Yes, leave the joke blocker in its hole and it will be rigid like hell... oh, it was rigged. Yes, in the fifties you could choose the "fly hands off" good rigged version or the one made on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays, when workers were lazy. On that one you needed hands to fly.

Bigger problem could be the engine. No problem when you make a good use of your it. Most are bullet proof if properly managed and maintained, but that one already has 1277 SMOH. The more that there´s only 400 STOH, those "campaign" overhauls are not, obviously, complete rebuilts, so there are lots of thing left as they were. How could one know what kind of usage and maintenance it had if not inspecting it CAREFULLY? Question is that if that one had that good cares, there´s no reason to find a problem with it; not more chances than with any other at least. I guess it could deserve a sight if it matches Jon B.´s idea of new plane.

There´s always some bargain on that site. I guess that´s their "policy", advertising planes wich owners are desperate to sell No darn idea of why, but yes, take a surf around and you´ll see. Like this one http://www.global-air.com/global/g05200.htm

They all maybe sick in a way or another, but sure the prices are appealing!

Jose

We found my father's Tri-Pacer listed on that site. When I first called the guy that runs the site he was obnoxious about getting the deposit. He is generally also very careful about erasing tail numbers from his pictures so you can't look up the registration and contact the seller directly.

In my case the plane was only a couple of hours away so it was easy to go look at. He insisted that I give him the deposit before he set up contact between me and the seller with the promise that if I didn't like the plane it was completely refundable. I flat refused to pay the deposit. I guess he figured I was a serious buyer and that not setting up the contact might cost him a commission.

He was right. The plane was good, the seller and I agreed on a price, and I called the llister back and paid him his commission (which was subtracted out of the sales price). Of course it would still have been refundable if the plane did not make it through the pre-buy.

Things turned out all right and my father is happily flying the Tri-Pacer today, but working with the brokerage was a bit weird and annoying. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if there are folks out there that would get past the lister, buy the plane from the seller, and never pay the commission, so I guess you can't blame the guy too much for being careful.

A C-140 is out of any consideration, isn´t it? I didn´t buy that Maule yet, so I keep searching, and well, every once in a while I find something that may look interesting for someone else´s needs.

http://www.barnstormers.com/listing.php?id=109261

Not the cheapest ever, but look at it! It´s worth to post it here just to look at those pictures. He could be interested in a trade, so maybe you could get it in exchange for your Champ. Dunno.

You know, I´m here to confuse you.

Jose

Jose:

Sorry. No C-120 or C-140 for me. Too small, too light, to slow, two-place.

My Champ is, to me, superior in every way to the little Cessnas.

I looked at a 170; do the later models - as in 'B' - have a door in the baggage area? The one I saw was a (very ugly) 'A' model. It looked to be an early loser in a demolition derby.

Note to Jose: If you don't know the meaning of demolition derby, speak up; many here can explain it. It's an American thing.

Jon B.

Jon, far as I know, no 170's came from the factory with a baggage door. There are quite a few flying around with one that was retrofitted.
Regarding that A model 170: quite often, ugly airplanes sell at a discount compared to pretty one. Pretty doesn't mean they fly any better.
Also, have you looked very hard at ragwing 170's? They often sell at a discount compared to their later-model brethren. The A's go for a premium over the ragwngs, and the B's go for a premium over the A's.
I bought my ragwing to tide me over until I found the right B model. That was 8-1/2 years & 1400 hours ago.....

Eric

Oops! Sorry for the slow response, but I didn´t get any message saying there were new answers here!

A demolition derby? Do you mean driving in Madrid? Yes, I can figure it out The winner here uses to be the city hall, you know, new traps everyday: cut this street today, make a big hole for the underground there tomorrow, six lanes with people driving around 100 mph and you have to enter the traffic thru the far left one... that kind of things.

We have to agree with Eric in that pretty doesn´t mean better (have to find a non-pretty airplane yet, but I´m sure there has to be any) and ugly tends to mean cheaper. That said, when one is looking for his toy-plane, the look plays a more important role and, again, that´s why prettier means money.

Whatever, it looks like I´m talking to myself here after almost a month since the last post on the thread and saw the new zeppelins you installed on the Champ, so I guess you have it all solved by now. I wonder... would they fit in my Rocket?

José