I Bought An Airplane

I have been looking for an airplane that would be fun to fly and affordable to purchase. If you know anything about flying you know that “affordable” is a word that is rarely used with airplanes (unless you are rich). Purchasing or renting an airplane is also an expensive proposition. The local rental Cessna 172, a typical 4-seater airplane, rents for about $80 per hour at the local airport. The two-seat Piper Cherokee 140 rents for $75 per hour. I do not know about you, but $75 or more an hour on a regular basis is more that my pocket book can support on a regular basis.

But, I wanted to fly. And since I have always wanted to fly, a few months ago I completed the first step toward that goal by completing my Private Pilot’s License. Now I need to find something to fly that is affordable to me, an average person. Fortunately I have been looking at aircraft for a few years now so I am familiar with what is out there. I subscribed to all the available aviation magazines and various aviation organizations that cover the lower cost aircraft. I read the reviews, ordered information kits from dealers and manufacturers, and did everything else I could think of to find out what is available.

The first place I looked is kit planes. These are planes that come in a box (usually several large boxes) and you put the plane together yourself, usually in 500 to more that 1,000 hours. I looked at quick built kits in which the manufacturer had performed 40% or more of the work for you (you still need to do at least 51% yourself). I quickly learned that there is a trade off between the cost of the aircraft and the time spent in manpower to assemble. If I was to build a plane, the price would be lower. If I got part of the aircraft pre-built, the kit was more expensive.

I looked at my pocket book and set my goals. I wanted something reasonable price (at least equal to or less that my nice pickup truck in cost), something that would not take me months and years to build because I wanted to fly now, something that could be transported easily since there are no hanger space available for more that 50 miles, something that was reasonable to operate which usually means fuel costs of 8 gallons per hour or less, something that would not require thousands of dollars in annual maintenance fees, and finally something that could carry me and a 200 pound passenger with full fuel. Many of you know that I am well over 200 pounds.

With these goals in mind I started looking at everything available. I quickly eliminated many aircraft designs due to the weight limitations. I found some nice affordable airplanes that leave only 50 pounds for a passenger after full fuel tanks and with me in the aircraft. Most people I know are more that 50 pounds so these aircraft quickly got dropped from the list.

I seriously thought about a single seat aircraft. These were quite affordable and within the goals that I established. But I quickly realized that I would love to share my joy of flight and a single seat aircraft just does not offer the ability to share a ride with someone. I decided that a two seat aircraft is the minimum for me.

Fuel consumption was not a problem with most of the aircraft I was looking at. Most use a Rotax brand or similar smaller engine which can be quite economical to operation. These smaller engines also use regular automobile fuel which further lowers the operating costs since aircraft fuel is well over $3.50 a gallon (the last time I checked).

Next I started to look at Ultralight Trainers which are two seat ultralight aircraft. Ultralight Trainers are bigger that a normal ultralight and technically not an ultralight by definition. Fortunately most Ultralight Trainers can be converted to “Experimental Light Sport Aircraft” which allow me to carry a passenger when I want. This opened up more than a hundred new aircraft to my list.

My newly grown list of possible aircraft was divided into five types of aircraft. The first is the kit plane aircraft which is your “built it yourself” type of aircraft. Many have foldable or removable wings and can be easily transported on a trailer or towed behind a vehicle. The second type of aircraft is a used conventionally manufacture airplane such as the aircraft I listed toward the beginning of this blog. The third type of aircraft I looked at is the ultralight trainer airplanes. The fourth type of aircraft is called a “Trike”. These aircraft use a large hang glider wing and a pusher engine. Finally, the fifth type of aircraft is the “Powered Parachute”.

Each type of aircraft had its pro’s and con’s. The kit plane would take the longest time to build, at least one year by most estimates. The kit plane provided me with a normal airplane that could be put in a hanger if I could find an available one. The kit plane could be used to travel longer distances but the this type of plane, by using a low cost and low powered engine, was limited in air speed. That means any travel distance would take much longer that in a Cessna 172 or a Piper Cherokee 140. I used the specifications of these two types of aircraft to give me some focus on the specifications of each aircraft reviewed. Also, I did not have a location where I could build this plane at this time. I would need at least a 2 car garage just to build the aircraft.

The second category I looked at is the regular airplane, such as the Cessna or Piper. These ran a little higher in price than the kit plane and required more money annually for inspections and maintenance. Most of the lower priced airplanes require a major engine overhaul in a few years and expense that could be in the thousands. The closer the engine overhaul time is the lower the price became. Also, since no hanger space is available I would have to park it out in the weather, something most pilots do not like to do.

