Buying an Airplane?

You might be able to get a good price on this one if you start making calls now.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50857804/plane-crash-on-pineview-reservoir-leaves-2-stranded-on-ice

 

looks like fun!

 

Time to hit up Vans? Maybe a Sling?

 

Speechless...

 

If he was referring to his charts on his IPAD being dead, that would suck. If he was actually going to follow his IPAD for steering guidance well shit he deserves to talk to an inspector for a major ass chewing...

 

Im sure he has been using the moving map on the ipad.Some app like foreflight. I always said out of all the ratings you can get in aviation the instrument rating will get you hurt or killed faster than any other rating if
you don't respect it.

 

Yeah that wouldnt surprise me. My ears arent tuned in very well to the nuances of Carolina speak

 

Does anyone here have any warbird experience? I have been looking at T6, T28, DH Chipmunk, and Extra 200/300. There's a BT-17 for sale that looks interesting, too.

Problem #1 finding a hangar a reasonable drive distance.

Problem #2 the only place that offers T6 instruction and familiarization wants (drum roll) $1,900 per hour!

I need to go fly a T6, just to see what the deal is. I will probably be hooked but who knows, I may end up being unimpressed. Right now I'm thinking my best option is to go to SunNFun and buy a ride in the CAF T6 that will be there.

I like the Chipmunk alot, but it's pretty slow at 100 kt and if I want to do some light cross country (fly 500 miles to Roebling for example) it's gonna take forever. Plus I think the fuel tank is tiny.

Extra seems logical as I would not need much of a checkout (already have time in that airplane) it's modern, low maintenance, 200 mph cruise, etc. But it's way overkill for what I want to do. Fly once every few weeks and do a few loops and rolls.

I have already ruled out the Citabria / Decathalon because they're too slow.

Don't know much about the Vans RV4 but that airplane looks cool, too.

PS I haven't even checked with insurance companies yet. I'm hoping my high flight time will help my rate remain reasonable.....

 

My buddy stopped in while taking this P40 to the Breitling photo shoot. He has a T-6 in Dallas, so I could ask him or see about connecting ya'll on what owning one looks like. I've ridden in a T-6 with an older Thunderbird guy and we did loops and rolls and stuff and it was cool but we were delayed because a leather gasket was acting up. I'd assume MX is expensive and more frequent on a warbird but we got it going and it sounded awesome.

One of the partners in the Mooney that started this thread, has an extra and that's all he flies. He loves that thing, he had maybe 1 hour in the Mooney before we sold it because he was always flying in the extra. He does aerobatics mostly, but would take the extra on a CC before the moondog.

I'm sure someone here has much more experience but I saw an excuse to post a picture of a p40 so I took it

 

Disclaimer, I'm not a pilot but I received a T-6 ride along gift from my parents about 15yrs ago. Anyway, since it was a ride along, I wasn't expecting much of anything except to cruise around for an hour.

Quick safety meeting which basically consists of, "hey, if I yell out abandon ship, open the canopy, jump out, and remember to pull your parachute ring".. OK, no problem.

Take off was awesome, taxiing was weird, lots of zig zagging so you could see out the front and not hit anything. The pilot was basically talking about every step over the intercom which gave a lot of insight into the why for everything. We were cruising at really low RPM's, I remember maybe 1400-1500.. He said in a dog fight you can run them up to 2400 or so, but the engine was made in early 1950's and he wanted to take it easy on her!

Once we were up to about 10,000ft, the pilot asked if I wanted to fly the plane for a bit, said fly around that cloud (which was freaking cool). I banked the plane over ever so slightly and gave it some rudder around the cloud and the pilot could feel the inputs, and asked if I was a pilot. "Nope, the only flying I've done is tons of RC stuff"

That led to, "awesome, want to try a loop?" Of course I said yep. The instructions were to put it into a 45deg dive, pick up speed to 180kts (?) and pull up. I needed help at the top, the amount of elevator input at speed is SOOO much less at speed than it is at the top of the loop it was crazy (full back stick at the top). Totally made sense and you can feel it in the controls. So from then on it was game on.

