Page 28 - April21T

Owner’s
Corner
Buyer’s Rejoice
First Month as Aircraft Owners
by Jared Jacobs, Owner-Pilot
aviation circle – owner-pilots, salespeople, instructors, A&Ps, etc. We are super fortunate to be connected to many knowledgeable and experienced pilots both personally and professionally. We then established our mission and prospective aircraft in the September 2020 Editor’s Briefing (“The Search is On”). In that article we explain that we really needed a cross-country machine with a capable IFR platform and listed a few of the obvious models that would meet that criteria – Mooney M20J, Cessna 210 and Beechcraft Debonair/Bonanza. Thanks to dozens of reader responses following that article, a few other aircraft were considered for the shortlist, but in the end, it was all going to come down to the almighty dollar. As first-time owners, we definitely did not want to overextend ourselves. However, when the prospect of a partnership became a real possibility in December, the budget and wish list started to more closely align. Co-ownership was a true gamechanger.
Let me pause here and confess that of the aircraft I listed above, there was one that already stood out as “the” airplane for us...the Bonanza. In our hearts, we are Beechcraft people. We wear the scarlet “B” with pride. Rebecca was raised in the back seat of an F33 and later an A36. And my first real pilot job was f lying and demonstrating Bonanzas and Barons for Beechcraft. Looking back on our initial search, we were always comparing the other aircraft to the Bonanza. And now that we own one, I can’t tell you the number of people who have told me, “I always knew you would end up with a Bonanza.” It was less simple for us
Aircraft being the high-value, highly complex mechani- cal assets that they are, I am certain that buyer’s re- morse is a real condition owners can potentially find themselves in. While Editor Rebecca Jacobs and I could very well be in the honeymoon phase of ownership, we currently find our- selves in the exact opposite state – with a case of what I am calling “buyer’s rejoice” (insert eye roll here).
As I write this, we are exactly one month into (co)ownership of our beautiful 1970 F33A Bonanza. Over the last month, 121RW has been discussed daily, visited frequently, and flown about 10 hours (despite the arctic vortex that shut down the Midwest for a week and a half).
If you are reading Twin & Turbine, chances are you have purchased an
26 • TWIN & TURBINE / April 2021
airplane (or multiple) and hopefully have fond memories of the experience. I imagine we also have some readers new to the world of general aviation or with life-long dreams of buying an airplane of their own (especially in a post-COVID era). In any case, Rebecca and I think there is value in continuing to share our story and perspective as first-time purchasers, whether to resurface memories for some or .inspire others. You can expect an update from us every two or three issues. Also, for tips for first-time searchers, see this month’s Editor’s Briefing – page 2.
Why the Bonanza
Naturally, when our search began at the end of last summer, the biggest question that needed answering was, “Which aircraft is right for us?”
To start, we gathered advice from everyone we could think of in our