I bought an airplane

[gabe]

Yep, I bought an airplane.

A little background...growing up my dad was a pilot as are a massive number of people in Alaska. It's a huge state and most of the areas are airplane access only so culturally having an airplane is like having a boat or ATV to access wilderness. I flew around with my dad and brother in our family Piper PA-18 Super Cub and saw some amazing places that people have never been to. Fast forward a few years and in 2013 I started going to college for professional piloting and taking flying lessons and got very nearly completed with my private pilot's license when I ran out of money (it's about $150/hr to learn to fly and a minimum of 40 hours are required before your final test) and landed a job in aviation but doing sales of aircraft parts instead of flying. That took the wind out of my sails in terms of desire to be a pilot and then after 5 years of customer service involving pilots that removed any further desire to be a pilot myself.

On a lark a couple months ago I just cruised our local craiglist which includes an aircraft section and ran across this particular plane which is a Piper J3, the precursor to the PA-18. It was a good deal for the little plane and I had the money saved so I gave the seller a call assuming it would have already sold but just curious more or less about the thing. He did in fact have several buyers lined up so he took my info and said he would call if they fell through. About 3 weeks ago I got a call from him that he said he just really wanted to sell me in particular this plane. He explained that he had a couple people fall through because of financing and the one guy that had cash to buy it was a much older gentleman and he wasn't comfortable selling to that guy due to his age and not really being "all there" and able to safely fly. There's a loophole rule that if the plane is lighter than 1320lbs loaded the pilot does not need a valid medical certificate to fly and this plane is under that limit so older pilots seek them out even though they probably shouldn't be driving a car let alone flying a plane.

Anyway, I looked the plane over with a mechanic, found nothing wrong except some missing paperwork that the seller was able to get sorted out so last Thursday I drove up with a pilot friend, test flew it, paid the man, signed paperwork, and had the pilot friend ferry her back to the home airport in Birchwood Alaska where I will be finishing my pilot training.Pretty excited to start this new chapter and finally finish my license and get access to the rest of this state.

The plane is a 1945 Piper J-3. Engine is an 85 hp Contenental carburated 4 cylinder, 190ci displacement. No starter, no electrical system to the engine is started by "hand propping" or just grabbing the prop and spinning it. Basic instruments only (airspeed, altitude, RPM, oil temp/pressure) and no radio of any kind, communication is with a handheld airband radio hooked up to an external antenna. Empty weight 715 lbs, max takeoff weight 1220 lbs. Tires are 26" blimp tires but I plan on upgrading to 29" bushwheels (landings up here are mainly on tundra/off airport).

Has anybody else on here been into flying or have a pilot's license? I'd love to hear from any other pilots/pilot curious with thoughts or questions.

[un2xs]

Not much room for the stewardess.

Congrats on the new wings. Pilot time should be cheaper in your own plane.

[kevdupuis]

Nice buy on the Piper and enjoy flying low and slow

I've been looking recently at a pair of Kitfoxes, a 3 with a Rotax 582 and a 4 sporting the 912, the main reason for my choice is the ease of storage and transport that the Kitfox enjoys with it's folding wings.

[Law]

Thanks for showing us all what an affordable hobby paintball actually is compared to alternatives! Cool plane, what a different world Alaska appears to be, very neat!

[flyweightnate]

That's awesome!

My uncle lives nearby and is a retired commercial pilot, so I've had the opportunity to fly in his planes a couple times with him - my aunt almost bought a Piper but wound up in a Cessna 140. That looks like a ton of fun.

I forget the name of it, but my uncle is always talking about this iPad app for his GPS, and how the iPad overheats in his canopied airplane in Texas sun. Doubt you'll have the heat issue with the high wing and Alaskan weather.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Falcon16]

He's probably talking about Foreflight. Absolutely amazing app, I can look up an unfamiliar airport I may be flying to and it'll show things like approach paths where the various taxiways are etc.

[Tarsun2]

in a past relationship, the girls father flew as a hobby. Cant remember the kind of plane it was or any significant details about the plane other than: the wings were under the cabin, it sat 4 people, and it was a single prop...

it was allot of fun going on flights. what would take me an hour drive, we would do in 8 minutes.

flying was definitely for him. he was a very "thought out" kind of person.

"im thinking about turning left"
"ive concluded that im going to turn left"
"Im going to initiate the left turn"
"Is everyone ready for the left turn"
"Left turn initiated"
"turning left"
...
"left turn successfully completed"

something about having a record of what and why you did what you did.

Me, im more into sailing.

[punkncat]

Wow.

My grandfather (I never met him) was a pilot in WW2. He insisted that my grandmother, father, and aunt learn to fly. They owned some manner of plane, looked a lot like this, had the canvas covering, and two seats across the front instead of one. I recall finding out about it when I found the remains of an epoxy kit, canvas, and coloring that they used for the plane. It was quite fascinating to find out. Never flew with any of them, they no longer had the plane, but a neat history thing to find out.

Best of luck with your exciting new venture.

[Rainmaker]

Very cool! I like that color too

[DavidBoren]

Oh cool.