I did maybe 5 loops, 4 barrel rolls, and 2 Four Leaf Clovers (?) which is 4 loops in a row with a 1/4 roll when the plane is vertical in the loop. Pulled 4 G's at the bottom of all the dives of the aerobatics and had the most incredible time in an airplane ever. Would totally do it again if given the opportunity.

 

You can. Trust me, this blows a T6 ride out of the water https://aircombat.com/

 

I know I’ve said it on the forum before, but I was CONVINCED I would own a T28 at some point. Now that I can afford it, I don’t want it. I did, however, do a bunch of research. I landed on the T28 because of the tricycle gear and it’s more rugged. Plus the sound of that huge radial is intoxicating! I talked to Mark Clark at Courtesy Aircraft a few times. I think we actually sold him a few airplanes over the years. He seems like a stand up guy who corners low. Plus they can help with support. He offered me a few rides that I never took him up on. You might be wise to talk to give them a call.

Lots of my former customers own warbirds and I’ve spent time around them. Be prepared for the cost of ownership. It’s shocking. That T6 rental isn’t $1900/hr accidentally. Also be ready for a different style of maintenance. Lots of down time and having to find workarounds for problems. You are trying to keep an airplane flying that was intended to last a few years and is now closing in on 100 years old. The guys who I know that enjoy it are enthusiasts who just like being involved in the warbird community. If the cost and difficulty bother you then you will likely hate it. It’s a big undertaking.

Another friend of mine owned a Chipmunk. He flew it from Boca to Oshkosh and refueled 7 times. He moved to a Cap10. Then he bought an Extra NG. I know he loves the Extra but it’s pretty hardcore. He does some beginner / intermediate aerobatic competitions.

You said you ruled it out, but I have another friend who bought a new Super Decathlon a few years ago. He seems the happiest of the bunch. It’s easy to own and care for. Does aerobatics well, but isn’t as hard edged as the Extra. It’s also relatively cheap.

The same friend that owns the Extra also has a SOCATA Epsilon. It’s a bit outside the box, but it might be interesting to you. It would be relatively easy to own, good for cross county and has some warbird / aerobatic appeal.

 

Curious, I know you're around Louisville quite a bit...did you know the gentleman that owned the Corsair that was kept at Clark County Airport?

 

Kind of.

One of my first flying jobs (decades ago) was working for Haps at Clark County. At that time there was a warbird restoration shop on the field. I don’t think anybody there owned anything, but there were lots of Mustangs, F4U’s and others.

My craziest warbird story is I became friends with Pat Epps. He owned Epps Aviation in Atlanta, but was also in the group of guys who retrieved “Glacier Girl”. The P38 that was retrieved from the ice. Of course I knew lots of other GA big shots too, but one of them is Randy Groom. He was president of Beechcraft at one point and was, kinda, acting president of Piper when I met him. We were all part of the Pinnacle Group which is a GA buying group. We had a meeting one year in DC and got a special tour of the Udvar Hazy hangers and restoration area. Our guide took us to see a P38 and talked about it and said it was his favorite airplane. Pat never said a word. When we were walking to another exhibit I asked the guide if he knew of Glacier Girl. Of course he did and he told me the story. I pointed to Pat and said that’s Pat Epps. He about died. Then I pointed to Randy and said he was the president of Beech and then Piper. It was fun to watch his brain melt.

 

What about a Yak/Nanchang? Supposed to be decent and maybe a bit cheaper...ha ha ha...yeah I said it out load.

Or go in style...go biplane.

 

They are selling one of those Marchettis right now on Trade A Plane.

 

I remember that shop when I hung out there a little bit in the late 80's, early 90's, and that's the Corsair I was talking about. Pretty sure they finally got it airborne because I saw it fly around the city a couple of times. And I love the story about Glacier Girl, I remember reading about the restoration years ago. My daughter currently works at Haps/Clark County with Private Flight Aviation. There's still some cool old planes over there.

 

I was just in the right seat at the time but what a blast it was "flying" that plane. It was a lifetime experience.

 

This place is less than half that....also they an extra 330lx and you can solo it...actually I think they have 2.

https://flygambit.com/fleet/

How often you bid to MDW???