Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Need help buying an airplane
Hi y'all. I am a student at Pilot Flight Academy in Sandefjord, Oslo, and i began to think about buying a plane after I have landed a job (no pun intended). I live near the sea, so I thought i should by a waterplane, as it would eliminate the need for storage. I began searching around on the internett and soon realized that the plane I want is the PBY Catalina. The problem is that they are quite few of them. So my question to y'all is, are there any planes that are similar to the PBY Catalina (shape and size)? Thanks for taking the time to write a answer.
Last edited by atcsundevil on Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Title edited for clarity
Reason: Title edited for clarity
Re: Need help buying an airplane
spinnern wrote:Hi y'all. I am a student at Pilot Flight Academy in Sandefjord, Oslo, and i began to think about buying a plane after I have landed a job (no pun intended). I live near the sea, so I thought i should by a waterplane, as it would eliminate the need for storage. I began searching around on the internett and soon realized that the plane I want is the PBY Catalina. The problem is that they are quite few of them. So my question to y'all is, are there any planes that are similar to the PBY Catalina (shape and size)? Thanks for taking the time to write a answer.
Honestly, starting with buying a Catalina as a new pilot seems a bit strange to me. You have to think bigger! I wouldn't settle for anything smaller then a Martin Mars, I'm sure you can get a good price on one too!
Martijn
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Hi CrimsonNL. Thanks for replaying. After a quick search on the internett, I found out that there are only two remaining Martin Mars in the world left, which makes the planes extreamly expensive
Re: Need help buying an airplane
I agree with CrimsonNL in that starting out with a Cataline is perhaps not the best idea. But I don't think you should aim for bigger because as you have found out, it'll leave you with very few options. And indeed, getting spare parts for the Martin Mars may prove challenging. Rather than size, I'd think speed.
If you have just gotten your pilot licence, you'll have spent long enough in slow, single-engine props. You'll want to go for a plane that would actually *get* you somewhere. The Beriev Be-200 may be precisely right for you (but be sure to ask for a non-Cyrillic variant).
If you have just gotten your pilot licence, you'll have spent long enough in slow, single-engine props. You'll want to go for a plane that would actually *get* you somewhere. The Beriev Be-200 may be precisely right for you (but be sure to ask for a non-Cyrillic variant).
-
- dc9northwest
- Posts: 2270
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Hei,
Have you thought of getting Dornier to rebuild the Do-X for you?
Have you thought of getting Dornier to rebuild the Do-X for you?
-
- trijetsonly
- Posts: 757
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
I'd second Zombus' advice and recommend a Beriev Be-200.
Re: Need help buying an airplane
CrimsonNL wrote:spinnern wrote:Hi y'all. I am a student at Pilot Flight Academy in Sandefjord, Oslo, and i began to think about buying a plane after I have landed a job (no pun intended). I live near the sea, so I thought i should by a waterplane, as it would eliminate the need for storage. I began searching around on the internett and soon realized that the plane I want is the PBY Catalina. The problem is that they are quite few of them. So my question to y'all is, are there any planes that are similar to the PBY Catalina (shape and size)? Thanks for taking the time to write a answer.
Honestly, starting with buying a Catalina as a new pilot seems a bit strange to me. You have to think bigger! I wouldn't settle for anything smaller then a Martin Mars, I'm sure you can get a good price on one too!
Martijn
-
- PatrickZ80
- Posts: 5801
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
I'm thinking about the ShinMaywa US-2. Not very cheap, but a modern floatplane with good range and performance. I'd say it is the modern variety of the Catalina.
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Looks like he was just about a year too late for the Martin Mars
http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/oshko ... index.html
http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/oshko ... index.html
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Thanks for all of the replies. I should have spesified that I want to use the plane for things like traveling around the world and visiting people in other countries. I am fresh out of school, so I am not exactly made out of money, furthermore, the plane should not be to big
-
- RoySFlying
- Posts: 257
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Have you considered an amphibious floatplane? Something like a Cessna 206 with floats might be suitable if you don't want anything too large. Or, if you want something that you can turn the passenger or freight cabin into living accommodation, how about a Cessna 208 floatplane? Neither has the range that the Catalina PBY has but at least you can get parts, so they would be easier to maintain.
Bear in mind that although you might be able to get away with not having a hangar, you may still need to pay things like mooring fees in addition to the ongoing costs of keeping an aircraft.
Bear in mind that although you might be able to get away with not having a hangar, you may still need to pay things like mooring fees in addition to the ongoing costs of keeping an aircraft.
-
- PatrickZ80
- Posts: 5801
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Or maybe the DHC-6 Twin Otter with floats is what you're looking for.
The Catalina is quite large and because it's a classic it's also quite expensive, so I guess that's not the aircraft you were looking for. The Cessna 206 or 208 or the Twin Otter are a lot smaller and they all come in an amphibious variety.
The Catalina is quite large and because it's a classic it's also quite expensive, so I guess that's not the aircraft you were looking for. The Cessna 206 or 208 or the Twin Otter are a lot smaller and they all come in an amphibious variety.
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Hmmm, you are fresh out of school and supposedly landed a job, you admit that you don't really have that much money, but also don't seem to know the true cost of operating an aircraft... 
Just a small point, consider the fuel costs:
A PBY will cost 5000 - 6500 NOK per hour, just in fuel costs. For that you get the miserably slow true airspeed of just 115 knots.
IMHO, this is what you want to realistically look at. Much faster
Sea planes can't stay in the water year round. They need to come out of the water regularly.
Just a small point, consider the fuel costs:
A PBY will cost 5000 - 6500 NOK per hour, just in fuel costs. For that you get the miserably slow true airspeed of just 115 knots.
IMHO, this is what you want to realistically look at. Much faster
spinnern wrote:so I thought i should by a waterplane, as it would eliminate the need for storage
Sea planes can't stay in the water year round. They need to come out of the water regularly.
Re: Need help buying an airplane
I was thinking about a amphibious aircraft becuase I wanted to travle the world, and this would be easly achieved with a plane that acually has some internal space, aswell being able to stay in the water for extensive amounts of time
-
- PatrickZ80
- Posts: 5801
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
Amphibious aircraft are a good idea of course and I understand some internal space is very comfortable. However, make sure to not make the aircraft too big since the general rule is that the bigger the aircraft the more it costs. Smaller aircraft are much cheaper to buy and operate. Therefor you might want to sacrifice some of that internal space to keep the costs down.
Re: Need help buying an airplane
spinnern wrote:I was thinking about a amphibious aircraft becuase I wanted to travle the world, and this would be easly achieved with a plane that acually has some internal space, aswell being able to stay in the water for extensive amounts of time
Land based aircraft have no problems travelling the world. A SAS captain flew all the way from North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope in a Tiger Moth. In other words, you could do it in a Piper Cub or some sort of modern ultra light with no major issues at all for the fraction of the cost.
-
- andymartin
- Posts: 168
- Joined:
Re: Need help buying an airplane
I think there is a Shorts Sunderland in a museum somewhere that you may be able to make air, and sea worthy!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests