Advice for NEWBIE Plane Buyers (Plane, Insurance, Costs) 

Thank you so much Khan!

That's what I was thinking also but my fear is that the demand for planes 🚀 and people making 200k+ per year which is a LOT of Americans... may see the value in partnering up with a couple people and having many more company planes, many more family planes, etc.. so wondering how that plays out even if 100 low led increases to say $7-$8-$9 a gallon.

@@ThisisJohnWilliamsHighlights also folks looking for write off and lower taxes

@@BrogeKilrain that's me.. taxes, freedom, store of value as this will likely hold better than the dollar.

Awesome Juan!! I'll learn a lot more from now until then and will share it here so you can save yourself some headache and not repeat some of my mistakes.

Wise words

I like that idea.. any idea on how much that would costs going down that road vs what I was suggesting, because if it makes sense maybe I'll do what you suggested and clock a lot of hours quickly and get a nicer place when I get my instrument.

@@ThisisJohnWilliamsHighlights When I finished my commercial I bought a 74 M20C for 45k and then I sold half share of it for 23k in December of 2018. My partner and I flew the crap out of it. (700 hours in a year teaching and building time) We put about 8k in avionics upgrades in it to make it safe for long cross country flights and then sold it in July of 2020 for 45k.- I wish we could have kept it and sold it for more, but covid freaked us out. My insurance for that complex plane with 250 hours was 2500 for the first year and 1000 for the second. The mooney was cool for long cross country flights for 2 people because it was quick and I could get it to 7.5 gph cruise with the engine monitor we installed. We would litterally fly for about 5 hours to the airport we found with the cheapest gas, then fill it up and fly back, and because I am a CFI we could log all of it as dual instruction as long as some instruction occurred during the flight. I think you should look into a partnership or shared plane for a low cost and find a CFII willing to teach in that plane - many instructors own planes or will know of partnerships. If you own the plane you can pay the CFII cash to teach. All of your fixed costs are shared with the other owner(s) and you are only responsible for what it costs to fly the plane hourly (fuel, maintenance, instructor). I would look for a fixed gear (cherokee or cessna) plane with at least 180hp and decent avionics (good radios, g430, g5) and keep costs low. You will most likely have to get your own insurance if you buy into a partnership or shared plane with only a student certificate- but it will be way less than what you are getting quoted for the big planes. Cessnas cost more because every new pilot trains in them and wants to buy it for their first plane, pipers can be cheaper, but watch out for the wing spar AD because that can be expensive. The local facebook groups for your city will be one of the best sources to find stuff partnerships like this. Also in the FBO at the local airport people might post something, or just by talking to people you can find people that are looking for a partner. Flying clubs are also a possibility, but sometimes they are just as much as renting a plane from a school. Use your (shared) plane to finish your PPL and then build the cross country time in that plane that you will need to satisfy the IFR checkride pre-reqs. Next prepare for the IFR checkride by training for 20 hours in the FAA approved G1000 simulator (flight schools should have one that is FAA approved) and fly about 10 hours in a rental plane with the nice avionics (G1000, autopilot) and do the IFR checkride in that. Train specifically for the checkride! Every flight should pretty much be a mock checkride. (DP, hold, procedure turn, 3 different approaches) Most instructors (myself included) would really try to milk the cross country time out of students because we needed to timebuild for ATP certificate. In my opinion this is the most cost effective way to do it. The G1000 avionics/autopilot make the checkride way easier- the avionics and the autopilot will literally do all the hard work for you making the checkride way easier. When you finish this you will have close to 100 hours with a PPL and IFR certificate. Insurance costs should come way down on a bigger plane- only thing they are going to get you on is retractable time because owners are notorious for gear up landings. After all that is done- then go plane shopping for the "forever plane". The market is still insane right now. It might keep going up as people move their money into assets, especially as travel is more and more restricted driving plane prices up, or it might come crashing down, who knows. I personally think its going to level off soon. Hedge yourself by buying into a lower cost training plane- there is a pilot shortage and people will always be training to be pilots for at least the next 10 years. So you should be able to get most of your money back out of a lower cost training plane. Hopefully an insurance broker can comment on here about all the ways to get the lower rates. They know the benchmarks like total time, retract time, time in type, time in model, etc.

It's a great market to be a seller isn't it?

I agree it's a seller's market but when my plane is gone I'll be on the other side of the coin. It's really hard to find a "good deal" meaning decent times decent avionics ndh and priced reasonably. Many people sell their airplanes based on emotion it seems like.

Thanks!! Nothing is certain anymore... look at what happened the last 18 months

Wow! A response from the dude himself. Thank you! Your persona is so good it would be easy to watch you talk about anything! Great job!

Boats are much better for a SHTF scenario. You can hunker down and live out them, off the grid. That's the direction I'm personally taking over a investing in a plane. Under a real lockdown scenario, you won't even be able to access a your aircraft unless you keep in a private hangar with a private field. The airspace is too heavily monitored and controlled.

@@GabrielGomez-ur2rc thats what I’m thinking I’m trying to find one that’s low maintenance and can be solar engine and sail and a good size not to big any suggestion ?

@@1stchoiceot You can find some bargains on Facebook Marketplace for sailboats. Recently, a lot of people are trying to unload them because they can't afford the slip or above water storage. The only solar powered engines I'm aware of right now are on high end yachts. I'm looking for one I can tow, so I'm trying to keep it around 26 feet. A bargain sailboat like that will allow you to live in the Keys for $500 a month and can be bought for as low as $1500. I've seen floating sailboats on FB for as low s $500.

@@GabrielGomez-ur2rc much Appreciate it bro, I’m also looking for land I can plant out myself but with access to a sea near or very close by any recommendation on that ? And also for a family of 4 -5 what size boat would be good . Thanks again

@@1stchoiceot Honestly, close to the water, you can't beat the around Central Florida around Gainseville and even North of Tampa. Although I wouldn't discount some parts of South Texas near the Gulf that are remote. Cheaper land can be found in Tennessee and Georgia. Family of four, you're definitely going to need something larger than 30 feet for sure -but those can be found for fair prices as well.

Hahaha I am not doing it for hire.. Hopefully - just for friends, family and maybe some investors