Thanks again.
Annual is in Sept. No squawks, it's probably around $4000 (£2600). Last year it was $7000 (£4500), but then they found some things. This year there's already talk of changing some of the fuel lines as they look a bit ragged, so it's probably going to be closer to the higher number...
But there literally is no ceiling when we're talking airplanes. The paint job is in a terrible state, really needs to be addressed. Cheapest quote I got was for $18K!!! No way I can do that. I'll have to strip her ($6K) and polish her myself with a toothbrush. Or fly her down to Mexico and have it done there.
New interior? Minimum of $5K. New panel? The sky's the limit. In fact, I had great plans to swap my old giant WWII-era AI for something sleek and new when it started tumbling and giving me troubles. Until I checked the prices, that is. Then suddenly an O/H price at $595 look like the best deal ever had. Besides, those old military spec AI's work well. They were made at a time "when America was great" as he put it. He has a point. No need to chase the newest all the time.
The above costs are often what you have great hopes and plans to do when you're a new owner, but the reality is that most of your money gets funnelled in to maintenance and unless you have deep pockets, the cosmetic stuff will suffer. One day, right?
