About a month after seeing the Kokomo plane, I decided to continue the search with the help of a broker. Being a first time buyer, first time planer owner, and first time everything to aviation the idea of having someone help me make the right decisions was appealing, even if I had to pay for it. The cost of a mistake would greatly outweigh that of a broker, so just before my 29th birthday I signed an agreement with a broker to help search for and purchase a Cessna 182 Skylane, preferably a 'Q' model, after 1979, in amazing condition, for close to free (clearly something was going to have to give).
In the mean time, I decided to do some reading, including the Illustrated Buyer's Guide to Used Airplanes, Airplane Ownership, and John Frank's Cessna 182 Skyhawk Buyers Guide (a must read for anyone considering a pre-restart Skylane). I also decided to go ahead and apply for a aircraft loan (figured I better have a plan on how to pay for this adventure). After doing some Googling around, I figured I would stick with AOPA and use them to find a bank. The process was amazingly painless; both AOPA and Pilot Bank were amazing to work with and made the process a breeze. So now with my broker, book knowledge, and loan pre-approved, the search continues.
Over the next few months, I looked at many many other 182s that the broker had found. Most of the ones I was interested in seemed to be going rather quickly, causing more disappointment.
I have come to believe there are four kinds of aircraft listed online for sale...
In the mean time, I decided to do some reading, including the Illustrated Buyer's Guide to Used Airplanes, Airplane Ownership, and John Frank's Cessna 182 Skyhawk Buyers Guide (a must read for anyone considering a pre-restart Skylane). I also decided to go ahead and apply for a aircraft loan (figured I better have a plan on how to pay for this adventure). After doing some Googling around, I figured I would stick with AOPA and use them to find a bank. The process was amazingly painless; both AOPA and Pilot Bank were amazing to work with and made the process a breeze. So now with my broker, book knowledge, and loan pre-approved, the search continues.
Over the next few months, I looked at many many other 182s that the broker had found. Most of the ones I was interested in seemed to be going rather quickly, causing more disappointment.
I have come to believe there are four kinds of aircraft listed online for sale...
- My wife/husband/spouse is making me sell it... so you really can't have it, it's just listed online for their benefit.
- Someone got to it before you and it's already sold (but if the sale doesn't go thru it's totally yours).
- Is this even airworthy? Why is <that> <there> <that way>?
- You don't need those missing log books! Nothing really happened during that time.
Finding the magical fifth that doesn't fit into one of those four is a challenge to say the least.
