I have a bit of a conundrum here.

As of now I don't have much stick time. I have soloed, but not attempted any landings yet. Despite this fact, I have the opportunity to pick up another plane in the nest few days. I have to buddies at work, each with a plane they would like to sell me.

The first guy has a 40 sized Ultra Stick that he bought not to long ago. This guy is new to the hobby (newer then me) and spent alot of time flying and got the stick after about 3 weeks. He now no longer has the time and would like to sell off his plane, radio, and equipment. I get the feeling that he would love to sell it all in one go, but I have no use for his radio and equipment. He has a futaba 7c (I think the pcm version). While it is a nice radio, it would force me into buying new crystals for my receivers which I am not up for doing. Also, I am planning on buying a JR 9 or 10 channel once summer gets here. the only reason I would take the radio is if I got a good enough deal that it would be worthwhile for me to try and resell it. Currently I fly with an old skysport 6 and an old 8ch Jr, which are both perfect for my current needs.

The stick has not been abused, has an evo .46 on it that has had maybe 1/4 gallon through it (maybe 4 flights total) and is in great shape. Chances are he still has the box and the quad flaps at home (which I would put on there.)



The second guy is wanting to sell off a lanier razor. This plane has taken some abuse and has some damage, but the gentleman is in the process of repairing it and is excellent at repairing planes so I will not doubt the quality of the repair. He is selling this plane because he recently picked up a new Razor and engine from lanier for $130 during an after New Year's sale of some such. Great deal for him, so he is wanting to part with the airframe for cheap, like, $20 cheap. He might even cut me a good deal on the engine since he doesn't need it and I don't have a spare .40 and would rather keep my magnum .46 on my Avistar then transplant it.

So, thats my situation. Yes, granted, I know I am not close to being competent enough to flt either of these planes yet, but that is not a factor here. I am a slow and meticulous worker without much free time, so if I get one of these planes soon, I will have just finished equipping it and setting up by the time I reach the level needed to successfully fly those planes.

I have considered getting both and flying the stick first as I think I would be happy with that for a long time to come, but rent comes first and while the Razor airframe is cheap, equipping it won't be. I am also sure that the first gentleman would like to get back at least some of his investment, and I would feel bad for not giving him a fair price.

I would appreciate any thought someone might have on the subject. If I can scrape the money together to make him a decent offer, I will get both planes, but right not I am leaning toward the Razor since it will be a complete airframe that I can take my time with equipping, while the Stik would cost my a large amount up front and would sit around until I am ready for it.

Maybe I will get the stick too and send the radio with a friend to the Perry show to try and sell.

If it were me, I would get both if I could. You could always keep the servos from the stick and throw the transmitter and stuff on eBay. Better yet, keep them around, you never know when you might need or want another radio. As for the Razor, definitely wait until you get a little more experience before flying it but it looks like a fun plane. I would think about flying the stick first.

Ya, Thats what I am leaning toward.

Can anyone give me any idea what would be a fair price to offer him?

A "fair" price for used equipment is pretty hard to determine.

The Ultra Stick and Evo46 is available as a combo from Horizon for $215. The 7C is $250 with PPM receiver and $290 with PCM. His investment is $465 or $505 (at least that's what it would be to buy it today) plus the cost of a 5th servo and a few accessories (maybe $500 or $540 total).

I've seen lots of used stuff (in very good condition) sold for 50% of cost. I've also seen what looked like "junk" sold for probably 80% of cost.

Some of the used stuff auctioned on ebay sells for more than cost (never did understand that).

My best friend and I drag raced a car in the NHRA for a while. When it came time to sell, I asked a few people how to price the car. The most common answer was "Add up the cost to replace every part in the car with no labor added. Divide that in half to get an asking price and work down from there until it sells." It actually sold for about a third of replacement cost.

Thanks carrellh.

I give it some thought and see what I can figure out. I would kinda feel bad about giving him an offer substantially less they what he invested, so I will have to see what I can up with.

I do agree thought. I have seen stuff go for weird prices before. I guess I could send the unneeded stuff to the Perry show, but I am told that I would probably end up with a better value if I used it myself.

It is very hard to recoup anyhwere close to a ful investment in many things. Sorry to hear about the cost of the car. It always pains me to hear about a great car going for a very very low price.

I'm sorry, but if you have not landed, you have certainly NOT soloed. A solo consists of a complete flight operation in which YOU are the sole operator of ALL of the controls from the time the time the engine is started until the airplane is safely back on the ground and the engine turned off. This doesn't sound like what you did. Ideally it should also include all of the aircraft preparation/setup time as well to qualify.

Fair enough Bruce.

Please don't worry. I know the limitation of my skills and will not allow ego and arrogance to.... "devalue".. my investment. I am a very patient person and put lots of time into what I find interesting, and I make sure my time is not poorly spent.

You are right, solo is not the appropriate term, but I am a fast learner and would it not be for the sun setting so early in the afternoon I would have more motivation currently to repair and get back in the air. As it is, I work 11 and a half hours days with only 3.5 hrs off free time, so I covet my weekends with my friends to much at this point do devote the time needed to repair the two wings. I also will ot finish covering the fuse until the wing is done so I can get a brief idea of balance with the different wings and try and reach a median between the two.