Navion Rangemaster

[Groundpounder]

Just found out about a Rangemaster that came on to the market. Looks like a beautiful airplane with 10 hours on a overhauled IO-470. Paint and interior look decent, panel is basic but more than adequate for what I want to do. I would love to have an airplane with a cabin the size of a Rangemasters. I know that it isn't fast, but that is a trade off I am willing to make.

From a google search, and a search of threads on here, they sound like great airplanes, but how hard are they to maintain? Are parts scarce, and how much extra attention does the hydraulic system need? How do I figure out what the airplane is worth? Vref doesn't have the airplane on their list, and there are very few on the market today. It is cheaper than some of the 182's I've been looking at, but that doesn't mean it is worth what it is being offered for.

 

[Grum.Man]

@flyingron

 

[flyingron]

First off, contact the American Navion Society and get their book "What to look for when buying a Navion." It has a lot of useful information.

Maintenance isn't too bad. The society maintains a pretty good parts inventory. Once you'er into the the later continental engines like the IO-470, you're not going to have some of the nightmares getting accessories like the older engines.

The hydraulic system takes very little work. There's a pilot accessible reservoir you just keep topped off. There's an engine driven pump (there are a few of these that are approved), a little bypass valve regulator doohicky (not much to that), a master control valve which has the gear/flap levers init, and then four actuators (one for the flaps and one for each gear. Not really much too it. In all my years, I think the sum total of the maintenance was refilling the hydraulic regulator and one time after some panel work the guy bunged up the o-ring going to the pressure gauge and it started leaking.

There are a lot of price variability. Can't vouch for VRef but the other valuation books have it. "Around the price of a 182" is about right. You need to know what avionics and a few comments on the Navion-specific configurations (is this a four or five seat version, which of the 3 major rangemaster models is it, though I'm guessing with a 470 it's a G, etc...).

 

[Groundpounder]

Thanks for the info. My partner has no interest in an airplane with foldy wheels, and an rare-ish airplane with foldy wheels that was built in 1961 might not be a good first airplane to own.