First off. I have the most wonderful wife. She supported my idea of selling my beloved Ford pinto (which ended up getting wrecked) for an Astro van to tour South America in. Then she supported me buying a motorcycle because the van got less than awesome fuel mileage. Then she agrees to buy an airplane!

After much consideration, I thought about champs and Luscombes and 140s. Then tried out the idea of a Stinson or pacer. Came back to maybe a Tri Pacer as pacers are getting pricey. Then my wife said she worried I wouldn't be happy in a nose dragger. (Did I say how awesome my wife is?)

This 54 pa22/20 came to me via private message on Facebook after saying I was looking for a tailwheel Pacer with 150-160hp for under 20k. After a few long months and a expensive annual. She came home with me. Two brand new Lycoming cylinders put on a low time narrow deck O-320, Cleveland brakes, Scott tailwheel, very basic avionics (next upgrades) alternator, and a relocated oil cooler.

Buying ng shoulder harnesses today and going back to clean her up a bit more today.

Congratulations on a dream come true! And for having a righteous wife!

Thats a great feeling for sure!

Good for your wife, and you too. Tray that girl well!

Enjoy the plane, both of you!

MTV

Looks great. Fun bird that will really teach you to fly.... for cheap.

You'll be way better off in that Pacer than a Luscombe or 140. They can haul a load and have a ton of cargo room when the rear seat is removed. And a little rear ballast always helps (see my recent thread in Theory/Practice/Procedures)

Awesome! Congrats!

Good looking airplane, Enjoy!

Congratulations! That's a great setup for learning a lot and building time inexpensively.

Congrats on your wife, and second, on the Pacer. A little love goes a long ways, with Women and Airplanes, lol!

What a sweet airplane! Glad to hear you are getting shoulder harnesses! Dont get in too big of a hurry to upgrade avionics unless they are really old or not legal. Get a Garmin 660 portable GPS and Epirb, go fly and have fun! Very happy for you, I know the feeling, congrats!

Kurt

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Congratulations. And don't worry about that empty hanger, It will soon be loaded with "good airplane/flying stuff".

Nice looking Pacer! You will have so much fun! Smart woman supporting the taildragger idea!

Thanks all! I think it'll be a great bird for me, and I shouldn't grow out of it anytume soon! As for the avionics. I'm mostly worried about the vintage Terra transponder with 2020 coming up. And as long as the old radaire com system gets me to the airports I need I'm good. It only goes two places after the decimal. I.e. 122.75 not 122.975.

I do seem to get in a hurry to modify things. But this one deserves well thought out and fianicy spaced upgrades, but shoulder harnesses are still a must in my mind. I like my teeth

Congrats!! Living the dream now!

Looks awesome, and you got a box hangar, too???. My 180's been down since February but let's go fly once I get it back. Congrats!
-Asa

Unrelated, feel free to ask me about my opinion of local engine shops lolololololol

asa wrote:Looks awesome, and you got a box hangar, too???. My 180's been down since February but let's go fly once I get it back. Congrats!
-Asa

Unrelated, feel free to ask me about my opinion of local engine shops lolololololol

Ha. Well, kinda rented the hangar next to your cub. And thirty minutes later it sold. So I'll be looking for a new spot by the end of the month.

Yes let's fly soon! Heading to AK this weekend. Otherwise I'd be out there

Spdcrazy wrote:

asa wrote:Looks awesome, and you got a box hangar, too???. My 180's been down since February but let's go fly once I get it back. Congrats!
-Asa

Unrelated, feel free to ask me about my opinion of local engine shops lolololololol

Ha. Well, kinda rented the hangar next to your cub. And thirty minutes later it sold. So I'll be looking for a new spot by the end of the month.

Yes let's fly soon! Heading to AK this weekend. Otherwise I'd be out there

You're thinking of Alex's cub... I am not foolish enough to own 2 airplanes haha (kidding Alex). My 180 is in Boulder.

Hawk wrote:Congratulations. And don't worry about that empty hanger, It will soon be loaded with "good airplane/flying stuff".

That there is funny, but true!