Hi Fattony
great to hear you want to move your flying beyond the local bimble, which in itself is a joy
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The main limitation I've seen of people ending up in a flying rut is really their own reservations about going distances whether it be weather decisions, airspace, what happens if I can't get to the place I'm going. It can be quite daunting but extremely worthwhile and rewarding.
As a new PPL I wouldn't be too afraid of complex type aircraft that are a bit faster, the downside of these guys is really running costs and occasional runway limitations but generally after a good bunch of hours of training you ought to be able to pick up some of the nuances of flying a machine with an adjustable prop, retractable gear or fancy engine set up.
That said, as a newcomer to owning it might be good to look for a group with an inexpensive aircraft that's easy to maintain. There is a pretty large learning curve and quite often you find it a bit overwhelming without someone to guide you in the difference between "important" and "nice to do", particularly someone who does not have a commercial interest in it! For you I would definitely advise focussing on getting into an existing, well run group.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't do similar due diligence, the last thing you want is to own a share in a shed that looks nice
. Personally I think the way anyone should approach buying looks a bit like this.
My first advice would be research as many different types of aircraft as you can, generally owners and pilots LOVE to talk about their steeds so even just hanging out in the club or having a wander round the apron talking to them has it's own value. Many pilots can get hung up on a certain type or turning their nose up at some aircraft without having any experience at all, microlights, fabric, composite, all metal, LAA, CofA aircraft have their own upsides and downsides and it's worth knowing what they might be. You may be very surprised in how much fun you can have in what looks like a very ordinary machine.
If possible go along to the LAA, BMAA and club fly ins, generally there will be a large variety of aircraft and many owners are more than happy to take you for a wee shotty in their machines, at least they are at our fly in
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The reason I suggest the above before you look at mission and budget is because you're inexperienced and getting to know about different types of flying is very important.
Next, budget and mission. Both are not exclusive your budget constraints may well dictate missions you can perform and you MUST temper one with the other but your mission is essential otherwise how can you choose which aircraft you want? There are so many and there are rarely machines that can do everything so you need to pick a few that are good at what you really want.
When you work out your budget, be very careful about stretching what you reasonably can afford, you want to have a big gap so you can easily cover problems. I've seen too many groups fall to pieces on costs because one or a few can't afford what needs doing.
So now you have an idea of how much you want to spend, what you want to do and which aircraft can do it. Only now can you realistically approach the actual aircraft you're going to buy. When choosing one, I consider a few things, coming here for advice once you've done the above is no bad thing, there's a heap of experience.
1)Resale How easily will I be able to shift on my share or entire aircraft, are there limitations imposed by the group on who or when I can sell? How desirable is the aircraft? If I look at it from the outside, is it something that people are likely to want? Does the visible condition match it's relative value? Do not discount the colour of the aircraft here, I've seen some lovely machines sit waiting for a buyer because they were a disgusting shade of brown or green.
2) Engine and Airframe hours. You cannot get these back, particularly airframe hours. Higher hour machines will cost significantly less but you may have some nasty surprises waiting for you that even a pre sale inspection wont find. Even so, a well maintained machine will last a long time and remember an engine with 1000 hours left on the engine if looked after could last you more than 10 years so there's no need to stress TOO much about hours. If you're buying into a group engine funds only really come into play when it flies frequently. If a plane flies 50 hours a year it may not be important. Ex flying school machines need to be cheap as hell before they're worth buying, they've had heavy use but generally good maintenance but the airframe itself wont be as nice as it could be and the interior is more than likely buggered.
3) What do you want to do to it and what has already been done. An experienced engineer will be able to guide you on this, aircraft often have Airworthiness Directives that need doing or you may find you need to change the radio/transponder in a year or so to comply with local regs. Big jobs paint/interior/engine will give you headaches and that may not be worth the effort. Find one that is knowledgeable about the aircraft type you're looking at, not being able to find one locally will tell you a lot about what support you can get once you've bought the machine. I would advise strongly against buying a machine that you're not able to get maintenance for locally, the EASA CofA regs are strict and it's expensive to take on a new type to your maintenance approvals.
4) Existing owners diligence. Logbooks, effort, oil changes, attitudes, cleanliness of the aircraft, the actual advert itself (a full ad says they care a 3 liner with no pictures says they don't to me anyway). Much like when you buy a classic or sports car you'll be able to tell a lot about how much care the owner has put in by the logbooks and their knowledge of the machine and what has been going on with it. It's normally pretty obvious. If you hear a lot of "don't worry about that" then you should consider very carefully walking away.
5) storage, if you have a fabric machine, you need a hangar. Ideally you would put your plane in a hangar anyway - it makes a massive difference. timing will be hard with this because you need the space but you may have to pay for a space without actually putting a plane in it. Check out what your local fields can do for you, you may find here that the type/length of runway available at a field you can get hangarage at limits your mission.
6) Patience, it's a waiting game, the right machine will come up but you may wait a year or two for it and have patience. You can absolutely guarantee what will happen when you settle for something close that the right machine pops up on afors.com a week later. If you do end up wanting an LAA machine then the rally at Sywell often has machines for sale and it's a great place to check them out, the magazine has plenty of ads. I cannot say this often or loud enough, TAKE YOUR TIME!
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7) If you've made it this far then I don't have much more to say but remember your plane is unlikely to be able to do everything you want, renting isn't as bad an option as you think, consider very carefully that you do want to own.
Owning IS great fun, I prefer the LAA way because I like doing the work as well as the flying but it takes time to do it. The CofA route is also good because many decisions are taken out of your hands and you have some pretty brilliant machines to choose from but the cost is relatively brutal. Some of the newish BMAA machines are also spectacular, you may also find that what you really want is a gyro!
Get out there and go look at some machines, fly them, enjoy come back and report how you're getting on, I'm genuinely interested to know how this turns out for you
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