We had visited the Chandler airport a few weeks ago, to inspect an old Cessna, and Steve couldn't get it out of his head. He'd found it by accident, driving around with a friend of his (Martin--that's a whole 'nother post...)
When they passed by the Chandler airport Steve spotted this plane and they drove in to find out about it. The plane's owner had died of cancer back in September, and the family didn't know what to do with the plane. They guessed it was worth $50,000 and that prompted Steve to hire a professional who specialized in those types of planes to really give it a good going-over.
After the inspection, he offered the family $20,000 since there were some expensive problems that needed fixing before it could be airworthy. They thought about it, for a couple of weeks. Steve called back, offered $5,000 more, and they accepted.
We flew down to Chandler in Tony's plane on Tuesday, and Steve finalized the deal with the family. Then he got to work on the plane's engine.
All in all, the repairs didn't take long and soon Steve was flying it around the pattern:
By the end of the day, we were feeling pretty confident so we hopped in and flew it home.
Now Steve's got a smile as big as the moon, because he's got his first plane.
