Timing an Aircraft Purchase

Yes, holding costs of an aeroplane are huge. A quick sale is worth a lot. There is not a lot of demand even for IFR tourers. If you have cash, you are in control.

I reckon what I'm looking for will be possible but not until the other side of the 8.33/Mode-S window.

But once that is out of the way there will probably be an ADS-B/GPS Approach window or some other thing that needs doing. That seems to be the way in aviation.

DMEarc,

You can probably find a currently IFR certified airplane for £50k, maybe even with the HSI you want and an old GNS430 first generation which would satisfy the 8.33 requirement. Mode S is a relatively harmless upgrade particularly if the airplane has a KT76A installed, as there are several very cost saving options such as the Trigg TT31 which, btw, is ADS-B capable.

The question is, what airframe is that going to be and what can of worms comes along with the upcoming EASA wet dreams and rules they think up to decimate the number of IFR certified small airplanes? Airplanes in that price range usually have issues to deal with such as on condition engines or outdated avionics. Probably the best of those bargain buys are such in which airframe and engine are beyond any reasonable doubt but house an avionics museum which will need upgrading. This will blow your £50k limit skyhigh however.

I have been investigating to upgrade my Mooney to IFR specs and currently am not missing much... just need an HSI and 2 axis AP installed currently. That alone however is an investment which excels your £50K if you want to do it right, so does any mod you do right now beyond a simple transponder swap. However, that will not stay like that. In order to be IFR safely for the next several years, you will need dual 8.33, 2 axis AP, DME, HSI e.t.c, in short an avionics fit which will set you back approximately £80-100k including installation alone. I had a look with so far 3 avionic shops looking at the new requirements and had to decide that it is not economically feasible to do this without a total panel refit and upgrade to either a G500 or Aspen/Avidyne/Dual GNS e.t.c. upgrade worth more than the whole airframe.

The fact that an airplane today is IFR does not mean it will stay that way. LOTS of currently IFR certified bargains ARE bargains because the owners have just received the quotes from the avionic shop of what is required to satisfy EASA rules in the next several years to remain IFR. Of the older airplanes, practically ALL will need upgrades in excess of your whole budget.

The very few airplanes which are factually EASA proof for the next few years will set you back considerably more than £50k, as they will basically be fully equipped with dual GNS type .833 radios as well as DME, ADF and XPDR S. Not even those will usually feature ADS-B yet. What we are talking about are G1000 or Avidyne/Garmin equipped Cirrus or alike planes, starting at €150k up. They might have a chance to remain IFR without investing in excess of their hull value.

There are probably a few FG out there with a Garmin and Mode S, but will definitely not meet Peter's FL150+ requirement. I would query a 30 year old HSI/Slaved compass fit as it is probably past its sell by date with parts availability an issue. There are areas of Europe where light IFR is practical with airways at around FL70~FL100, and an Archer, for example, would be able to cope. How many times do you plan to cross the Alps? in IMC?

Once you are crossing mountains in IMC you will develop an appetite for: turbines, pressurisation, radar and serious FIKI - ie not of the twin training piston variety.

This may be more feasible with an N-Reg. probably better range of lower priced aircraft if you prepared to buy one in the US.

Find one that has been hanagared it's entire life if you can. Difficult...I know. I lucked out and found my 1977 Piper Archer II that is a three owner aircraft and hanagred it's entire life. I paid mid £40's and it has a 430, DME, ADF. Mode-S and simple two-axis autopilot. It can be done but there is a lot of junk out there. You might look at some of the brokers/dealers as some tend to deal is slightly more refined aircraft.

Now I just need to move it to the N register so i can use my FAA IR!

-Jason

Now I just need to move it to the N register so i can use my FAA IR!

Problem is that from April 2014, if the "operator" is EU resident, EASA shafts you into needing an EASA IR also, for which the only option currently on the table is the full JAA IR (15hr conversion route available). The proposed CBM IR is very much not likely to arrive before April 2014...

Nobody knows what will actually happen in April 2014. There may be another postponement, e.g. April 2016.

There are areas of Europe where light IFR is practical with airways at around FL70~FL100, and an Archer, for example, would be able to cope. How many times do you plan to cross the Alps? in IMC?

I would not say that the "FL150 requirement" is anything to do with flying in IMC. It is driven by

• Eurocontrol routings being generally poor below FL100 (exceptions: France, and to a lesser extent Germany)

• Problems with IFR ATC service (IFR clearance) continuity when transitioning between UK and other airspace, below ~FL100-120

• Tops of "mid-level" cloud often tending to lie ~ FL100-140

• Temps in cloud usually below 0C even in the summer, so prime icing conditions

• Desirability to be in VMC (on top) for safety (visibility of convective wx) and comfort, especially "non-aviation" passengers

The last thing you want to be doing is flying at ~ FL150 in solid IMC for long periods, unless you have deice and radar.

A PA28-181 can do ~FL140 which is actually pretty good, but a lot of the time it won't be enough.

The downside of this type of flying is that you need oxygen.

There is a sizeable "PPL/IR" community who disagree with the above, avoid using oxygen, but I would not like to be in their shoes on my typical long trip, and I suspect their despatch rate is awfully low and many are probably in the 50hrs/year category.

So you pick your price level and your mission capability

probably better range of lower priced aircraft if you prepared to buy one in the US

A serious Q: how do you organise a prebuy in the USA? The obvious answer is that you fly out there with an engineer/pilot competent on the exact type and who knows all the installed avionics. The cost of that is not insignificant, for a 50k purchase budget - especially as the majority of planes which a savvy buyer looks at carefully turn out to be dogs, offered for sale by people who either don't care about wasting your time or they are such inept owners they don't even know half the stuff doesn't work. I've seen a few myself. Doing that doesn't cost much in the UK but you don't want to be jetting all over the USA looking at one dog after another. Probably worth doing for a 2002 TB20GT, as a baseline, say €150k, and obviously more so for say a Jetprop and above.

Trigg TT31 which, btw, is ADS-B capable

The TT31 seems to conform to ETSO-C166a (version 1 ADS-B). NPA2012-19 (which should come into force end of year AFAIK) requires ETSO-C166b (version 2).

So you probably have to wait until Trig gets a firmware upgrade ready and approved...

ADS-B to me resembles more and more the avionics version of Patch Tuesday

This may be more feasible with an N-Reg. probably better range of lower priced aircraft if you prepared to buy one in the US

I'd say (at the sub 100,000 part of the market), the costs of an N reg are actually more attractive in Europe than in the US, partly due to the lack of clarity about the 'operator' requirements. And partly due to the state of the economy. I think its a buyers market right now. My group estimate that the valuation of our PA28-181 (which is IFR equipped, though not with a HSI), has decreased by about 40% since the economic downturn and the uncertainties about owning an N reg outside of the US.