TAP Cruisemasters

lwford

lwford

New member
Time to vent! I just got A Trade-a-Plane for first November. There are two Cruisemasters for sale and not one dame picture to show for them. To me this comes across as don't even bother to talk to these guys as they don't want to show their planes. All the hype about building up the type ETC. is all BS and to me this proves it. Just struck a nerve on my part and I'm venting. Lynn the crate :evil: :twisted:
 
Lynn

Watch the blood pressure :P the one in GA has pictures on the web. Looks like he did a paint job, put on a new prop and is trying to pedal it. If his is worth $42000, yours must be worth about $100,000 with a new rebuild. The pictures look good, and the way it’s painted, it could be easily trimmed back to original. The interior looks very much like the original that I just scraped. If it is a sound aircraft it’s still a bargain compared to any of the spam cans.
 
I too went on a jag about the market value of our beloved airplanes. Then I had to ask myself where their value truly lay. If Triple Tails did not exist how much would I pay for what I feel when I fly mine? Would I have ever known that flying could be this good had I never known of these airplanes?

Now, how many of 'em are there? What are the odds that a pilot would know? Once we know, how much do we have to put up with to keep 'em? Okay, so now we're dealing with people shopping for an aircraft. They're going to come at this entire equation from the opposite direction: practicality first. We've established the slim likelihood that they know these airplanes. They see an ad for one. Never heard of it, and chances are that the photo in the ad - if there is a photo, of course - is the FIRST TIME THEY'VE EVER SEEN ONE. These are not aircraft of legend. They see a complex airplane - complex *and* high performance in some cases - that they don't know, have no reliable parts source for, has a wing made of wood, etc. etc. etc.

And you expect people to put up big dollars for these?

We, all of us, are accidents of fate. By simply knowing of them, and having flown them, or owned them, we have defied long, long odds. And, having known them, we put up with WAY more trouble to keep them flying than owners of most types. You, of all people, know that Lord Ford.

Is there a tougher sell in General Aviation? I think not.

So, again I ask: what's it worth to you? And do you really need the validation of lots of zeros after a number in an airplane ad to make you proud? Having met you, and read your posts over...hell...years, I think not, my friend :D

Jonathan
 
I went ballistic. Now just got a GAN with the add. for the 1957 award winning Cruisemaster. No picture of course. I rest my case as point in question has been made. Lynn :evil:
 
Are all you folks with posts on this topic, trying to sell your Bellancas? Why are you worried about selling prices, unless you are. Better to contemplate selling your GM. stock and take a big loss before it goes toward zero. Rebuilding/Restoring any vintage airplane has never been a moneymaker for the owner. I worry more about the quality of the new ownership of these airplanes. Remember the Cruisair that sold on EBay this summer???????? Went for about twenty grand. Apparently, the 'lucky' bidder doesn't have any intention on flying it or making it right. He's used a big roll of masking tape to seal it from the elements and abandoned it on the tiedown line UFN.
 
Uh....I don't that anybody's thinking of selling, Dan. Did not get that impression, and I think I made the counter argument rather well.

If you want photos, you can get photos, you simply cannot get photos worth a damn in TAP in the print version. Breaking news: print publications are going away, as they should. They're a pointless waste of paper and energy. If you want to see photos of that 'Master going for 42k, click here http://www.trade-a-plane.com/specs/viewallphotos?specnum=67026

I read several newspapers every day, but touch no newsprint. I've dumped every print magazine except AOPA Pilot and our newsletter. I'm not going to renew my subscription to Aviation Consumer because I stopped reading the print version and they won't let me pay for just the online access. Nowadays a person wants more than print can deliver: high res photography, video, and sound. Plus I want to comment on what I read, directly to the author and in public view rather than write letters to editors who have the power to have my voice heard or not at their dubious discretion.

Old airplanes have a value contemporary ones do not, but I'm more than happy to see old media vanish, and even static photos of aircraft have got to go too. If you want to sell an airplane pretty soon you'll need HD video, on the ground and in the air so you won't have to waste time and money on phone calls and travel. I think our aircraft will do well if sold that way...not that anybody's considering selling theirs :)

Jonathan
 
Jonathan, You missed the whole point of my post. It has nothing to do with photos; the quality of or the lack of in advertising. As you must know, Jonathan, photos and first visuals have left many buyers astray.You, of all Bellanca owners! BTW, I have personally seen the airplane, that you mentioned and I posted that a few weeks ago. Please review my post and make an appropriate comment. Dan
 
Okay, Dan, I'll get off your lawn. There are plenty of places to play where fellowship, wit, and a touch of poetry coexist with the how-to of flying.

Jonathan
 
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