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Luscombe Financing

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Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:01 pm

Luscombe Financing

I'm looking to build up time on a little Luscombe for 18K, but I've been striking out on places to get financing because the amount is so low. Does anyone know of any lenders that do relatively small aviation loans?
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Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:40 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

I can teach you a little credit card trick my friend taught me a while back ; ) I’m surprised nobody will loan on it. You could always go the unsecured signature loan route but that’s high interest. How long are you wanting to take an 18k loan?
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Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:19 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Traditional aircraft loans are what seem to be out of the question. For instance, if you go through the financial lender associated with Trade-A-Plane, they require at least $29,500 to be borrowed. AOPA finance also said that the amount was too low. I called around to a few other places and it seems to be trend.
My plan is to get the Luscombe, fly the heck out of it for a year to build up a few hundred hours of tailwheel hours so that I can take on the Cessna 180 that my dad is passing my way and not get crushed by insurance. Once I pack in a couple of hundred hours I plan on selling it, which should take less than a year.
I looked into doing a personal loan, but those are around 8% interest and have a maximum term of 60 months, which means a much higher monthly payment that I want to go with.
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Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:38 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Sounds like you need to find a more expensive Luscombe :wink:
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Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:01 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Halestorm wrote:Sounds like you need to find a more expensive Luscombe :wink:


That’s a thought. Or something that will lead you into a sky wagon a little better than a luscombe.

I’ll be interested to see what you can do financing-wise. I’m in the process as well.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:10 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

Try 1st Pryority Bank In Pryor, OK. I financed the Champ since I bought it before I sold the Cessna. Easy to work with and no pre-payment penalty if you pay off early. I have to look, but I think we financed $16,000+-. I will try to find the name of the person I worked with.

Pete
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:22 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

Kodiakmack wrote:
Halestorm wrote:Sounds like you need to find a more expensive Luscombe :wink:


That’s a thought. Or something that will lead you into a sky wagon a little better than a luscombe.

I’ll be interested to see what you can do financing-wise. I’m in the process as well.


Just to poll the audience, what would be good to lead me into the sky wagon? I'm looking to rack up hours on the CHEAP, and the Luscombe 4.5 gph fuel burn sounds pretty tasty.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:36 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

pburns wrote:Try 1st Pryority Bank In Pryor, OK. I financed the Champ since I bought it before I sold the Cessna. Easy to work with and no pre-payment penalty if you pay off early. I have to look, but I think we financed $16,000+-. I will try to find the name of the person I worked with.

Pete


Thanks Pete! I'll reach out to them today. If you do find the name of the guy that you worked with, feel free to DM it my way. I'd love to work with him.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:36 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

If you have now or think you can find a good Luscombe then I would stick with your plan. I would focus on building time, fly in the wind, and work to be a proficient tailwheel pilot. Then, when the time comes, make the transition and bask in the glory of the wagon.

On one hand the wagon is bigger, has more power, sits different, etc., but on the other hand, its just an airplane. They all generally have gear, wings, and a spinny thing up front. The skills you learn in any small taildragger will transition well into the wagon.

It’ll take some time to transition for sure, but that’s not the Luscombes fault, that’s just the nature of your hobby. Same is true if your primary plane is any of the PA-XXs, C-170, etc.- you’re still going to “transition” because you’re switching planes so it’ll take some time to get proficient in your new plane.

I would look for a champ, t-cart, Luscombe, etc that you can fly the wings off of and be confident you can sell in 1-2 years.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:12 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

I went through Red River State Bank out of Minnesota, they have been great to work with. http://www.airloan.com. I attempted to work financing through AOPA but the broker was a complete jerk and kept trying to tell me what plane I needed rather than focusing on providing financing options for the plane I selected.

Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

https://www.lightstream.com/aircraft-financing

I and a couple people I know have used these folks. Same day approval and the money is in your account ready for you to close the deal the next day (or the next depending on how late in the day the transfer is initiated).
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:40 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

CParker wrote:I went through Red River State Bank out of Minnesota, they have been great to work with. http://www.airloan.com. I attempted to work financing through AOPA but the broker was a complete jerk and kept trying to tell me what plane I needed rather than focusing on providing financing options for the plane I selected.

Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.



I had the same experience last year with a bank recommended by AOPA. The guy would only go off of Vref, kept telling me I didn’t want the airplanes I wanted, and would not take the market on backcountry birds/mods into account.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:56 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Sent you pm, Colorado bank....
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:25 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Do you own your home and have a good loan/value ratio? Use a HELOC.

