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What is the most affordable plane to buy for time building? And doing an EASA CPL/IR the DIY route, and AOC matters.

Laurent_N wrote:

Uncertified is great but EASA doesn’t recognise the time.

EASA certainly do for my time Where did you hear that story?

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Research what airworthiness directives, and major service inspections are applicable to any type you consider, that’s an indication of the troubles found in that type over the decades. Don’t buy any more airplane than you need for what you’re going to mostly do with it, you can always rent bigger for the occasional “fill the seats” flights. I owned a C150 for 35 years, and it was the least cost flying imaginable, with hardly any AD’s and no major structural inspections/rectifications, compared to most other types. An airplane for building experience does not need to be a gem, just airworthy – don’t pay for new paint, new interior or flashy panel, just enough to be safe and reliable to fly!

Home runway, in central Ontario, Canada, Canada

What do you need to build time towards?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@johnh I think I am just telling myself this story :) As a marketer I know that we take decisions emotionally then look for the rational reasons for the decision that we have already taken. In this case, I just want the flexibility – to be able to fly it whenever I want.

@Ibra @LeSving I sent an email to the Romanian CAA asking if I can built time in an uncertified and this is the answer I got: “In the absence of evidence regarding the EASA accreditation of the planes you refer to in the email, we can inform you that AACR cannot recognize the hours you refer to as accumulation hours.”

@Pilot_DAR is there any place I can find this info or just ask the owners?

@Peter I would like to get my CPL, but honestly I just want to have flexibility – to be able to have the plane available for longer trips where I can stop and spend a few hours, maybe some cross border flights.

Thank you everyone for your answers!

LRPW, LRBS, Romania

I think the Romanian CAA is wrong, and they need to be challenged on that.

If you want to build experience, then some of the forgotten classics are quite a good way – you can still get a Cessna 140 for not too much money and they are simple to maintain and cost comparatively little to run. The low marginal cost of flying for another hour encourages you to fly for another hour.

Anything with 4 usable seats and anything IFR ready will be more expensive than what you’re paying for the Tecnam.

Last Edited by alioth at 22 Mar 09:27
Andreas IOM

@alioth thank you! Will visit them and ask for something officially.

Tecnam is not 4 seats and not IFR. But I would get anything that would fly, as long as I have the freedom to do it on my schedule and to be able to fly wherever you want… you just don’t get it when renting from a big organisation.

But will stick with renting until I find something that I can afford.

LRPW, LRBS, Romania

I am not an owner for long, but in my opinion.
Owning a plane is great, but it is much more expensive than you’d initially think. It is definitely cheaper, hassle-free and more flexible to go and rent something if you are below 100 hours a year. I’d even think it twice buying if you are flying around 150h/year. If you are looking for an IFR -capable plane, have that 20-25k EUR per year available to spend without any problem. (do it so that you still have an other 25k to save and invest) And you can easily spend 18kEUR a year with just flying 50 hours.
However if you make a lets say 3 years plan to gain x hours, you can have this option. For example buy a cheap, commonly known 2-seater, spend 0 on upgrades, fly as much as you can and resell. No emotional attachments please :)
Or team up with someone and do the same but utilizing the plane more. Or if you have the initial investment, buy a modern 2-seater to operate it even more economically.

You have to rationally define your goal, prioritise and go for it.

LHFM, LHTL, Hungary

Thank you @robirdus !

LRPW, LRBS, Romania

There are many advantages to ownership.

What they are worth to you, obviously depends. But one certainly can’t simply state that ownership makes no sense below 100hrs or whatever.

Also the costs vary over a vast range, with the biggest factor being how badly neglected the plane was under previous owner(s). The biggest cost item (apart from fuel) is airframe parts, and long term neglect translates directly into airframe parts. So you can have one TB20, mine, which costs maybe 5k/year for all work, say 4k for scheduled and 1k for unscheduled, and another TB20 which costs 20k. Then you have a factor of 2x according to whether the mx is done by a company or a freelance mechanic; in Europe most people can’t use a freelancer for airfield-political and other reasons so use a company, and pay 2×. Lots of previous threads.

There is really no free lunch. A simple little plane should cost less, a homebuilt on which do you your own mx (and attach zero value to your time) will save even more. Buy old = pay more for ever. Skip the prebuy = pay more for ever.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Laurent_N wrote:

is there any place I can find this info or just ask the owners?

For American state of design airplanes, AD’s can be searched at: drs.faa.gov

Other nations have resources in searching ADs as well. Similarly, become aware of manufacturer’s Service Bulletins for airframe inspections (“SIDs”, for Cessnas) which give you an idea of what a maintainer will [should] be looking for during inspections. As legacy airplanes age, more defects are being found due to their age and use. This is not to say that any given type is good or bad, but rather [prospective] owners should understand what will be needed to keep the plane airworthy. And…. will parts be available, should they need to be replaced? Just get to know the type which interests you, to minimize surprises later.

Home runway, in central Ontario, Canada, Canada
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