My airplane is just average

A

Alexb2000

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Alexb2000
I'll be the first to say my airplane is just average for the fleet.

I spend a lot to take care of it and try to use the best parts and service I can find. I have it professionally detailed and waxed, always hangared. However, my bird is no hangar queen, I fly it in hard conditions, I've beat the paint off the prop in rain/snow, I fly with dogs, I haul stuff, I take people places, and I have a lot more hours than others of similar vintage. So if I had to sell it I would get an average price at best. This week for example I just did $7500 in maintenance that didn't add one dime of value.

That's how I see it, a good friend to me, but nothing special to anyone else.

I can accept that. Why does it seem no one else can?
 
You've never seen my Tcraft yet :D she is well flown and far from pretty, but she's solid and taken care of!

Alexb2000 said:
I'll be the first to say my airplane is just average for the fleet.

I spend a lot to take care of it and try to use the best parts and service I can find. I have it professionally detailed and waxed, always hangared. However, my bird is no hangar queen, I fly it in hard conditions, I've beat the paint off the prop in rain/snow, I fly with dogs, I haul stuff, I take people places, and I have a lot more hours than others of similar vintage. So if I had to sell it I would get an average price at best. This week for example I just did $7500 in maintenance that didn't add one dime of value.

That's how I see it, a good friend to me, but nothing special to anyone else.

I can accept that. Why does it seem no one else can?
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The 177 is dependable workhorse. New seat fabric, painted all the plastic, repainted the cowl and it still just looks everage.
 
Alexb2000 said:
I'll be the first to say my airplane is just average for the fleet.

I can accept that. Why does it seem no one else can?
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My plane may even be below average for the fleet. Back when we were looking, our budget put us in no mans land. We could have bought the best of the best F models with money left over or a bottom of the barrel J.

We chose to sort through the bottom of the barrel, kissed a few frogs along the way, and bought N97642. She's been very robust mechanically and flys well. Paint is average, interior is nasty, and other than the 430, PS engineering audio panel and Garmin GXT 327 the panel is as she was built in 1984.

So she's still near the bottom of the J barrel. Oh well, no plans to sell soon so who cares :dunno:

Oh, and the nasty interior? I don't really care what people tramp on or scuff with their feet. If we had a new interior, I'd be anal in that regard, so I kinda like nasty.
 
We have dogs puke, pee, and poo in our airplane.

'nuff said.
 
My airplane started superb, though quite few years of usage have left it somewhat less so.
 
Average is good considering the age of a lot of the planes people are flying.
 
I have purchased a few airplanes and never considered them to be average to me. Have put a lot of time and money into my choices,also realized that when it's time to sell reality will set in and I will not be offended by what the market prices it at. I have retired and purchased a new smaller aircraft,that I keep in great shape,knowing that it's loosing value daily in this economy. Love my aircraft and love to fly.
 
Alexb2000 said:
I'll be the first to say my airplane is just average for the fleet.
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Lately I've been thinking about selling the 'kota. In one way, avionics, it is outstanding, the rest is maybe average (at best) for a mechanical contraption built in 1979 with typical maintenance for most of its life. What's it worth? Probably about half what I paid for it. Sad but true and I didn't buy it expecting to make money.
 
Skylane81E said:
Don't give the airlines any ideas!!!
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Sounds like a step up in service. I spent 8hrs on a flight to Anchorage with a 500LB guys sweating fat hanging over my arm. The left side of my body was soaked in his sweat by the time we landed. I would have gladly gotten in a cage.
 
I thought my old 170 survived 65 years without being beat to hell, and was not corroded, had no hangar rash, was very good condition, it simply deserved a restoration.

Before and after
 

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none of my airplanes would have won a blue ribbon for aesthetics, but they would have for what they were under the Cowlings.

On a scale from 1–10, I would have rated them about a 7.

Except in cleanliness. They were always spot free inside and out.

I spent my money on mechanics and avionics.
 
coma24 said:
In what sense are they not accepting it?
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Valuation/perception. Ask any broker and they will tell you the biggest hurdle to selling most peoples airplane is getting them to accept market value. If the range is $70-100K, then most believe $120 is a good place to start. The basis is the money they've spent, the improvements they've made, and their perception of it vs. the fleet.

Clark1961 said:
Lately I've been thinking about selling the 'kota. In one way, avionics, it is outstanding, the rest is maybe average (at best) for a mechanical contraption built in 1979 with typical maintenance for most of its life. What's it worth? Probably about half what I paid for it. Sad but true and I didn't buy it expecting to make money.
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I hate to hear that, unless you've found something you like better. I'm sure you'll sell it with that attitude as I'm sure the buyer will also be happy.

