I am at the moment contemplating an inspection sometime next month, but in the meantime there are a few things about this that are worrying me, the corrosion the greatest. How long would it take for a complete corrosion inspection? Since the (US Built) C150 does not have corrosion protection as Pilot DAR mentioned and this airplane has been used in the Island of Puerto Rico for the past 15 years or so, I am thinking this might be a bad proposition altogether.
The reason I am thinking of buying an airplane was to stay current with my stick and rudder skills. I would love to have IFR capabilities, but then the price also goes up. I am planning on going to a flight school in the mainland USA maybe in 2 years at the latest depending on the economy/my current job etc, but until then I just wanted to keep my skills current...I figured it doesn't hurt to try and amass as many hours as possible and figured renting for hundreds of hours would be expensive.
If it's going to cost me around $20k+ to fix this airplane then I might look elsewhere for something in better shape that is IFR equipped..
I can ferry airplanes back to Puerto Rico, in fact that is how many of them end up here. It would be heck of a trip as well Island hopping over the Caribbean, but umm don't feel too confident about that idea as a low time VFR pilot, in a year or two after I get IFR, surely.
Thanks for all your input. I will chew/sleep on this over the holidays and make up my mind after a thorough inspection either way. =)
I wish you all a Merry X'mas and a Happy New Years, or as we say here "Feliz Navidad y prospero aņo nuevo!".