N9526J
In 2007 Jeff realized that his love of flying was not going away and that he was tired of renting airplanes. He decided to start looking for an airplane to buy. Jeff trained in Cessna 172s in Wilmington, NC which are a high wing. After he got his license and moved to Delaware he started renting a Piper Warrior (PA28-151) that he really enjoyed flying. It seemed to be a much smoother ride and easier to control. With Pipers being fairly common he decided that this would be a good plane to buy. Another prerequisite was enough power to carry his whole family but not burn too much fuel. It was an easy decision that a Piper Cherokee 180 or PA28-180 is the airplane that would meet the needs and not be overly expensive. Jeff started the search in February 2007 and was on a business trip in Chicago. The first airplane that he evaluated was N9526J located at Lake in the Hills Airport (3CK) in northwest Chicago area. It was a 1966 Cherokee 180C in excellent condition. It had many speed modifications and was a mid-time engine which meant that very little major upgrades would be required anytime soon. Being the first plane that he looked at, he was conservative and took another trip in March to see a couple of more Cherokees. Jeff and Bobby James drove through the snow in Maryland, West Virginia & Ohio mountains to see 2 more planes. These planes were a few years newer than N9526J but they weren’t even close when it came to the condition. Not only that but their prices were higher. Finally Jeff negotiated with the broker and they were able to make a deal. The family traveled to Michigan to see Lori’s family over Easter and Jeff took a day trip back to Chicago to close the deal. During this trip he had a pre-purchase flight & inspection, got a biennial flight review (BFR) and got checked out in the plane. Jeff left the plane in Chicago but returned two weeks later on a commercial flight to pick it up and bring the plane to it’s new home at Delaware Airpark (33N) in Cheswold, DE. Unfortunately in February of 2009 another plane crashed into N9526J while it was tied down on the ramp at 33N. A group of guys from North Carolina purchased the salvage and repaired the damage. N9526J was a beautiful and great first plane to own!
Here are the details of N9526J:
1966 Piper Cherokee 180C (PA28-180C) 3560 Hours Total Time Since New 995 Hour Factory Remanufactured Engine 995 Hour New Black Mac Propeller
Avionics Garmin GMA-340 Audio Panel with Marker Beacons and 4 Place Intercom Narco MK-12D Digital Nav/Com/Omni/Loc./G.S. Narco Escort II Digital Nav/Com/Omni Narco ADF-841 Narco DME-890 Narco AT-150 Transponder with Encoder Apollo 604 Loran Piper Wing Leveler Auto Pilot
Options Knots 2 U Flap and Aileron Gap Seals Knots 2 U Horizontal Stabilator Gap Seals Knots 2 U Wing Root Fairings General Aviation Corporation Main and Nose Wheel Landing Gear Fairings Met-co Aire Fiberglass Wing Tips Mattson Stabilator Tips RMD Aircraft Lighting Inc. Wing Tip Landing Lights Precise Flight Pulselite System 3rd Window Kit Whelen Wing Tip Strobes Copper Battery Cables Tanis Engine Heater Electric Trim Avionics Master Vertical Card Compass Hobbs Meter Dual Push-to-Talk Switches External Power Receptacle Brackett Air Filter 50 Gallons Fuel
Exterior Excellent Allover Gray with Blue and Red Accent Stripes
Interior
Sharp Gray Cloth Seats with Matching Carpet, Sidewalls and Headliner
Impeccable Log Books and Maintenance History