Join ABS. If you think it is too expensive, it is cheap in the grand scheme of aviation. The are great people, and their knowledge base is incredible! Tom Turner and staff can tell you anything you want to know about Debonairs.
Printable View
Join ABS. If you think it is too expensive, it is cheap in the grand scheme of aviation. The are great people, and their knowledge base is incredible! Tom Turner and staff can tell you anything you want to know about Debonairs.
Type clubs are critical, valuable resources. Once I'm committed to a type for purchase, I'll join.
It's not that it's too expensive; rather, not practical unless ownership is imminent or already the case.
I am not a member of the Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, or Cobra societies for the same reason.
i disagree, I joined the ANS several years before I got my Navion. They were an invaluable resource in my planning and ultimate aircraft search.
"It's not that it's too expensive; rather, not practical unless ownership is imminent or already the case."
You seem to agree with me, then.
I'm a long way from purchasing an aircraft. And in the end, it may not be at all.
But, once and if a make and model are chosen to be my first and last aircraft... I will join the type association, society, and club.
If I were single... And younger. I might make a less calculated decision with decades of future ahead... I don't have that luxury. If I did, I might build.
First, if you're really interested in information on Debonairs through EAA, you should search/ask the Vintage division/magazine. That source is much more likely to have information that you are looking for.
As for ABS, they are by far and away the best type club. I have been a member of Cessna Pilots Association, Cessna Flyer, Cessna Owner, Mooney Ambassadors, Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association, EAA Lifetime, OX-5 and more. Yes, I am an airplane geek. Instead of getting one or two opinions on this forum (though I like these :), $75/year or $130 for 2 years will get you instant and unlimited access to 1000s of options over decades of time on all of Beech's propeller products and all summarized just for you. In other words, it's like buying a book with all the information that you'll every need with an index that is infinitely detailed and current to the moment. It also includes all the POHs and, I believe, all the parts manuals (through Textron).
They can tell you which models, engines, airframes to stay away from. What to look for on pre-buys, etc.
I am an ABS member, though I may never be an owner. Oh, btw, their training (online and at conferences) is second to none!
Hope you find your perfect for you airplane.
Thanks for all of your info, Ron. I do appreciate it. And, I too hope to find a perfect airplane for me.
Right now, ownership is a conscious dream... Well, some might call it a daydream....
Certainly not a practical thing without a complete lifestyle change... From happy at home to vagabond... Travelling the continent, occasionally sleeping under the stars...
I've known some that have "sold their souls for world travel" (their words). And lived quite simply to meet the goals of their avocation.
I have to decide to do that, or remain a renter...
Dreams are what it is all about … and where it starts.
I have designed, built, rented, flown other people's airplanes and owned a C175/P172D for a while. All were good at the right time. I also have good friends that sold their possessions, bought a mobile home and have been on the road for the last few years. They love it!
Best of all to you.
When it comes to not owning but building something and promoting something that does not exist in metal form I can put my current needs in my pocket on a thumb drive. I lost my house in 1973 and ceased renting in 1983. I parked my car for the last time in 1987 to wait for hydrogen fuel cells. I once had a solid model of a Bonanza that I thought was too heavy once I installed a .049 Thimble drome on it with a nylon propeller. It soaked the dope and did not really shine up and the control line fittings got hooked to some lines and a handle just as a customer on my paper route gave me her son's model airplanes from a few years back. They included a carved whatever with a nice big fuel tank and a Champion 1 cubic inch engine that had ignition points and provisions for a battery and coil but was converted to glow plug. It needed braided control lines. I dropped all ideas of flying the Bonanza and alos flew a big yellow biplane that needed something bigger than the .074 OK Cub I could now afford. So I never got into free flight and it was decades later that I fully approached radio control though there was a very nice Piper TRi-Pacer that only need covering and a radio in my gifted treasure. Would a McCoy 1/4 have been good enough? I looked at various fare in Newark, New York in a real hobby shop.