Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickt
Mark, I'm not going to bug you about it and, frankly, I don't care whether you get yourself in financial trouble or not. But I will offer up some unsolicited "fatherly advice." If you're dead set on getting a Cobra and financing it, why don't you first try putting your down payment into an interest bearing account and then make the anticipated monthly payments for a year in to that account. You can't miss a single payment (for any reason), and you can't touch that money even for emergencies. If after the end of a year that didn't bother you, then pull the money out and get your Cobra. The year will also give you a chance to shake off a temporary bout of "Cobra-Heat" -- if you haven't shaken it off in a year it's probably the real thing.
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Actually, thats kinda what I'm doing. We're putting away about 1K per month, half that is dedicated to retirement and is untouchable (Roth IRAs and such), the other half is going into short term CD's and is also semi untouchable for the time being. I'm waiting at LEAST a year to build up the savings, and wait on the market.
There will come a point in the Cobra market that waiting & saving will yield diminishing returns. The prices will eventually start to go up again. Thats the sweet spot I'm waiting for. If I can land a nice used ERA or SPF and only finance around 20-25K tops, I've hit my mark.
I'm in the research phase of the process now, and as I come upon stuff, I'll post a question & see what the responses are. I'm in no hurry to spend a ton of $$$. The neat thing is the more I learn, the more nice folks (owners) I meet, the more I find that I like.
My reality is this: I have an Ego, and I have this insatiable need to go fast & pull Lotsa G's. An inverted flat-spin in a Pitts is my idea of a good time. Unfortunately, My budget will not allow for the cost of an Aerobatic airplane, hangar space, insurance, fuel & maintenance. Plus, nobody in my family really likes to fly, ESPECIALLY the way I like to fly. I gave up motorcycles because, after scraping up the umpteenth motorcyclist from the road, there was no way I was gonna put my wife or kid in the back of my bike again, and riding alone kinda sucks.
The Cobra fills the bill for my Ego & familial involvement, and I can kinda afford it to.
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