Saturday, March 28, 2015

CONUMDRUM...NO RIGHT ANSWER

I have a decision to make or maybe I do not. That is the conundrum. This is all brought about by the FAA requirement that every plane be equipped with ADS-B OUT by January 1, 2020. My airplane does not have a mode S transponder nor a WASS GPS.

In order for my 1954 Bonanza to have ADS B OUT, I would have to spend $5,500 to be so equipped; $2000 for the unit and at least $3,500 for installation from the quotes I have been given. I am still going to wait as I hope less expensive alternatives will come along before then.

I have flown my 1954 Bonanza for 20 years. It has given me great service over that time. The paint is still great and the interior is good, just dated. I achieve 150 knots using 11 gallons of fuel per hour. The plane is IFR but with the minimum of equipment to fly IFR. It has a 6 pack scattered over the dash with one com radio, one OBS and DME. I have owned three airplanes and a glider over my flying career. None of them have had auto pilot, not because I do not want auto pilot, but it is too expensive to justify adding to any of my airplanes...or is it.

So this got me thinking. What if I added ADS B OUT now to my airplane and made some other modifications. I could add wingtip tanks for an extra 40 gallons and an autopilot. I have always said that an autopilot is one of the safest pieces of equipment that can be on an airplane. I am still upset with the FAA that they will not allow non STC'd equipment on legacy aircraft. These autopilots have been proven to work over many years in experimental aircraft. To add an auto pilot to my Bonanza would cost around $20,000 installed and wing tip tanks $14,000. Now while I am at it I would like to update my interior another $6000 to $8000.

I went into sticker shock when I figured it out.

1954 Bonanza $30,000
Auto Pilot        $20,000
Tip Tanks        $14,000
Interior            $6,000
ADS B OUT   $5,500

That is adding $45,500 worth of equipment to a $30,000 airplane. If I was younger, and knew I would fly another 20 years, it might be worth considering. I would have $75,000 invested for a darn good airplane that I know its service history. If I had to sell the airplane soon, due to health reasons, I would loose a lot of money.

The next alternative is to buy another airplane with everything on it. When you do that, plan to spend money on repairing the airplane even after doing a pre-buy annual. There are a lot of newer (than mine) V Tail Bonanzas out there for sale that are well equipped. The question is do I want to buy an unknown aircraft or make the investment into mine.

The other option I looked at was Cirrus SR 20. These are newer airframes and well equipped. I had two negatives, one being the price of $115,000 and the other the parachute repack which is due every 10 years from the date of rocket being manufactured, and not the date the installation was performed. That is more than I want to spend now.

Maybe if I were younger I would go ahead and add the above to my Bonanza or even buy a newer Bonanza. With no guarantees that I will still be flying in 2020, I decided to stand pat with what I have. I am going to have to install ADS B OUT in the future, but I am waiting for hopefully a better alternative than putting something in my airplane with no or little benefit to me which would cost 20% of the value of my airplane.





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