So, I am slowly succumbing to the urge of owning my own aerial conveyance. One of the drivers behind this is the decreasing availability of rental aircraft. With the economy picking up steam (this is the US), more and more people want to learn to fly, take joyrides, what have you not, and the availability of the a/c I fly has gone way down. Time to take the plunge….
Now, I do not want to start another owning-vs-renting discussion, but I’d like to get some input from the collective brain here.
If you had the choice of two aircraft as described below, which would you buy and why?
Premise: both are mechanically and structurally sound and have had a proper pre-buy. Both are old machines. Both have reasonable time left on prop and engine.
A) vintage condition as it rolled off the assembly line many years ago. Non-standard instrument layout. Needs a completely new panel. BUT – this is reflected in the price.
B) same vintage, also a bit tatty, but had the panel upgraded over the years, only minor investment(s) needed there. Again, this is reflected in the price, i.e. more expensive.
Finally, the a/c will be put on the flightline of a local school, so just continuing with the vintage panel is not an option.
Discuss!
Avionics upgrades are expensive and are almost never recovered in a subsequent sale, so they don’t make sense unless you want to keep it long-term. The upgrade cost is unlikely to be anywhere near fully reflected in the price.
So B) looks like the one to go for, IMHO.
Is the price of the new panel less than the discount offered in price? If the discount is the same, buy the aircraft already upgraded. Your time is worth more than you think.
Do you have to put it with a flight school? It will get very tatty very quickly.
B, would be my shout. I have looked very closely over the years at a panel upgrade for my 1961 Bonanza, or sell and buy a newer version, with all of the avionic upgrades completed. I have never sold. Reasons, for me
1. A low time airframe, with full logs, and all AD’s completed, is a better bet than a older aircraft, with new panel and all gizmos. This is reflected in price.
2. Avionics, like everything else, are changing rapidly. Some are almost obsolete, before they are released. I play a waiting game, or at least I like to convince myself, that is what I am doing.
3. My aircraft, has a fully functioning, older IFR suite, which I complement with a GARMIN 296, and an I pad 3, running Sky Demon. I have never had any issues flying IFR.
4. You can pick up some great deals on older, low time, non avionics upgrades, airframes. You then should have some spare cash, to upgrade the aeroplane, to your satisfaction.
5. I also, if I could help it, would not put a plane I purchased onto a flight line.
6. You can now pick up a decent 430 for about 4k. That is a good buy, because the 430 will do almost anything you would want, at a third of the cost.
7. Ensure that whatever you do, fits the mission profile. So many planes have had fortunes spent on them, to sit as hanger queens, depreciating wildly.
FWIW, I have always ensured that the total aeroplane is safe, and that I know every thing that has been done, or requires to be done. This before any panel upgrades. Spend wisely would be my motto at this level in the game.
B for sure….a complete new panel lay out will cost you a fortune.
Complete new avionics financially don’t make any sense…when selling the airplane you can be lucky to get back 50% of your investment..
For the US I would look at the ADS-B out mandate and cost related to the upgrade also
Hmmm… interesting, thanks for the input. The idea with the panel upgrade was to buy second-hand avionics, not new. Food for thought.
Re the flightline – it would live with the people I’ve been renting from for years and they run a pretty decent operation. I could afford it outright, but having the a/c make some money (and no, I’m not dreaming of flying for free!) is a proposition I’d like to explore. Also, I travel a lot, so this would keep the machine exercised, so-to-speak.
Spend wisely would be my motto at this level in the game.
Which is why I’m posting here!
Any more thoughts welcome, I’ll keep you posted!
Another one for “B”.
Having just had my panel done, I heartily embrace the idea of buying something which has been updated, even though it might need a good polish or paint refresh. Also I just saw with a friend’s Arrow how easy it is to do up a cabin nicely. If the airframe is sound and the pre-buy good,then a tatty airframe will put me off less than a jurassic panel. If reflected in the price, not even an engine overhaul coming up or prop would scare me, those are known quantities and can make for a very cheap buy of a sound airframe with a decent avionic load.
What I would look for avionic wise is to get a plane with a 2 axis AP (those are viciously expensive to install and darn useful) as well as a halfways up to date radio stack. There are things which are inexpensive and easy (such as swapping a KT76A for a Trigg TT31 to get mode S) and others which are expensive, so whatever the plane has got speaking for it is good to check out.