The Suzuki G13 is a good ~100hp, all aluminum engine to consider if you are looking for a replacement. They can be found in a Suzuki Samurai.

The lighter weight will help offset the increased weight of the brush tires. You don't need anything encroaching on your limited carrying capacity.

Little increase in power might be able to use a better prop... something like a 72/50? The standard size is, what, 70/40? Seaplanes using something like a 74/45? But I'm not really an expert on aircraft propellers. Lol.

[Axel]

That's pretty cool!

I always liked the idea of flying but never got around to doing anything about it.

[Falcon16]

Beautiful little plane. Once you've got your PPL in hand then flying should become dirt cheap when you own your aircraft outright. Obviously things like annuals and fuel and other such consumables can add up but then again how much you fly is up to you and I can't imagine this aircraft has a very large fuel tanks.

I've been around aircraft my whole life as well, my dad holds a PPL and has for nearly 40 years. I'm working on my recreational right now, I'm in a similar boat as you it's just expensive to complete it and with Covid well not like I can be right next to an instructor in an aircraft anyways.

That said for me the license is really a formality I've had so much seat time flying with my dad that I know the checklists and procedures as well as he does. Funny store the guy who is my instructor now who's in his late 60s was my dad's PPL instructor in the late 70's. He once told me I was a better pilot than my dad in that I would follow checklists to the letter where my dad (at least when he's was learning) would skip stuff. Thankfully our instructor cleared him of that habit.

I also came across a beautiful aircraft I'm trying to see if I can go halfers with my father on it's 1960 Mooney M20a

[DavidBoren]

Is it possible to move the gas tank? Or are you just going to fly around solo sitting in the back seat?

Speaking of seats, some lightweight carbon fiber Ebay-special racing seats can probably cut down on some weight. Their comfort probably isn't too much of an issue given the limited range of the plane.

How is the visibility in that thing? Especially considering that people pilot them (solo) from the back seat?

Any plans for adding navigation lights and/or upgrading communications?

[freedom]

wow, amazing! congrats on the great purchase.
getting around alaska just got easier...

[gabe]

Is it possible to move the gas tank? Or are you just going to fly around solo sitting in the back seat?

Speaking of seats, some lightweight carbon fiber Ebay-special racing seats can probably cut down on some weight. Their comfort probably isn't too much of an issue given the limited range of the plane.

How is the visibility in that thing? Especially considering that people pilot them (solo) from the back seat?

Any plans for adding navigation lights and/or upgrading communications?

Your eagerness to tinker shouldn't be surprising lol. Good questions though, you obviously know a thing or two about planes.

Unfortunately with certificated (registered) planes you really can't make any changes without first getting approval from the FAA or obtaining an STC (supplimental type certificate change). The nose tank has to stay in place just because to change it would require rebuilding the right wing and adding a fuel tank to the wing which isn't really in the budget. In addition, changing it to a wing tank system would change the plane from a J-3 model to a later PA-11 model which is somewhat prohibited by the FAA as far as changing one model of plane to another. The tank isn't really in the way and the rear seat is the more comfortable of the two anyway so no harm no foul.

The seats and visibility are pretty much what they are and I've come to terms with that. Later models had seats that sat up higher (PA-11, PA-12, and PA-18's) and allowed for better vis and solo from the front seat but they also had the wing spars outside the fuselage instead of connecting together right in front of your head. The low front seat is a concession to that to get your head below the spars but it does sit somewhat low. The weight really isn't bad on the seats as they are pretty much just extremely simple tube frames with canvas stretched over them and a simple pad on the top and back. Down the road I might replace the canvas with a carbon seat pan and simplify the seat cushions with something a little nicer but it all works for right now and for my budget. I actually prefer the visibility from the rear seat as it allows you to see out the left and right side windows much better and the nose blocks forward vis from the front seat as well as the rear when you're on the ground. In the air both positions work fine.

No plans at all for adding any electrical system/lights/nav/radio. The saving grace for a plane with 85 ponies is that is is extremely light so all modifications are going to focus on removing things (no regs about removing things, only about adding them). Things like the fabric headliner, 4 position CHT (cylinder head temp) gauge, unnecessary interior panels, all those will be removed. I am making a bracket to mount a handheld radio to the left side of the cabin and mounting a battery operated intercom.

As far as navigation, that is the next big thing. I'm trying to decide between an Garmin 496 GPS or an Ipad with Foreflight or Garmin Pilot apps and a GPS signal booster. Both work but the Garmin units are much more reliable which is a plus although the usability of an ipad is much better.

Longer term mods are going to be larger tires (upgrading from 26" to 29" tires) and possibly putting a climb prop on there. Current prop is an aluminum Mccauley 71/42 (71" length, 42" of forward movement per rotation in a liquid) which is a nice blend of climb and cruise. She scoots along at a blistering 80mph right now.

Just FYI not a whole lot of budget for near term modification. Despite the prevailing sentiment about the cost of flying, it's actually pretty cheap and I'm not exactly loaded with money. I'm into the plane $15k so far with maybe a couple hundred bucks extra into the radio and headset.

[Carp]

How did you get Marty, to sell you his plane? I'm so jealous....