BABY ACE - N832Z: The Owner's Story
A gorgeous airplane!
January 25, 2011
I was quite surprised to check out your website and see my airplane there! Here's the story: I've owned 9 different airplanes; two of them twice! This is one of the planes I've owned twice.
N832Z showed up on a trailer at the Sumter, SC airport when two of my friends carted it home from some guy's barn in NC. I looked the plane over like a cat exploring a new house as Ben put the wings on and dialed in the rigging. I had already been enamored with the pure fun; simple, and cheap flying a simple tail-dragger could offer having recently bought a nice Champ.
I made Ben promise me on the spot that if he and Tommy ever sold the Ace I would get first shot at it.
About a year later I sold my Champ and bought an RV-4. I loved the plane but wanted to build one myself. (By now I had moved to a different part of the state and lived in an airpark with a nice big hangar next to the house.) The only way I could afford to get an RV-7 kit and still be able to fly would be to get something for less than 15K....(continued below).
I was quite surprised to check out your website and see my airplane there! Here's the story: I've owned 9 different airplanes; two of them twice! This is one of the planes I've owned twice.
N832Z showed up on a trailer at the Sumter, SC airport when two of my friends carted it home from some guy's barn in NC. I looked the plane over like a cat exploring a new house as Ben put the wings on and dialed in the rigging. I had already been enamored with the pure fun; simple, and cheap flying a simple tail-dragger could offer having recently bought a nice Champ.
I made Ben promise me on the spot that if he and Tommy ever sold the Ace I would get first shot at it.
About a year later I sold my Champ and bought an RV-4. I loved the plane but wanted to build one myself. (By now I had moved to a different part of the state and lived in an airpark with a nice big hangar next to the house.) The only way I could afford to get an RV-7 kit and still be able to fly would be to get something for less than 15K....(continued below).
I was thinking about a C-150 but any 150 I could get that cheaply would eat me alive in maintenance and probably not look so nice.
I remembered the Baby Ace my friends had in Sumter. Tommy had already bought another plane in addition to the Ace and Ben was nearly finished building his Acroduster so I figured maybe I could tempt them to sell me the Ace.
After only two months of bugging, begging and pleading; they relented and sold me the airplane to get me off their back. I enjoyed the Ace immensely and it was so affordable I was able to keep building and buying supplies for the project.
My little girl hated that it only had one seat though. At the rate I was progressing on the RV I figured she would be out of high school and we would have missed out on a lot of years of flying together. So I sold the project and the Ace and got another RV-4 that we could both fly in.
My wife got tired of watching the daughter and I zip around doing fun trips on the weekends without her and decided we needed to get a four seater again. She missed the Apache. Well - the high price of gas and now the beginning of the economy taking a dive had brought the price of such planes down considerably. We chanced upon our Apache that we had owned before with a partner. It was for sale now for barely more than we had in our half share the first time. It had been sitting outside and neglected for two years so it took a 3-4 month annual doing the work myself under AI supervision -- to get it up to snuff again.
I was flying for a charter company and started to see the writing on the wall. The same down economy that enabled the purchase of the ole Apache was likely to leave me jobless along with the other tens of thousands of jobless pilots who were already out there looking for the 10 or 15 flying jobs that might come available. I sold the Apache just in time.
I found out Tommy in Sumter had bought the Baby Ace back from the guys I sold it to in Kentucky. I was unemployed and had an empty hangar for six months. The proceeds from the sale of the Apache dwindled; the house went on the market. Then I finally ended up getting a job -- a secure, government desk-job. I had actually received two offers for flying jobs but just couldn't stomach having to always wonder and worry each day if the job would last.
Two weeks after I started the new job I got my first paycheck. I called Tommy and asked; “Hey Tommy, I hear you bought the ole Ace back from the guys in Kentucky."
Tommy repled; "Yeah, I spose you want to buy it back again since you're calling me."
"Yep"; I repled.
"Well, alright”; Tommy said – “wife and I could use the money for our feed store we're starting up."
Two weeks later I picked it up and brought it home - again. Bobby in Kentucky found out I had bought it again. He emailed me. "Hey Brett, let me know when you get ready to sell that thing."
"Okay Bobby"; I replied.
The airplane is outside in my hangar as I write this today waiting for warmer weather.
Regards, Brett
Website Note: Stories from Owners are posted without effort to verify the content and are for entertainment purposes only. The Site Manager
I remembered the Baby Ace my friends had in Sumter. Tommy had already bought another plane in addition to the Ace and Ben was nearly finished building his Acroduster so I figured maybe I could tempt them to sell me the Ace.
After only two months of bugging, begging and pleading; they relented and sold me the airplane to get me off their back. I enjoyed the Ace immensely and it was so affordable I was able to keep building and buying supplies for the project.
My little girl hated that it only had one seat though. At the rate I was progressing on the RV I figured she would be out of high school and we would have missed out on a lot of years of flying together. So I sold the project and the Ace and got another RV-4 that we could both fly in.
My wife got tired of watching the daughter and I zip around doing fun trips on the weekends without her and decided we needed to get a four seater again. She missed the Apache. Well - the high price of gas and now the beginning of the economy taking a dive had brought the price of such planes down considerably. We chanced upon our Apache that we had owned before with a partner. It was for sale now for barely more than we had in our half share the first time. It had been sitting outside and neglected for two years so it took a 3-4 month annual doing the work myself under AI supervision -- to get it up to snuff again.
I was flying for a charter company and started to see the writing on the wall. The same down economy that enabled the purchase of the ole Apache was likely to leave me jobless along with the other tens of thousands of jobless pilots who were already out there looking for the 10 or 15 flying jobs that might come available. I sold the Apache just in time.
I found out Tommy in Sumter had bought the Baby Ace back from the guys I sold it to in Kentucky. I was unemployed and had an empty hangar for six months. The proceeds from the sale of the Apache dwindled; the house went on the market. Then I finally ended up getting a job -- a secure, government desk-job. I had actually received two offers for flying jobs but just couldn't stomach having to always wonder and worry each day if the job would last.
Two weeks after I started the new job I got my first paycheck. I called Tommy and asked; “Hey Tommy, I hear you bought the ole Ace back from the guys in Kentucky."
Tommy repled; "Yeah, I spose you want to buy it back again since you're calling me."
"Yep"; I repled.
"Well, alright”; Tommy said – “wife and I could use the money for our feed store we're starting up."
Two weeks later I picked it up and brought it home - again. Bobby in Kentucky found out I had bought it again. He emailed me. "Hey Brett, let me know when you get ready to sell that thing."
"Okay Bobby"; I replied.
The airplane is outside in my hangar as I write this today waiting for warmer weather.
Regards, Brett
Website Note: Stories from Owners are posted without effort to verify the content and are for entertainment purposes only. The Site Manager