First-time buyer questions, answered straight
The questions people ask in hangars and forums, with the answers experienced owners actually give rather than the ones that sell airplanes.
Everything below gets asked constantly by people buying their first airplane. The answers are the consensus of owners who have been through it, not the consensus of people selling to them — which is a different consensus.
Money
How much should I have saved beyond the purchase price? Enough to absorb a twenty-thousand-dollar maintenance event in year one without borrowing, plus the acquisition costs — pre-buy, travel, title, escrow, tax, ferry — which commonly run eight to twenty thousand on a mid-priced single. If that reserve does not exist yet, the honest answer is that you are not ready, and building it is a better use of the next eighteen months than shopping.
Should I finance or pay cash? Financing an airplane is normal and the rates are not unreasonable, but the loan does not change the operating cost, which is where ownership actually hurts. A buyer who needs to finance the purchase <em>and</em> is thin on the operating budget is the profile that sells within two years. Financing to preserve a maintenance reserve is sensible; financing because the reserve does not exist is not.
Is a cheap airplane a good deal? Almost never, and this is the single most expensive lesson in general aviation. The purchase price is a fraction of what you will spend, and the cheapest examples of any type are cheap for reasons that transfer to you: deferred maintenance, a run-out engine, missing logbooks, corrosion, an avionics stack nobody will support. A well-kept airplane at the top of its price range is routinely cheaper to own over five years than a bargain at the bottom.
Choosing
What should my first airplane be? Simpler than the one you want. Fixed gear, normally aspirated, a type with thousands of active registrations and a mechanic at every field. Almost every experienced owner says the same thing: buy the simple airplane, fly it for two or three years, learn what you actually need, then move up knowing rather than guessing.
New or used? Used, overwhelmingly, for a first airplane. New aircraft depreciate hard in the first years and the price of entry for most new singles is well beyond what the same mission costs used. The exception is a buyer who specifically wants a warranty, a factory training programme and a known-history airframe, and is willing to pay substantially for all three.
How many seats do I need? Fewer than you think, and this is where buyers most often overbuy. Count the trips you genuinely made last year with more than two people. For most owners it is a handful, and paying for four or six seats you fill twice a year costs you on every hour you fly. A two-seat airplane you fly a hundred hours beats a six-seat airplane you fly thirty.
The process
Do I need a broker? Not for a straightforward single you can inspect yourself, with an A&P you trust. A broker earns their fee on complex, expensive or remote transactions, on aircraft types you do not know, and on finding aircraft that are not publicly listed. See the broker guide for how to tell a good one from a salesman.
Who pays for the pre-buy inspection? You do, and you choose the mechanic. A seller offering to arrange the inspection at their own shop is offering you nothing of value. Expect to pay fifteen hundred to four thousand dollars and consider it the best money in the transaction — it is the only step that regularly saves five figures.
Can I skip the pre-buy if the annual was just done? No. An annual is an inspection to a checklist signed by a mechanic working for the seller. A pre-buy is an inspection on your behalf, looking for the things that decide whether you should buy. They overlap; they are not the same document and they are not written for the same person.
Do I need escrow? Yes. An escrow agent holds the funds, runs the title search, confirms there are no liens, files the registration with the FAA and releases money only when everything lines up. It costs a few hundred dollars on a six-figure transaction, and aircraft liens are common enough that skipping it is a genuinely bad idea.
How long does buying take? Realistically two to six months from starting to look to flying it home, and most of that is finding the right airplane rather than closing on it. Buyers who compress this are usually the ones who compromise on the inspection.
Ownership
Should I put it in an LLC? Common and often sensible, particularly for partnerships and in some states for tax reasons, but it is not automatic asset protection and it has its own filing and insurance implications. This is an hour with an aviation attorney, not a decision from a forum thread.
Do I need a hangar? Strongly preferred, and at many fields the waiting list is measured in years. Weather does slow, expensive damage to an airplane left outside — paint, interior, seals, avionics, corrosion. Find out where you stand on the list at your field <em>before</em> you buy, because discovering afterwards that the answer is a three-year wait changes the budget.
Can I do my own maintenance? An owner-pilot may perform a defined list of preventive maintenance tasks on an aircraft they own and operate, logged properly. The list is narrower than hangar conversation suggests. Everything beyond it needs an appropriately certificated mechanic. Read the current regulation rather than taking anyone’s word for what is on the list.
What will insurance cost? Commonly one to two per cent of hull value a year for a straightforward single with a reasonably experienced pilot, and much more for a low-time pilot in a complex or high-performance type — if they will quote at all. Get quoted before you shop, because the underwriter’s answer can change what you are allowed to buy.