Normally I would not advocate tying toys to secured assets, but it's a credit line at a very low interest rate. $18k isn't that much. Unfortunately, qualifying for a HELOC right now is a long process and you have to be squeaky clean.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 8:43 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Kodiakmack wrote:
CParker wrote:I went through Red River State Bank out of Minnesota, they have been great to work with. http://www.airloan.com. I attempted to work financing through AOPA but the broker was a complete jerk and kept trying to tell me what plane I needed rather than focusing on providing financing options for the plane I selected.

Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.



I had the same experience last year with a bank recommended by AOPA. The guy would only go off of Vref, kept telling me I didn’t want the airplanes I wanted, and would not take the market on backcountry birds/mods into account.



Ha!! I must have dealt with the same guy. Here I was trying to buy a C120 and he kept telling me the only plane worth buying is a $100k maule. Sorry dude that’s quadruple my budget. I missed out on so many sales because he kept dragging his feet on everything! I finally told them to kick rocks and told AOPA they should drop that bank. What a PITA. I believe it was Bank of Locust Grove or something like that.

What I ended up doing is selling my truck and buying the airplane cash, saved up another down payment for a truck and got another truck 1.5 years later. Financing and airplane is a royal PITA, if you can come up with the cash do that and refinance your car/truck whatever.
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:20 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

I put five grand down on a 1950 Pacer. Called the postal workers credit union and told them I want another $13k. Used my boat 2004 Wooldridge jet boat as collateral...actually the trailer...the boat doesn’t have a title in Alaska. That was 7 years ago. My bride was a post master until she left USPS in 2004. Key thing is good credit and tell the lender you “want”....not you “need” money...


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Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:15 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

CParker wrote:
Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.


+1

Start locally. My first plane was financed through a local bank chain. They were happy to get the opportunity to finance an airplane. Second loan for second airplane was through my company's credit union. Both institutions had competitive rates.
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Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:35 am

Re: Luscombe Financing

hamer wrote:
Kodiakmack wrote:
CParker wrote:I went through Red River State Bank out of Minnesota, they have been great to work with. http://www.airloan.com. I attempted to work financing through AOPA but the broker was a complete jerk and kept trying to tell me what plane I needed rather than focusing on providing financing options for the plane I selected.

Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.


That’s the guy!


I had the same experience last year with a bank recommended by AOPA. The guy would only go off of Vref, kept telling me I didn’t want the airplanes I wanted, and would not take the market on backcountry birds/mods into account.



Ha!! I must have dealt with the same guy. Here I was trying to buy a C120 and he kept telling me the only plane worth buying is a $100k maule. Sorry dude that’s quadruple my budget. I missed out on so many sales because he kept dragging his feet on everything! I finally told them to kick rocks and told AOPA they should drop that bank. What a PITA. I believe it was Bank of Locust Grove or something like that.

What I ended up doing is selling my truck and buying the airplane cash, saved up another down payment for a truck and got another truck 1.5 years later. Financing and airplane is a royal PITA, if you can come up with the cash do that and refinance your car/truck whatever.
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Thu Aug 20, 2020 1:58 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

CParker wrote:I went through Red River State Bank out of Minnesota, they have been great to work with. http://www.airloan.com. I attempted to work financing through AOPA but the broker was a complete jerk and kept trying to tell me what plane I needed rather than focusing on providing financing options for the plane I selected.

Also, you'd be surprised how many local banks will finance aircraft, don't overlook credit unions.


I work for a very large aircraft manufacturer and bank through a credit union associated with them. Was surprised to find that they won't touch an airplane loan of any dollar amount. Boats and RVs (both rapidly depreciating assets)? Sure thing! The nice lady encouraged me to take a personal loan.

I sold my car which got me half way and scratched hard for the rest. You can get a car loan in minutes even with terrible credit.

Funny observation - in another forum the OP would have been flamed for even considering borrowing money on an airplane. Nicer crowd here I guess.
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Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:45 pm

Re: Luscombe Financing

Nothing wrong with financing an airplane in my opinion. Even if you have the cash to buy outright I’d rather finance a good portion, spread that cost out, and use the cash to fly or upgrade.

I knew a guy bought a plane on credit cards. THAT I would t recommend lol.
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