IO540, the reason I stated the £800 was to answer your point about "one spends as much on maintenance as the extra amount one would have spent on the extra purchase price of something newer.", this need not be the case. Having an old aircraft does not neccessary mean big maintenance bills. A well maintained and owned aircraft should not degrade to a large extent, if you buy an old pig, then yes you will get big bills. I'd rather own a solid, older aircraft and spend small amounts replacing the odd vacuum pump here and carb there than suffering 10's of thousands of pounds on depreciation.
You did not answer my point about depreciation.
Justiciar, hi there. Skyhawk is going very well thanks (for a 31 year old
) Shame about Tibs not having a fly-in, I tried to encourage a few to get something arranged but it seems like nothing is being done.