Tom-D said:
I thought my old 170 survived 65 years without being beat to hell, and was not corroded, had no hangar rash, was very good condition, it simply deserved a restoration.

Before and after
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Amazing, you seem to be able to give these old birds a new life and make a living doing it, bravo. For most of us we only succeed in making a pile of money disappear with such undertakings.:)
 
Same goes for Miss Piggy. She isn't beautiful(part of the reason for the nickname) but she is reliable and flies EXTREMELY well.

She won't get a second glance from anyone else, but that doesn't matter. It's how she flies that counts.
 
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VanDy said:
You've never seen my Tcraft yet :D she is well flown and far from pretty, but she's solid and taken care of!
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You have your own plane and yet almost all of POA Ohio complains about you having the rentals out all the time? What gives? LOL

David
 
I agree with the sentiment.

However we pilots that are concerned with safety, maintenance, aviation in general are probably not average. We are probably above average in the way we are active, fly, and maintain our airplanes.

I suspect if you surveyed all our planes that average would be significantly higher than the average for all GA planes.

With that said, people do ask too much for their airplanes. Possibly a secret desire to hold on to it after they know they should sell it.

So its a defense mechanism from Dr. Scarpelli.:)
 
I think the other reason people have a hard time understanding that most of the money you put into a plane doesn't add value. Most other large items don't have as much recurring cost as airplanes, so this is probably harder for most to accept.

And, values are just low.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Amazing, you seem to be able to give these old birds a new life and make a living doing it, bravo. For most of us we only succeed in making a pile of money disappear with such undertakings.:)
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Who's making a living? this is a hobby.

I do work on other owners aircraft to support this hobby.

The house and life is a different pile of money.

But that said, most of my projects are sold before they are finished (except the 24) and they are not cheap because the people who know what they are, are willing to pay the price and not worry about what they will spend in the next few years of owner ship.
 
Clark1961 said:
Lately I've been thinking about selling the 'kota. In one way, avionics, it is outstanding, the rest is maybe average (at best) for a mechanical contraption built in 1979 with typical maintenance for most of its life. What's it worth? Probably about half what I paid for it. Sad but true and I didn't buy it expecting to make money.
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I think the exterior paint is better than average. Not pristine, but better than quite a few airplanes I've seen.
 
Tom-D said:
I thought my old 170 survived 65 years without being beat to hell, and was not corroded, had no hangar rash, was very good condition, it simply deserved a restoration.

Before and after
Click to expand...

Tom-D said:
Who's making a living? this is a hobby.

I do work on other owners aircraft to support this hobby.

The house and life is a different pile of money.

But that said, most of my projects are sold before they are finished (except the 24) and they are not cheap because the people who know what they are, are willing to pay the price and not worry about what they will spend in the next few years of owner ship.
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Tom gets finished and they are better than new. That 170 is looking really nice.
 
flhrci said:
You have your own plane and yet almost all of POA Ohio complains about you having the rentals out all the time? What gives? LOL

David
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Lol, GI bill funded my Private. Since I can't do my private in the Tcraft :)


-VanDy
 
My interior is 10/10 since its only a month old. Before it was maybe 6/10. Exterior the paint is in relatively good shape, but dated, 8/10. Avionics are a 430 amd mx20 with an hsi pretty nice and works for me. Mechanically she's 11/10 and flies even better than that. To me its a 10/10 airplane and would probably fetch what I paid. I had the previous owner ask if I was interested in selling it... For more than I paid (he sold it to an FBO) and more than he sold it for. I'm guessing most people wouldn't pay that, but its one of those "if you knew the airplane" you would.
 
Tom-D said:
I thought my old 170 survived 65 years without being beat to hell, and was not corroded, had no hangar rash, was very good condition, it simply deserved a restoration.

Before and after
Click to expand...


We did the same thing. The 180 I found was a very low time airframe, with extended tanks, and the first year model with the three windows and more gross. No corrosion, and for some reason, even though it has never been a seaplane, all the aluminum on the inside is zinc chromated.

It was just too good of a plane to let die.

Before


After


The owner and I agreed on a price, and we went to work. After it was all done, he said "I'll never do that again, we lost money if you consider all our time."

The selkirk extended baggage area they agreed to install kicked their ever loving asses. Ron must have spent 40 hours getting that in. He said he'd never do that again either. All in all, I ended up with a very old above average plane and I love it. :)
 
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