Customer Reviews

Airplane Ownership

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book helps narrow down the field as you consider buying or owning an airplane. Gives details about cost and offers real world examples of operating expenses (aircraft specification tables were particulary helpful). Covers what to look for, pre-purchase inspections, and paperwork needed to buy and register aircraft. Well worth the money if you're considering buying your first airplane.

Simply put, if you're even thinking of buying an airplane you should buy this book first. This book reeks of experience. It's by Ron Wanttaja, who received the 1992 Aviation/Space Writers' Association Award of Excellence. He's an excellent writer and is very knowledgable about owning an airplane. All aspects of owning a plane from deciding what to buy to the real world operating expenses, the new Light Sport Aircraft category, inspections, everything.

The tone of the book is on saving money. He talks for instance about setting a limit of $30K for the purchase of a plane. He talks about the costs of a tie down vs a hanger and gives examples from his local area which is around Seattle. You may not have the financial issues as a primary concern, but many of the same subjects apply without regard to their cost -- what to look for when you inspect a used plane for instance.

I'd list the chapters in the book, but think it's better to just say that every aspect you can think of (and more) is here. And, oh yes, this is the new second edition of the book that updates the information on a lot of areas.

This book is an informative, easy to read, engaging look at buying and owning an aircraft. It walks you right through the different types available, and explains many of the advantages and pitfalls of the different types (antique, classic, homebuilt, modern, etc) of aircraft available. It goes on to explain what you can and can't do in owner maintanance. This book shows how to do what you can do, with photos and illustrations to back up the text in many instances. Overall, of all the airplane ownership books I've got, this is the one that I keep coming back to, it's well done, interesting, and informative!

I picked this book up at the local library while I was looking for my first plane. After using up all my renewals and continually referring to it, I had to buy. It goes into much more detail than other books about what to expect during and after purchase.

Simply excellent. The author covers the subject with a very practical approach, and uses a lot of real life cases. I also appreciated the very objective tone of the book, which says when you want to own and when it doesn't make sense.

The person I bought it for is in love with it and reads it every night

I bought this for my fiance's father who is interested in becoming a small plane owner and really enjoyed it.

This book covers a lot of stuff in just enough depth to answer most questions a first time aircraft buyer might have. I had probably figured out 80% of the content on my own before getting the book; however, it was a great read and confirmed what I already knew and presented a few things I didn't know. It gives me enough to pursue some topics in more depth via other books or web searches. I'm pleased with my choice and feel it was a great value.

I disagree with some remarks about the book being focused on being cheap about flying. There's a lot of people out there that have an interest in aviation and just assume you must be wealthy to own an aircraft - this book shows that's not true, and that there are several ownership options that can get you flying, even on a modest income. The contents of this book are not something you'll hear from your local FBO or CFI in most cases.

I've seen other reviews about the pricing data being overly optimistic or out of date. Get real - this isn't a website being updated real-time. It's a BOOK that was published at a point in time. Buy the latest edition and note the publishing date so you have perspective on the time-relevant content. Even if the values are a bit off, the concepts remain valid. Given the poor ecomony lately, the pricing figures in this 2005 edition are actually not too far off :-D

I bought this book prior to purchasing an airplane, read it then put it on the shelf and promptly forgot about it. Now, after owning a plane for 2 years have rediscovered the book and upon review can validate the authors thoroughness and careful selection of subject matter to cover. He did a great job. Most topics covered are still accurate today and very relevant to me as an aircraft owner of two years. Where the book could use a refresh is of course in the cost info cited as well as an update related to availability of information on the internet.

This book assumes that the buyer is most concerned about the cost of ownership and how to do it 'on the cheap'. If this is not your situation, then this book may not be that useful to you. The case studies where interesting.