Let's Try This Again...

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...

1. My wife/husband/spouse is making me sell it... so you really can't have it, it's just listed online for their benefit.
2. Someone got to it before you and it's already sold (but if the sale doesn't go thru it's totally yours). 
3. Is this even airworthy? Why is <that> <there> <that way>?
4. 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. 

The Search Begins

I started searching for a Skylane of my own at the beginning of July, shortly after passing my private pilot checkride. During my training, I had started looking at Cessna 172's -- since I learned on a 172S and had flown a 172N on several occasions out in Las Vegas -- I felt comfortable with them. Being my first plane, I didn't want to stray too far away from what I knew. After talking with one of my flight instructors and a couple local pilots I was convinced the 182 was the way to go and my journey to find N40BB began.

The first 182 I went to see was close to home, being sold out of KOKK, Kokomo, IN, it was about a 45 minute trip from the office. The trip was a disappointment to say the least; while I saw plenty of pictures of the plane online and read thru it's logbooks, nothing prepared me for seeing the old girl in her beat up state. None of the pictures showed the true extent of the wear of the plane and left me wavering in my determination to continue the search.