I Bought a Cherokee 6 for Less Than $30K and It Changed My Life | An Airplane Renovation Story

welcome back to silicon flying monkey a lot of you been asking about the airplane I fly in the videos holding this airplane has changed my life and I want to share a story with you it all started back in 2015 I was working hard finishing up my private pilot license and I thought what am I gonna do with this license so I told my wife I said I think I want to buy a plane and she was like yeah only if you want a divorce you know I'm terrified of small planes so I rented a hangar bought a four-seat Piper Cherokee Challenger cruising speed of about 115 knots on nine gallons per hour with a nine hundred seventy pounds full load my wife looked in the cockpit for the first time she said uh-uh no way but she eventually came around it was a great plane fast enough to get us a few places didn't use too much fuel easy to maintain pretty economical to own we had a really great time in that plane site team flights taking friends up and lots of little trips [Music] the partner who flew the more stuff we found ourselves taking I got to thinking we need a bigger plane she was like ha ha very funny I was like I can make it work so I sold the four seater to some really nice guys in Illinois and said goodbye to it I did a bunch of research and decided the right combination of useful load speed and economy to own for me was a Piper Cherokee since the suburban of disguise it's a 3400 pound max gross 6 seed airplane that has a useful load of around 1,400 pounds depending on the model year and equipment and cruises at about 140 knots with a range of 800 to 900 nautical miles on anywhere between 12 and 15 gallons per hour of AB gas after owning a plane for a couple years I had a pretty good idea of the equipment I would want in the next plane with all the new avionics stuff coming out it would be hard to find a plane already equipped with that stuff I also figured my next plane might be my forever plane so I had something specific in mind I started looking at the online classifieds my super patient and kind airplane mechanic buddy Don in Florida was helping me look and he said hey I think I found a plane that could be a great blank slate it was a high time used to be cargo hauler that had a run-out engine at just under 2,000 hours terrible avionics a dreadful interior and bad paint Don was like if the airframe is sound it could make for an interesting project I can restore this thing how patient are you I was like I'll make the spreadsheets in California and you do the work in Florida and he was like okay Don swung by the airplane in Tennessee and inspected it looking for major air worthiness issues that would be deal-breakers he said it looks like it was written hard and put away wet but it's all good I negotiated the price with the seller to just under $30,000 Don picked up the plane and flew it home to his place in Florida and began the work the first thing to do was to deal with the engine he said it made great power on the flight from Tennessee you could probably get a lot more time out of this thing but I was like my family is gonna be riding in this thing let's just overhaul the engine and he was like okey-dokey so he took the engine off and opened it up sure enough it was super clean with no corrosion in there and in great shape but we went ahead with the overhaul anyway I had a new avionics tack wired up by an avionics shop avid ion IFD 540 a DSP out transponder Skytrax a DSP n Garmin SL 30 comm radio PS engineering PMA 450 a audio panel and Don installed the JPI 900 engine monitor he stripped out the interior and we ordered leather seat covering side panels headliner and carpet from air Tex we ordered up all new plastic interior pieces also and replaced a few windows Don got the engine work done back together and on the plane after the main flight he said this thing takes off like a scalded dog and climbs like a homesick angel he broke the engine in and flew the plane to the paint the plane got sanded and painted over the next couple weeks and then Don picked it up and installed the interior eighteen months after I purchased the plane I finally went to Florida to see it for the first time and pick it up and I sure wasn't disappointed Don had done a brilliant job after an awesome pancake breakfast and thanking God for his amazing work my new CFI buddy Nick and I flew the plane back to California what a trip but we weren't done with the upgrades yet I had on the plane for about a year dinah avionics announced that their HDX system would be approved for certified aircraft I told my wife I've been putting a glass panel and autopilot in there would make it safer she was like I think it'd be safer for you to stop so I did a bunch of research on avionics shops and settled on Singh aviation in Florida I had a freelance job over in Florida and combine the work trip with the panel upgrade Jesse put in a dine on HDX system true track autopilot and a suite custom panel overlay in the record time I actually made some in-depth videos about these avionics so feel free to check those out on this channel [Music] after the panel war I flew the plane back home to California this airplane has changed our lives despite some initial resistance to the idea it's a stable IFR platform super comfortable for long trips relatively economical to own and pretty easy to fly in and out of almost any airport we've had amazing adventures all around Southern California's my favorite time to fly we've gone as far as Sedona the Grand Canyon in Seattle it seen some great sights out of these windows like Catalina Island Mount Shasta Crater Lake and mount st. Helens we're just getting started this channel represents the next step in my APA ssin journey and that's sharing what I've learned with you guys just press the button I let go of the yoke along with taking some new adventures together I'm a professional cinematographer and at work I'm shooting and creating for clients agencies and directors and that's definitely super fun and rewarding but with these videos I'm creating exactly what I want to create flying videos that I would want to watch Aviation is unique and that it connects a lot of us who otherwise might seem very different from each other it's been super fun connecting with so many in the aviation community while publishing these videos so if you want to come along on the journey with us subscribe to the channel and if you really want to support this channel in future videos become a member on patreon we're gonna have fun over there thanks to everyone who helped me out along the way until next time thanks for coming along on the journey with us

Channel: SoCal Flying Monkey

Views: 1,265,071

Rating: 4.9177904 out of 5

Keywords: piper cherokee renovation, airplane renovation, airtex interior installation, airtex interior, dynon hdx certified, dynon hdx installation, complete airplane restoration, avidyne ifd540, avionics upgrade, plane savers, aircraft restoration, piper cherokee 6 restoration, piper cherokee 6, piper pa32, best piper cherokee 6, buying an airplane, how to restore an airplane, how to renovate an airplane, piper cherokee 6 interior, piper cherokee 6 300, piper cherokee 6 pa 32

Id: lRmgSPqhTMM

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/DontTreadOnStingrays]

Did you buy a Cherokee 6 for under $30K and if so, did it change your life?

[u/sdflysurf]

nice shout out to Kern Valley via drone.

This should really be titled - "I paid about $150K for a customized Cherokee six but waited 18 months for it"

Good job though - looks fun.

[u/SANMAN0927]

I bought one for $30k and I went broke.. that’s how it changed my life.

[u/mr-handsy]

I prefer to desensitize myself to my airplanes supposed inadequacies. It’s much cheaper that way. Also, I have more fun. :)

The keys to a successful outcome in this story is a patient owner and a fantastic mechanic.

Edit: OP: I’m not knocking. The final product is certainly great, and as a fellow local guy, I hope to run into you guys some day with my own family aboard. And I’m jealous of the extra room to be honest. I fly a plane out of WHP from time to time.

Don’t forget to have fun and as always, be safe out there.

[u/Fukrguns]

Ok you bought one of my favorite GA planes for 30k cool. How much did you put into it on top of the 30k. That’s what we really want to know.

[u/Spitfire222]

First of all, congrats on the aircraft, it's really stunning. It's definitely an inspiration for buying old planes and not just breathing new life into them, but customizing them to your wants. Well done on the video too, your professional video skills really shine through. I laughed at your in-bed reading material, and the shots of your daughter/mechanic flying the plane. Keep it up!

[u/lmfaileron]

I want a PA28. I just want it. It looks just right. My ultimate goal in life will be moving to America and fly with my good little 180 enjoying my retirement.

[u/droofe]

do you have a video on the breakout of the cost to get it from where you bought it to where it is today?

[u/Zeus1325]

Hey OP, your A&P looks a little young. I think they also might be trying to hide their identity with a fake mustache. I'd check on that if I were you