Next I looked at the ultralight aircraft. Some were classified as an ultralight aircraft while others were classified as ultralight trainers. Most were an open frame aircraft. That means the pilot seat is mounted on a pile of tubes. There is no outer skin, doors, roof or other body panels on these types of aircraft. Some of them looked like cheap lawn chairs welded together. I wanted something that is strong, not something that would bend if I leaned on it wrong.

The fourth option, the Trike, offered low cost and ease of transport even though I needed a long trailer to transport the folded wing. The case for the folded wing is over 20’ long. But I was puzzled why each dealer I talked to recommended that I get a ballistic recovery parachute system (called a BRPS) when I get the aircraft. I had to think about this. This is a parachute that rockets out when you have a problem and the aircraft is not flyable. You remain seated in the aircraft as it floats down with a parachute. I expected the aircraft to be relatively safe under normal conditions and the recommendation of having an emergency parachute was not comforting. So, I did some homework and there are a few problems in the past resulting from wing collapse. I asked around with ultralight pilots and other pilots and they all said to stay away from them. Whether they were properly informed on the safety or lack of safety with the Trike, I don’t know, but overall the parachute recommendation concerned me.

The final type I reviewed is the Powered Parachute. This uses a large parachute for a wing. Since I had been a sky diver for many years in my younger days, the parachute still has a warm space in my heart. The Powered Parachute offered the capacity to carry me and a 200 pound passenger, ease of transport and plenty of fuel capacity. The only restriction was the wind conditions and the airspeed. The Powered Parachute flies in ground wind conditions of 10 mph or less (recommended 6 or less for a smooth ride). Low cost kit airplanes fly at anywhere between 60 and 120 knots. If the airplane is classified as a “Light Sport Aircraft” then it cannot fly faster than 120 knots. The Powered Parachute flies at 30 mph and depending on the winds aloft, the ground speed can be much slower.

So, I got my facts together and reviewed what I found. The kit plane takes too much time to build. I want to fly something now, not wait a year or more. The used regular airplanes were more expensive that I was ready to spend, at least at this point, and I had no place to put one. Most ultralight and ultralight trainer airplanes looked too fragile and did not have the capacity to carry the load I wanted. The Trike concerned me with the emergency parachute recommendation and that left the Powered Parachute.

With all these facts in my hand, I decided on a Powered Parachute. I then looked at the Power Parachute manufacturers. Through the Internet, email and regular mail I obtained specs, options and pricing. Finally, I decided on a model. The manufacturer, who was also the dealer, appeared to be in a hurry to get my money. But, I was not ready to spend it.

You see, I did not have my money to spend yet. I was selling my house and I knew I would make a good profit on the sale and a portion of the money was going to the purchase of an aircraft. But, at this point, the house had not sold. When the house finally sold I contacted the manufacturer and discovered that they were out of business. Boy that was close.

I looked at other dealers and started looking at their business history, sales records, industry awards and other information I could obtained. This is information I should have looked at in the first place. I wanted a manufacturer and dealer that is well established and will be there for the future. I quickly narrowed the field down to a few manufacturers and models.

After all this research, day dreaming of flying something, and agonizing over the wait; I purchased a Powered Parachute. I purchased a Powrachute Pegasus. Yes, I spelled that correctly. The manufacturer is “Powrachute”. This is a 2 seat ultralight trainer that can be converted to an experiment light sport aircraft.

I have had my Powered Parachute for a few months now and I have logged more that 25 hours flying through the sky with it. It is a blast flying at only a few hundred feet and sometimes closer to the ground. I have watched the birds fly by in front of me and not worry about a bird strike. I fly so slow the birds have flown along with me.

I fly slow enough and low enough that I can see the people on the ground waving and smiling as I go by. I get to wave back at them to their delight. Sometimes I put on mini air shows by doing some simple maneuvers right in front of them. I did fly by a friend’s house this weekend. He has a large field in his back yard (he lives out in the country) and I flew down and skimmed across the grass to the delight of his two kids.

This is flying. Low and slow. Seeing the wildlife in the fields, seeing the people waving up at me and see the country, not little squares of colored ground from above the clouds but the individual plants growing in the fields.

I am a pilot. I am flying. Heaven cannot be better that this.