10 Affordable Lightweight Planes In The Sky
Eben-Haezer Sión@ebenezer
7 years ago
Originally Published By PlaneAndPilotMagThe cheapest planes out there are not always the best ones, so we’ve created a list of some dependable if sometimes offbeat models for you to consider. Used airplanes are more abundant than ever, and finding a good cheap one is relatively easy. Finding an affordable plane that doesn’t need some work is not so easy. The reality of airplane ownership is that it costs money, and the more plane you get, the more money you’re going to spend. That said, there are exceptions to this rule, planes with lots of capability that aren’t expensive to buy. But the bad news is, those exceptions are usually associated with multi-engine aircraft with exorbitant costs, usually involving engine updates, just waiting for you down the line.Despite what you may think, there are ways to fly without busting the family budget. True, you won’t be aviating at 170 knots in a shiny new, near-million-dollar G36 Bonanza or Cessna TTx, but you can stay in the air for considerably less than the national debt of Peru.Some pilots simply rent, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but the apparent low price can be deceiving. By some measures, the hourly price can be stratospheric because it includes allowances for every fixed expense—tiedown/hangar, insurance, taxes, depreciation, maintenance—but unless you’re in a club, the airplane won’t cost you a cent when you’re not flying it.Another method is to scale back your expectations and fly in an absolute minimum airplane. Since most FBOs don’t rent the oldies but goodies, you’ll be forced to buy, but you may be surprised at how little you’ll pay for a rock-bottom, economy machine that’s airworthy with no damage history. Don’t expect fancy interiors, new paint or exotic radios in this class. You very well may find serviceable machines, however, with hundreds or even thousands of hours of life left in them.Here’s a summary of 10 production airplanes that are often available for minimum bucks. These are all extremely entry-level, bare-bones, stick-and-rudder airplanes that are intended to provide basic transportation and little more. For the most part, you can forget considerations of speed, climb, range and payload, but these airplanes will keep you in the sky at the absolute minimum cost.For cost reasons, all the new crop of LSAs are excluded. Similarly, at the opposite end of the scale, there are no ultralights or powered parachutes here. If you’re willing to scour the pages of Trade-A-Plane on a regular basis, watch the bulletin boards at local airports and bide your time until the right opportunity comes along, you just may find a basic flying machine at a surprisingly low price. We’ve deliberately avoided setting hard dollar limits for this survey, but most of the models below should be available for less than $20,000.
