Buy used Airplane

That would satisfy the demands of a plane that would take us from Oshkosh to Washington, D.C. (where our families live) in a timely manner. So we started to enumerate all possible brands and types of aircrafts and finally reduced the enumeration to about 200 options - the overwhelming majority of which were homebuilt.

In general, home builds are more cost-effective to service and run than type-certified aeroplanes as they have the prerogatives (and responsibilities) of authorised ownership servicing and it is possible to use "unauthorised" parts andfuels. Although fascinating, the idea of constructing our own house was not rationally; we just don't have it.

Our only alternative would be to buy a second-hand house if our ultimate selection were a self-built house. Buying a second-hand do-it-yourself is becoming more and more common. Featuring over 20,000 FAA Registered Pilot Planes, the scope for finding a make and scale models that fit the kind of flight you're about to fly is wider than ever.

But while the ads in the magazines that tempt you to buy a construction set airplane instead of a serial airplane look pretty much the same - encouraging speeds, economics, and the opportunity to become more loved by your buddies - there are big discrepancies between commercial airplanes (type-approved) and their homemade siblings. As anyone considering buying a self-built home should, we thought long and hard deeply about these inequalities.

A " store-bought plan " is a government-approved layout, constructed in a government-approved plant and initialed by a federal official who certifies that it is the same as the initial, heavily test-driven serial model. Whilst a homemade product may indeed go beyond the scope of a particular type of governance, it does not have to comply with any standards.

A further big distinction, which can have both advantages and disadvantages, is the operational range of the airplane. Man is very adaptive, and planes are able to "make up the difference" between how an airplane performs in a flight, but it is important to know that the flying qualities can be very different between a home-made airplane and a serial one.

There was a great deal of read and network with the owner of the homemade model we were considering. "If you are considering purchasing (or building) a used home and are not a member of a chapters, it is rewarding to consider how you can take full benefit of this extensive expertise in your area.

While we further restricted our inventory of would-be airplanes, our choices weighed heavy on home builds. Started to contact the airplane types club for our "favorite models" and looked at their newsletter and web sites to get information specifically about these airplanes. Ultimately, the result in deciding to buy a homemade one, whether new or used, is the certainty of knowing which make and what kind of aeroplane is right for the kind of flight you are doing and the kind of pilots and owners you are.

Finally we chose the RV-6A as our preferred one. Put plainly, it fulfilled all our requirements, as well as Noel's ability to upgrade her flight with a nosewheeler aircraft after 13 years of decay. The purchase of a used vehicle is like the purchase of a used vehicle even with a basic aircraft like this.

All these decisions were compromise decisions when it came to buying, instead of constructing them yourself. Apart from the cosmetics and operations questions, one of the most important factors for us - as it should be for anyone considering buying a used airplane - was our trust in the design of the airplane.

Admittedly, there is a degree of confidence in being aware that Clyde Cessna or Eddie Stinson staff had to comply with an FAA-approved type-certificate on every aircraft that came off the assembly line. When you' re building a house yourself, you will probably come across this unanswered answer at some barbeque in the neighborhood: "You purchased a plane from someone you don't know who was building it in his own parking lot?

While most technical consultants are associated with the chapters, there are also many "big" technical consultants. Although it is customary to consider technical consultants as people who only help clients, we have found a new, important value for these seasoned Volunteers. Luckily, we were able to speak many a time with the Technical Advisor who supervised the building of the particular aircraft we finally bought.

Indeed, it was an important sales argument for us when this designer, who had finished the plane in August 1997 and had been flying for more than 70 manoeuvres, gave us the name of his technical adviser to talk about the particularities of the plane. While not everyone considering a sale will have the comfort of a technical advisor for their available airplane, talking to a technical advisor can help a prospective buyer identify what they are looking for and what issues they should ask about one of the planes under consideration.

Discussions with RV-6A design engineer Dick VanGrunsven in our case have increased the value of a technical consultant to supervise the works, especially for an initial constructor, as was the case with our plane. Actually, we may have spoken more with the technical consultant than with the client himself! It was a great help to have the Technical Consultant on site as a consultant, but when purchasing an airplane that is 1,300 leagues from home, the circumspect buyer should always have a third person who is not interested carry out a "prior check".

" Whilst many repairers and fitters do not feel at ease with the inspection of a self-built airplane, it is important to find one that will check the design and previous service practice for the airplane. My mindset after 31 years of flight time and almost 3,000 hour in different airplanes could have been: "Of course I can pilot this airplane.

However, a survey of the success rate of low experienced pilot in any make and every airplane indicates that you have improved the likelihood of being at the site of the crash or event first without adequate transition education. The precaution states that anyone switching from one glider to another should gather valuable knowledge through the supervision of other knowledgeable people.

Regardless of whether you change from a type-tested airplane to an ultra-light airplane, from a nose wheel airplane to a tail wheel airplane or from a conservative, type-tested airplane to a more powerful self-built airplane, it is important to reconcile the pilot's expertise and ability with the airplane. There is nothing better than having enough uninterrupted access to the make and models of the airplane you want to buy.

So I chose a flying teacher with plenty of free flying in style and took him to the checkout which went beyond the assurance demands and our personal expectation. Such persons may or may not be flying teachers, but they have previous flying experiences. By using the framework of the Air Advisor programme, they help a pilots to assess their skills against the flying qualities of a particular plane.

Also, flights advisors can be very useful for a buyer of a previously self-built or ultra-light one. In contrast to the RV-6A, many homemade models do not provide the ability of other planes to install before you fly your own due to their small number. Aeronautical consultants, however, have a similar set of type-tested aeroplanes that have many of the same features as certain self-built aeroplanes, and they can give you advice on the kinds of experiences you should gather to make sure you make the right one.

My salesman suggested a CFI he had flew with, which gave me an aircraft-specific cash register and in our case a refreshment in the mountains for my journey home. When I bought a favourite and had the chance to pilot it, I had the best of all worlds in preparation for buying the RV-6A.

At the end of our decisions is only the beginning of our flight passport, which Noel wrote in the companion piece. Among the less known assets of these programmes is the one offered to prospective buyers of second-hand buildings. Possibly, if anyone who buys home ownership asked for the builder's involvement in these programmes, more constructors would take advantage of these important security options.

In this way, everyone would gain from the transaction - the initial owner, the later buyer, and the image of the homemade fellowship with the general publics and governments. Let's go to fly!