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Author Topic: Seems like a deal?  (Read 3925 times)

donv

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Seems like a deal?
« on: December 08, 2019, 02:23:45 am »
$375k asking price for an 840 with nice paint, excellent avionics? Run out engines, to be sure (although a little bit of time left), but how much to buy a set of mid-time -5s?

https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/155986789/1981-commander-840

Looks like no latin american history, true, which is a plus-- is this the airplane that was purchased new by the Mescalero Apache tribe?

Steve binnette

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2019, 10:09:27 am »
Nice 840 for sure, long range fuel, great panel, good paint and interior.

Put some low time -5s on it and it i could be a $750k airplane.

donv

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2019, 01:35:21 pm »
Once upon a time (and not that long ago), this would have been a perfect -10 conversion candidate.

In fact, I think at this price it might still be-- low time, avionics done, no sketchy history (as far as I can tell)-- even $1 million for the conversion, at $1.3 with zero time engines, seems not totally crazy.

lorens

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2019, 02:59:53 pm »
I'm new to this forum and to commanders, but am hopeful that sometime in the next few years I'll be in a position be seriously looking at one.  I'm curious as to whether it is that easy to find -5's sitting around to put on a nice plane that has run out engines?

donv

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2019, 04:07:08 pm »
I think it's certainly possible. And this 840 has 400 hours until overhaul anyway, so it's not like you couldn't fly it for a year or two or more while you looked.

Adam Frisch

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2019, 09:29:22 pm »
That's a good deal. Looks like a peach.

-5's are reasonably easy to get a hold of.
Slumming it in the turboprop world - so you don't have to.

donv

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2019, 10:19:42 pm »
Actually, I think you can even rent them by the hour. You might have to pay for an annual minimum number of hours, though.

The one thing about -5s is that if they have been run hard, they may not make it to the scheduled hot section intervals before they stop making rated power. And this one having been based in Ruidoso NM for all those years might have been run hard... no way to know without a test flight.

Bruce Byerly

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2019, 01:26:40 pm »
I believe the plane is headed way down south unless someone steps up quickly!

donv

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Re: Seems like a deal?
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2019, 01:30:54 pm »
That is pretty sad, because there aren't many that haven't been down there before...

I thought most of them were heading the other way? Or is this maybe going to be another Colombian Grand Renaissance? It would sure be a good candidate for that.