Not today, my good man. I think I'm going to buy it.
2012 November 14 11:22
I've been interested in aviation all my life. AFter getting a
professional job in 2002, I got interested in it again because I could
conceivably get a pilot's license. I started training in 2006 and had
my private license in 2007. I've debated frequently with myself about
whether to buy an airplane, and which one. That saga is another
post. That speculation is over, however; I now own a real live
airplane.
I will post lots and lots and lots of stuff on this topic. However,
for the curious, here's a brief timeline.
- August: target airplane gets listed in the Mooney magazine for a
decent price. I talk to the seller, then talk to a bank. Get sticker
shock from the fees. Call the seller and send my regrets.
- early October: my barnstormers daily search e-mail shows up that
same plane there for $3000 less than August price. Still slightly
more than I want to spend; I didn't do anything.
- Wednesday October 31: daily search e-mail shows that plane has
dropped by another $2100. As soon as I get off work, I call the
seller, ask if I can come look next week. He says there are two other
prospects, one coming on the weekend. I plan to go down Friday.
- Thursday November 1: I call banks, get one whose terms make
sense. Start application process for pre-approval. Call my insurance
agent; get quotes in the pipeline. Arrange for all my on-call time
the next week to be Monday/Tuesday.
- Friday November 2: finanally get financial application in. Decide
to delay my trip down until Sunday.
- Sunday November 4: drive down (7 hours) to seller. Look at plane,
records, go flying in airplane. Thumbs up, negotiate for inspection
plan. Drive partway back
- Monday November 5: drive rest of the way back. Work, make
arrangements for the rest of the week.
- Tuesday November 6 (election day): shortly after work, head to
mechanic's in Georgia
- Wednesday November 7: drive to airport. Plane gets in. Initial
inspection good. Give seller deposit check, sign initial contract.
Take seller, drive east to meet his wife. Seller
continues home, I head back to plane
- Thursday November 8: I spent day in mechanic's shop. Plane mostly
good, one realy poential problem. Bank sends me paperwork.
- Friday November 9: Problem turns out to be real. I re-negotiate
with seller. I drive home and make it in time for my 10th wedding
anniversary party (Yay!).
- Saturday November 10: I fly to my yearly November conference,
paperwork in tow. Seller overnights his paperwork to my bank.
- Monday November 12: I find notary, get paperwork notarized, Fedex
paperwork to bank. I talk to insurance agent, get insurance bound for
aircraft.
Yesterday, Tuesday November 13: Bank has paperwork from me and seller. My wife (thanks
darling!) wires rest of deposit to bank. Bank gets insurance
information from my agent. At 3:08pm mountain time (where I am) I get
a text from the seller saying that the funds have transferred and the
airplane is mine. w00t!