Al, I do understand your comment about some old coupes not being maintained. When I first started looking, I couldn't believe the condition of a some of the coupes that were being flown and described as excellent and were really not airworthy. I'm talking serious corrosion, leaky fuel tanks, leaky engine seals, old cracked tires, engine hoses from the local Napa store, you name it. Fortunately, I always had a mechanic to do a thorough pre-buy to make sure I knew what was being offered. The best thing I ever did was to arrange the pre-buy inspections... Now all that being said, I still spent more than the "old" value for the original purchase because it was LSA eligible. Have then proceeded to spend a bunch more to get it to where "I" think a plane should be. Now I'm looking forward to a number of years enjoyment... That's the true value.
Craig --- In [email protected], "AJ DeMarzo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > As the level of serious Ercoupe ownership grows, so will the level of maintenance they will be getting. Buy for $20k, spend $10K to get it where it should have been and you've got $10K into a plane that should be worth $35K+. The values are going up primarily due to that reason. Old values were low because they weren't maintained, plain and simple. > > Syd's coupe, for example, before the current increase in price was worth far more than average and only someone serious would have been interested it if it was on the market. Although Syd's attention to bringing it to a level of "airworthiness" (not the cosmetics) should have been somewhat the norm, not many folks did not do it, seeing no value to it and thinking the would never see the return on the "investment". > > So now here we are finally getting to where we all know we need to be. > > Al & Craig, rest assured that when you get them up in the air, you'll not have to worry about staying there. Good for both of you. > > Al DeMarzo > Visit the Ercoupe Swap Page > Free, Easy and No Membership Required > http://www.ercoupeowners.com/swap/swapbook.htm > >
