Buying an airplane isn’t an easy task, but it doesn’t have to be difficult either — if you read Buying and Owning Your Own Airplane. Jim Ellis's book is a handy, comprehensive guide that covers the particulars and special considerations for buying and owning your own airplane. Even more, this book provides information not easily found from other sources. There are tips on maintenance, ownership, and required government paperwork.
Inside the third edition, you'll find everything from the first two editions: from selecting aircraft-purchase partners and home fields to negotiating sales contracts, to maintaining and upgrading your treasured bird. And don't overlook this important feature: A survey of the types of planes, new and used, that you can expect to find for sale, ranging from basic Piper Cubs and Cessna 150s to new planes with price tags over a quarter of a million dollars, such as the Lancair Columbia and the Cirrus SR22.
Every chapter is updated, and the biggest changes reflect the huge impact of the internet since the second edition was published. If you want to buy an airplane, you had better check the online listings included in this edition, because what you want will likely be long-gone if you wait for print advertising to come out. Information sources, whether on aircraft, engines, FCC regulations, Type Clubs, or almost anything else, are now available on the web (and maybe no longer in print), so the information in this edition is essential. FAA and other government forms have also become web-based and interactive.
Other New Items for the Third Edition Include:
- The new generation of GA aircraft developed during the 1990s. These are really new, sleek, "clean sheet of paper" composite aircraft from Lancair, Cirrus, and Diamond.
- Details about a new way of owning airplanes, the "Fractional Shares" programs, which have trickled down from business jets to single-engine piston-powered GA aircraft.
- The good news that Cessna, New Piper and other manufacturers are back in business after either suspending production or going into and coming out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- A discussion of GPS and other advanced avionics that have revolutionized GA aircraft instrument panels, both in new and used aircraft.
- Appendix E has been added presenting a list of all single-engine aircraft in production including VFR and IFR prices, plus Internet website addresses of the manufacturers.
This is the essential guide for buying and owning a new aircraft, with details on:
- Partnerships, clubs and fractional ownership
- Obtaining and retaining insurance coverage
- Projections on long-term trends in the aviation industry
- Internet reference data
- And More.
If you’ve been flirting with the idea of owning your own airplane, after reading this book you may find that your dreams of ownership are indeed "the possible dream."
✈ What People Are Saying
"Jim Ellis did not teach me how to fly, he taught me WHAT to fly! The best and most comprehensive book on the subject."
—John Craparo, Aircraft Owner, Senior Vice President of Information Technology - Hewlett-Packard, and founder of the International Aeronauts League.
"...I pretty much devoured the book in a few days and referred back to it — especially for the invaluable aircraft model summaries — until I concluded that a Cardinal RG was the right plane for me. Using the "Selecting Your Airplane" chapter, I found my perfect bird after using Mr. Ellis' expertise to eliminate many contenders..."
—Jose LaTour, Gainesville, Florida.
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