Mtns2Skies
Final Approach
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- Jul 12, 2008
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Mtns2Skies
Sorry in advance for the @denverpilot long post.
Well, I've been cautiously excited recently because I thought I was going to be buying my dream plane this weekend. This plane all started about a year and a half ago with this thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/i-found-a-plane-but-its-not-mine.96338/
It all started in the summer of 2016 when I saw a beautiful Cessna 180 sitting on the ramp. I looked it up on the FAA registry and actually mailed the owner a letter asking to talk about it and see it. Sure enough about a week later I got a call from the owner and we set up a time to go to the airport. We got to talking and he was VERY nice. A 747 cargo pilot that just wasn't home a whole lot so he wasn't able to fly very often. He also was in the process of building a supercub. Additionally I got to know the mechanic that had been taking care of the plane for the last decade pretty well as he was a local CFI.
Later that day after I got home he offered the plane to me for a fantastic price and unfortunately it just wasn't the right time for me to buy that and I told him so. He said he was in no hurry to sell it and to contact him when I was ready to buy. Let me say this skywagon is exactly what I want. Stock airframe with fold-up interior seats. The panel was VFR and needed some love to be IFR, older paint and older interior.
A year goes by to the summer of 2017 and I see that in 4-5 months I'd be all set for plane ownership so I gave him a call to see if it was still available and if he'd still be interested in selling and sure enough it was. He mentioned he was glad that I called and he wanted the plane to go to me because he really wanted a good home for the plane. Come thanksgiving I gave him a call to set up a time for the pre-buy - due to his work schedule and my school schedule it was decided that Jan 5-7th would be the best. Also a cylinder was getting overhauled but would be back on in time then. He hadn't changed his price at all in a year and a half and it would've been a screaming good deal for me.
I'm getting pretty stoked. I had EVERYTHING lined up for the pre-buy and the flight home. Got hangar and insurance all arranged, also flights, rental car and hotel, and I'm really just waiting for the date to happen. The plane is in Eastern Washington and my brother lives in Seattle so I thought I'd visit him before flying out to see the plane.
This morning I got a pretty bad call. They were going to put on the new cylinder today when they saw serious galling on the lifters I believe he said and that the engine (1200hrs) would definitely need an overhaul. I talked to a LOT of people to get advice on it but unfortunately it just didn't work out at the new price and considering the plane is half the country away and I wouldn't be able to get it home to supervise the overhaul etc. I had REALLY gotten my hopes up about the plane and came out here completely expecting to come home in a Skywagon and my hopes had been up for this specific plane for almost two years.
In the end it ended up being a good thing. The owner's wife passed away a few weeks ago and he wasn't flying the plane because she hated flying. So he said he was going to look to the future rather than the past and repair and fly the plane now. I also learned an ENORMOUS amount about plane buying and and got a massive amount of wisdom from the process. I'm just so bummed from how invested emotionally I was but the plane will live on getting flown. I'm glad the owner was such a good guy and told me about the engine problem the MINUTE he found out about it rather than trying to hide it.
Live and learn.
Special thanks to @G-Man and @MrsMtns2Skies and MANY others for all of your support.
Well, I've been cautiously excited recently because I thought I was going to be buying my dream plane this weekend. This plane all started about a year and a half ago with this thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/i-found-a-plane-but-its-not-mine.96338/
I found a plane sitting on the ramp here that I'm absolutely in love with. It has half-deflated tires but looks to be in amazing shape otherwise. I've asked around and no one knows the owner. I'd be interested in buying it, getting a ride in it or even just getting to sit in it.
Two weeks ago I sent a letter to the owner's address I found via the FAA N# registry with no response yet.
Is there anything else I can realistically do other than drool and wish he would contact me back?
It all started in the summer of 2016 when I saw a beautiful Cessna 180 sitting on the ramp. I looked it up on the FAA registry and actually mailed the owner a letter asking to talk about it and see it. Sure enough about a week later I got a call from the owner and we set up a time to go to the airport. We got to talking and he was VERY nice. A 747 cargo pilot that just wasn't home a whole lot so he wasn't able to fly very often. He also was in the process of building a supercub. Additionally I got to know the mechanic that had been taking care of the plane for the last decade pretty well as he was a local CFI.
Later that day after I got home he offered the plane to me for a fantastic price and unfortunately it just wasn't the right time for me to buy that and I told him so. He said he was in no hurry to sell it and to contact him when I was ready to buy. Let me say this skywagon is exactly what I want. Stock airframe with fold-up interior seats. The panel was VFR and needed some love to be IFR, older paint and older interior.
A year goes by to the summer of 2017 and I see that in 4-5 months I'd be all set for plane ownership so I gave him a call to see if it was still available and if he'd still be interested in selling and sure enough it was. He mentioned he was glad that I called and he wanted the plane to go to me because he really wanted a good home for the plane. Come thanksgiving I gave him a call to set up a time for the pre-buy - due to his work schedule and my school schedule it was decided that Jan 5-7th would be the best. Also a cylinder was getting overhauled but would be back on in time then. He hadn't changed his price at all in a year and a half and it would've been a screaming good deal for me.
I'm getting pretty stoked. I had EVERYTHING lined up for the pre-buy and the flight home. Got hangar and insurance all arranged, also flights, rental car and hotel, and I'm really just waiting for the date to happen. The plane is in Eastern Washington and my brother lives in Seattle so I thought I'd visit him before flying out to see the plane.
This morning I got a pretty bad call. They were going to put on the new cylinder today when they saw serious galling on the lifters I believe he said and that the engine (1200hrs) would definitely need an overhaul. I talked to a LOT of people to get advice on it but unfortunately it just didn't work out at the new price and considering the plane is half the country away and I wouldn't be able to get it home to supervise the overhaul etc. I had REALLY gotten my hopes up about the plane and came out here completely expecting to come home in a Skywagon and my hopes had been up for this specific plane for almost two years.
In the end it ended up being a good thing. The owner's wife passed away a few weeks ago and he wasn't flying the plane because she hated flying. So he said he was going to look to the future rather than the past and repair and fly the plane now. I also learned an ENORMOUS amount about plane buying and and got a massive amount of wisdom from the process. I'm just so bummed from how invested emotionally I was but the plane will live on getting flown. I'm glad the owner was such a good guy and told me about the engine problem the MINUTE he found out about it rather than trying to hide it.
Live and learn.
Special thanks to @G-Man and @MrsMtns2Skies and MANY others for all of your support.
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