Chris,
Congrats, sounds like a fantastic way to start your retirement. Your plane is very nice. I’d sell mine in the same situation.
You didn’t start this thread expecting people to consign you to the cemetery in short order, did you ?
EuroFlyer wrote:
Ever thought about travelling with both – the plane and the boat ?
It was a Virgin pension, not HRH Harry…….
JasonC wrote:
Chris, buying planes is easy. Sell it.
There are differing views on this:
a) There are those that think of aircraft as commodity items you can buy and sell (I have a couple of friends who see it that way. One of them has owned over ten different light aircraft in the past 20 years, from a 182 through a Bonanza and a King Air to a Citation, and not always switching in the same direction.
Even if money were no object, I could not do it. For this kind of people it is just a matter of being able to afford it.
b) There are those of us that think of an aircraft as a very special bit of kit . We have seen what’s on the market and how difficult it is to come up with an aircraft that performs as we need, is equipped close to what we need, and is well enough maintained that it can be turned into a useful, trustworthy tool in which to fly with our beloved ones. Finding that aircraft is difficult, and turning the typical aircraft into that one is costly (and I am talking beyond money here) and time consuming
It looks like Chris is more in the b) category. So it comes down to whether there is an expectation to come back into flying after those five years or not. I will assume a yes, as otherwise the OP and this thread are not very meaningful.
There comes a time in life for most of us from when on, things are seen with such perspective that self-fufillment is very much intertwined with seeing to the fufillment of others.
Just by age and experience, my guess is Chris is by now either close or past that time…
Well, from that point of view, @AF ’s option is by far the best. Seeing that not only your pride and joy is taken care of , but that it helps another person or family or group enjoy the privilege of flying a nice touring aircraft around Europe and hearing their fun stories can be as fulfilling, if not more,than flying yourself.
Of course as discussed above the key things are the right person and the right arrangement. As a minimum, the person should pay all running, hangar, insurance and maintenance costs to keep the aircraft in the same or better condition. It’s only for upgrades where the owner might have to get involved in decision making. Such ‘customer’ would avoid most of the financial costs of ownership and depreciation, but may take the burden of expensive maintenance items whose degradation was not caused entirely by himself. Perhaps with the exception of the engine, but that item depends on current TSO and the particulars of the arrangement. Some deposit may be in order to ensure incentivation is maintained throughout the period, and perhaps a small (50EUR?) hourly fee to help financially self-justify not selling the asset. Higher-fee arrangements would be too demanding as then surely some of the fee would have to be applied towards aircraft keeping and then the owner would have to be regularly involved in the management, which would not be practical.
I cant imagine that, with Chris’ background, there is no trustworthy person that may fit in that role.
Now on planecheck for 225k€, which I think is a a good price for this capable, snag-free airplane, despite it being 40 years old.
Impressive am guessing with turbo normaliser and tip tanks capable of 190 KTAS and 1,000 NM IFR.
The Bonanza has the ability with it’s tough gear to land on some semi improved landing strips.
I recall a pirep on the V35TC back in 1966 which claimed 225 KTAS at FL240, although in those days people used mph and feet. 190 KTAS is probably reasonably conservative.
Oh my! I would dream to fly it. I think price is not so high for such plane, it won’t stay on planecheck for long.
Hi Chris sorry to see you go. But adventure beacons. After a carefree lifestyle you might not want to come back to the anally over regulated and disturbed world of European General Aviation. But then again you might want to take up residence in the US where you can fly and sail to your hearts content.
At least Chris did have an amazing trip in 2018, all the way to Kastelorizo. Both of us made it there.
JasonC wrote:
Chris, buying planes is easy. Sell it.
Agreed. Sell it.
