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How do you find planes to sit in them ?

I think @lukepower might be interested.
I find that the more rare a bird is, the more value they give for the money. I think of

  • early pipers (Tripacers, Comanches)
  • early Mooneys
  • Cessna Cardinals
  • Beech Sundowners & Debonairs
    etc…
    To the opposite, DR400s are over-priced here because you will always find several clubs looking for one (and it’s not the buyer’s money)

The problem is, how do you find such birds just to

  • sit in them, check if you fit, really feel the cabin volume.
  • talk to an real owner who is not the seller
  • even better, make a quick flight
    Preferably several ones at the same place, and not too far from home given it is just to take a look.

I think of fly-ins but, in France, complete strangers (even pilots) don’t usually welcome you with open arms (another thing we should learn from the US).

LFOU, France

Jujupilote wrote:

I think @lukepower might be interested.

For the records, until now I tried both an Aquila 211 (my training aircraft) and a DA40 with diesel engine. While I like the specs of the DA40, I find the seats to be very uncomfortable on anything longer than 30 minutes. I also sat in C150, C172 and C206, which definitively were more comfortable (although felt like sitting in a scrapyard, but that’s another story)

LOWI,LIPB, Italy

Jujupilote wrote:

The problem is, how do you find such birds just to sit in them, check if you fit, really feel the cabin volume. talk to an real owner who is not the seller even better, make a quick flight Preferably several ones at the same place, and not too far from home given it is just to take a look.

I think of fly-ins but, in France, complete strangers (even pilots) don’t usually welcome you with open arms (another thing we should learn from the US).

Well, I’ve done some of this prior to my buying my airplane and also some afterwards. I never really got a negative response once I approached and explained why and for what purpose I was interested in their planes. Actually, most people are quite proud of their planes and are more than happy to show it to interested parties.

I’d say, look out for them on your local airfield or while visiting others and simply approach, introduce yourself and ask if it’s convenient to talk about the plane as you are interested in buying a plane. Most of the time people will be more than happy to accomodate you, unless they are in a hurry or otherwise unable to. In which case give them a friendly wave and be on your way :)

Jujupilote wrote:

I find that the more rare a bird is, the more value they give for the money. I think of early pipers (Tripacers, Comanches) early Mooneys Cessna Cardinals Beech Sundowners & Debonairs

Absolutely agree with your list. I’ve noticed some E and F Mooneys for sale in France with quite good value. In particular to those, I can tell you the following:

From a pilots point of sitting, any C, E, G, F model will give you the same experience. Late F models with the 201 cockpit have a slightly different view to the front as the cockpit is a bit higher. In the back, C and E’s are really tight, G, F, J, K all share the same cabin. In general, you will find you have a lot of leg room up front and I also find the headroom superior to some other planes I’ve tried, particularly Robins (HR100) where I had to tilt my head in (I am 6 ft 2 (1.88m)) .

The only more modern Mooney I’ve sat in was an Acclaim Ultra, which I found has a very high glareshield and cockpit, so I personally did not find the view very good on the ground.

Certainly anyone wishing to try to sit in my Mooney is welcome to it, subject to access to the ramp at ZRH. And once I get my SEP back, we can go flying too.

Last Edited by Mooney_Driver at 26 Jun 18:55
LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

How do you find planes to sit in them ?

Ask on EuroGA ?

For instance, if anyone wants to fly here and sit in a D140, there’s one that may be for sale next year.

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

Anyone is welcome to check out my TB20GT

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

My experience is that any owner is more than welcome to talk about their airplane and let you look at it and sit in it. Everybody loves their own aircraft. :)
If you are interested in a particular aircraft, find the ones that are on French register and try and contact the owner. There is probably a published list somewhere if all French aircraft.

ESSZ, Sweden

Just ask here ;-)

By the way, I find my Comanche veery comfy.

Last Edited by UdoR at 26 Jun 22:06
Germany

The Europa has a very lively type-club with local representatives all over the world. These local representatives are well connected to owners within their region. If for example someone from Germany gets in touch with the club to ask what the Europa is all about (which she/he doesn’t find on the website already), either I’ll let him check out mine or even just visit him at his homebase or I’ll put him in touch with a Europa pilot from his area. That works really good since the potential new owner also has the occasion to get all information needed first hand.

EDLE

Out of curiosity; is the “aircraft flown”-field in the user profile searchable? In case someone is looking for an owner of a specific aircraft this could be helpful (although not everyone owns the aircraft flown, at least that could be a good subset to continue the search)?

LSZF Birrfeld, LFSB Basel-Mulhouse, Switzerland

You can do it via google. Go to Posting Tips, got to the bottom of the page to Search, and click on the link, and there it shows you how to form google search expressions to search EuroGA. Google is very handy for lots of things e.g. locating websites which run a particular obsolete version of PHP which can be more easily attacked, or locating webcams located in peoples’ houses which are on an open port

Unfortunately too many people have an empty profile…

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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