchases is an excellent idea.
 
I've seen some good deals on RVs in years past. Last year, I was drooling over a really nice RV-8 for sale that was just out of my budget range. While I was looking at it and talking to the owner another fellow walked up with his checkbook in hand and wrote a big down payment check to hold the plane for him until the end of the week.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I'm taking a plane to OSH in hopes of selling it - Well, I don't think it'll actually sell during the show, but it's a good opportunity to get it in front of people.

Going to OSH is a great way to see a whole bunch of airplanes all at once. In addition, the ones you see there will be flown in, so that eliminates the ramp queens right off the bat.
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Why don't you just sell me that mooney for 60k and save both of us a lot of trouble? :rofl:
 
Neal Howard said:
I've seen some good deals on RVs in years past. Last year, I was drooling over a really nice RV-8 for sale that was just out of my budget range. While I was looking at it and talking to the owner another fellow walked up with his checkbook in hand and wrote a big down payment check to hold the plane for him until the end of the week.
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If you see one this year, call me! :D
 
Neal Howard said:
I've seen some good deals on RVs in years past. Last year, I was drooling over a really nice RV-8 for sale that was just out of my budget range. While I was looking at it and talking to the owner another fellow walked up with his checkbook in hand and wrote a big down payment check to hold the plane for him until the end of the week.
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If anyone reading this thinks it is bogus, I can tell you I have had the same thing happen to me, and to several builder buddies. Some buyers don't really care what the price is, they want a show plane RV bought off the flight line at OSH. One buyer hired an A&P to find an RV 10. He did not care if it was for sale or not. He talked the owner into selling his show quality RV 10 after the show for BIG bucks. This was 2 years ago, and he built another one. It happens. :D
 
Geico266 said:
One buyer hired an A&P to find an RV 10. He did not care if it was for sale or not. He talked the owner into selling his show quality RV 10 after the show for BIG bucks. This was 2 years ago, and he built another one. It happens. :D
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Oh man. If I had the money, this is how I would do it.
 
To actually buy one? Probably not. But there are far more aircraft for sale at Oshkosh than any other single place on Earth. To look and find candidates, I can't imagine a better place.
 
steingar said:
To actually buy one? Probably not. But there are far more aircraft for sale at Oshkosh than any other single place on Earth. To look and find candidates, I can't imagine a better place.
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This +1. Third year in a row Ill be looking. I've ruled out several models, years, and type just by browsing. Talk to owners on maintenance, ease of getting parts, and you can get educated on the typical problem spots of a given model.
 
Rigged4Flight said:
This is what I've been thinking as well. Always wanted to go to Oshkosh, and will be in the market for a plane the next time I'm able to go, but I pretty much expect that prices will be inflated due to 11ty billion pilots with disposable income looking at all the bright shiny objects. :goofy:

But taking details/names/numbers of potential purchases is an excellent idea.
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I asked the USAF Lt. what a used T-38 goes for, and he wouldn't deal. :mad::D
 
When I flew the RV-8 to the Tulsa Fly-in (Bartlesville, OK) in fall of 2010, a fellow with a fully-restored grand champion-winning antique 1940's Howard DGA (i.e. $200K+ aircraft) walked up to me and offered to write a check for $100K on the spot for the RV-8. Of course, I had to tell him it wasn't mine, and he wanted the owner's contact info. The owner met him at another fly-in later on, and was even offered more for the RV-8, but he wasn't interested in selling, which is probably a good thing since now needs the RV-8 to fly back & forth between W.Falls and the DFW area several times a week, and the RV-8 has been the perfect airplane for the job.
 
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