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What airplane deal are you not snapping up?

You could even convert it to a 170C :)

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

I’m really tempted by this one… It’s Christmas soon…
Well equipped with mode S and 8.33… FAA reg.
What would be the cost of annual and FAA I/A annual fee ? the other ones I aware of…

Romain

LFPT Pontoise, LFPB

Cowling sure looks like a 175, but maybe the older 172’s had that bump too.

Romain wrote:

What would be the cost of annual and FAA I/A annual fee ?

That is between you and your mechanic… except for the fixed cost of parts like oil & filter etc.

The Hartzell HC-C2YK-1BF prop may have the repetitive AD depending on whether it has the improved B suffix serial number hub (or something like that, I’m no expert…)

Last Edited by Silvaire at 17 Dec 22:51

boscomantico wrote:

In fact, the average GA pilot or club or school in Europe does not want these vintage 172s.

There are definitely many Europeans in that camp. My partner Matthew was laughing when I was telling him about that 1959 172. He was pleased when I told him about the 1979 PA32 I found for us.

In America all the cool kids have 170’s, Pacers, Stinsons, Cubs, Cruisers, Maules etc. They are even rebuilding them with new sheet metal like Kyle Fosso is doing with https://bushliner.com/ …. This is why the Carbon Cub and all the restart Cub variants are the fastest-growing segments in the market. The people in this segment are really hooked on aviation. They are into it in a very technical way also. The depth of knowledge on backcountrypilot.org and supercub.org is immense. I tend to roll around with this crowd, simply because the best places I have landed at were farmers fields, lakes, hotels, friends houses and not airports.

I also understand how that sentence does not compute with folks lets say in Holland who just can’t do as they please, even in a helicopter.

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

I’ve slowly educated my German middle class wife to such ‘bizarre’ concepts as quality used furniture being sometimes worth more than newly manufactured junk Along the same same lines, @WilliamF believe it or not there’s a young guy near me in the US who makes his living buying and selling selling parts and planes. He’s probably minus US papers (just my guess, I couldn’t care less) but can make a living buying up wrecks from his homeland, containing parts that can’t easily be sold individually in Europe, packing them into containers and shipping them across the world to be parted out here. Recently a local friend with a Stinson Voyager project bought a rudder, door etc from him that for some reason weren’t immediately available in the US. I have no idea what a wrecked or derelict Stinson 108 was doing in Germany in the first place but regardless it’s not there any more, and some of its parts will contribute to at least one beautiful new project

The other day as I drove past his operation there was a D-registered Cessna Cardinal fuselage sitting outside, waiting for a buyer in part or whole. It’s amazing to me, but good parts are where you find them and I admire his hard work and initiative, he seemingly never stops moving.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 18 Dec 04:29

https://www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=48153 planecheck_N_REG_48153_pdf

The Stinson 108 is a mystery in the market. Arguably better STOL, useful load and flying qualities than a Cessna 170, or 180 in it’s 0-470 variant, but they are very good value. What is the catch?

Airframe Univair supported, and if the smooth Franklin powerplant is an issue, it can take a Lycoming.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

$30K buys a very nice condition flying Stinson 108 in the US, cheap ones are under $20K. I think the biggest catch with a Stinson 108 is acres of fabric – which given the expense of replacement is sometimes found in marginal condition. The Franklin engine is actually nice to fly but has poor parts availability and relatively poor fuel distribution (leading to high fuel burn for 150 or 165 HP). Other issues are a smallish rear cabin in a big plane that isn’t terribly fast. Also I’m told they have some slight tendency to wander left and right in cruise, best addressed with rudder, plus dihedral. The 108-3 variant used a big vertical tail to address the issue but the main effect was to make taxiing in a strong wind more challenging.

A Stinson with good fabric and an O-470 or a Lycoming 4 cylinder is great, and it does seem to me I hear rumblings of Stinsons catching on again. On the plus side they are a well constructed, tough design that can carry a large load and has very nice aileron control. Also good looking, which never hurts.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 18 Dec 12:43

The 180hp 172 there on Planecheck will do almost all of what a Stinson with a 230hp engine will do, for about half the price. Hence it’s such a bargain in my eyes.

I see a Stinson O-470 on Barnstormers for $56k in nice condition. The project ones are hard to predict what way they will finish up in terms of budget. There is an awful lot of paperwork, which is vexatious to the soul, in any restoration project. Folks just see the nuts and bolts side of it which is only about half of the work involved.

My friend is doing up a Stinson 108-3 in his workshop. He has an O-470 and a Franklin sitting there but he wants a TCM IO-360 for it. They do look very smart in the OEM dark red scheme with cream trim lines.

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

The ‘value engineered’ plane for back country operations, the one that probably does most to hold down values of Stinsons etc is the PA20/22, tailwheel converted Tri-Pacer. Four seats, two doors, easily maintained power, carries more faster than some competitors on only 150 HP. It’s also externally small, so easy to store. Hard to land and relatively cheaply constructed don’t seem to be big issues. I’d rather have a Stinson.

I saw that O-470 powered Stinson on Barnstormers and though it looked attractive. It might be a bit overpriced but a ‘Super Stinson’ (the vernacular for one with that larger engine) gets a substantial premium over a stately Stinson with original Franklin. I haven’t seen one with a six cylinder Continental 360 and to me that seems like a bit of a boat anchor – but it would be a more modern direct replacement for the Franklin and makes sense on that level.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 18 Dec 14:22
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