PilotRPI wrote:I got hold of a hangar, which I thought would be impossible near me in MA and that motivated me to go buy a plane and stop waiting. My plan was to spend around $40k on a nice Champ. Found one, then walked away, then started looking at Citabrias. Had a few accepted offers and walked away from those finding things that seriously concerned me.

Was looking at TAP and BS multiple times a day. As well as certain FB groups. Nice, well maintained planed at reasonable prices could indeed move in minutes. Not a whole lot of inventory to consider in 2024, even being willing to spend a little more for a nice plane.

Saw a PA12 come up that looked fantastic. Priced high in my mind, but similar to other really nice PA12s with PA18 mods. Two weeks later saw an ad for the plane at 2/3 the original asking price. Figured it was an error. Went to another ad and indeed they dropped the price. Called within 5 minutes of that posting and had an accepted offer just under asking, which felt fair to me.

I bought it site unseen, had never even sat in a PA12, but did a good prebuy on it. It was 1400 miles from me. It was well more than my original planned spend, but man I love this plane. I always wanted a C180, but that wasn't in my budget with where they stand now.

In short, inventory was crap in 2024 for me. Found a lot of polished turds I had to run away from when I started digging in. Took me 5 or 6 months to find a plane. I had to act FAST when I saw something I liked.

Good luck. Buy the plane.

PilotRPI wrote:I was amazed how many sellers knew very little about the planes they were selling. And you could tell by how they talked about the plane what kind of condition it was in. You'll know when it doesn't sound like BS, then be ready to jump. It was amazingly time consuming. What specifically are you looking for? My mind changed every few days and it drove my wife totally insane.

CoaSTOL Cowboy wrote:..... my local airport will only let me rent a hangar without a registered airplane in it for six months and if at that time it remains empty I forfeit the hangar. It seems like an insane rule seeing how it shouldn't matter if I am paying the rent....

hotrod180 wrote:

CoaSTOL Cowboy wrote:..... my local airport will only let me rent a hangar without a registered airplane in it for six months and if at that time it remains empty I forfeit the hangar. It seems like an insane rule seeing how it shouldn't matter if I am paying the rent....

That's a perfectly good rule.
FAA airport funding comes with FAA mandates- one of which is that hangars must be used for aeronautical purposes.
An empty hangar doesn't meet that mandate.
There are too many hangars with boats cars motorcycles etc (or just empty space) in them instead of airplanes,
meanwhile people who want a hangar to actually keep an airplane in have to go without.
I can identify at least two of the 16 airport-owned hangars at my airport which are rented, but empty.
And two more which are being used to store airport mowing equipment, etc instead of airplanes.
Meanwhile there's a hangar wait list (which costs $100 to get on, and $50 a year to stay on) with at least eight people on it..

low rider wrote:Just go pull the trigger on something and get flying . Nothing seems to be getting any cheaper these days . Except low lead . Just paid 4.99$ …. I like it especially since they are charging 6.20$ for car gas in town !!

CoaSTOL Cowboy wrote:We've seen tail wheel values (most GA planes to be honest) double if not triple in the last five years. Do you all think that we will ever see the market settle back to earth some or has the bottom of the market been reset for good with 170's steadily bringing $70-100K and 180's consistently sitting north of $200K?

As someone who is starting to watch the market more seriously with the intention of buying hopefully within the next year, I have a hard time wrapping my head around these inflated values when the other costs of flying haven't increased alongside of plane values. We all know that wages haven't kept in step with inflation but that's only one part of the problem. Dropping $80-100K for a plane that books for far less and was selling for $35-40K just 5-6 years ago yet is now that much older and in need of more everything just doesn't add up.

I often hear of guys picking up 170B's for $50K or a 180 in the low $100's in internet lore but I never seem to come across those deals. I guess you've got to be kicking around at the right air strips and in tune with the local social network in order to get some old guys plane who has lost his medical via word of mouth!? Another issue I've noticed is the amount of 170B's currently for sale or lack thereof. I don't know if the market is currently cold, the time of year is bad (winter for most folks), maybe demand is way up on 170's creating shorter time on market, or if there just aren't many more to go around any longer, but it sure seems like there were a lot more of them for sale at any given time just a few short years ago.

I sure hope things level off in the coming year and the market somewhat self corrects similar to what we are seeing in the real estate market, but I have my doubts and sadly expect to have to drop $80K+ for a decent 170B. Let me know if I am off base here or if there's something more that I missing. And if anyone is aware of a B for sale or one that is coming to market in the not so distant future by all means reach out to me.

low rider wrote:Just go pull the trigger on something and get flying . Nothing seems to be getting any cheaper these days . Except low lead . Just paid 4.99$ …. I like it especially since they are charging 6.20$ for car gas in town !!

StillLearning wrote:If someone is serious about buying, meaning that they actually will, I think 6 months is plenty of time.

It seems, however, that often times reality doesn’t present itself. Either the amount someone is willing to spend, or what they think they “need”, there is always a reason not to buy.

If I had a budget of $160k, I think I could find a 180 in a couple weeks. But, if for that $160k a new Garmin panel, low time engine, nice interior and new paint with no damage history, is expected then good luck. Not going to happen. A good solid flyable VFR plane can be had for well under $160 right now.

CoaSTOL Cowboy wrote:There's a pretty nice 170B for sale right now that really only needs an interior and a MOH, the latter is what's holding me back on that one.

TR wrote:

CoaSTOL Cowboy wrote:There's a pretty nice 170B for sale right now that really only needs an interior and a MOH, the latter is what's holding me back on that one.

When purchasing a pre-owned aircraft, I actually prefer a runout engine. Unless you know the history and care of the existing engine, you are purchasing a large unknown which translates to liability. Borescopes, oil analysis and records only go so far. I want to know how this engine was cared for; the use of pre-heat, cold starts, warmups, proper engine operating parameters inflight (power/temperatures), and proper shutdown procedures. Unless purchasing from a friend, these are questions that will most likely remain unanswered and certainly unproven. I could give a hoot about the flight instrumentation (G whiz bang 1000's and the like) as they have little to do with the airworthiness of the basic aircraft (airframe and powerplant), however, I do care greatly about the type of engine instrumentation IF I decide to inherit the existing engine with the sale. The type (accuracy) of engine instrumentation tells me if the owner is serious about proper engine care and feeding. IMO, going into the deal knowing you are replacing the existing engine removes much stress in both the purchase and future flying as you will now know the history of your overhauled/new engine and care for it appropriately. That is big "piece of mind" in my book.
Just my thoughts ref your aircraft search, I hope it's helpful.

TR

asa wrote:What are your excuses for not buying this?

https://www.barnstormers.com/classified ... atid=17394
https://barnstormers.s3.amazonaws.com/m ... 651347.pdf