words, try to avoid becoming upside down on each upgrade, but not at the expense of years of enjoying your perfect airplane. In the case of the panel upgrade, I offered a scenario. Suppose the complete new panel ultimately “loses” half its value when the airplane sells. Over the course of 20 years, this amounts to little more than a cell phone bill every month. And chances are the appreciating value of the airplane itself will absorb that amount and then some. The flip side is to live with an airplane that’s almost perfect but annoys you in the same persistent manner throughout every flight. For panel guy, this would mean living with a panel that’s VFR-only or IFR-capable but imperfect. Personally, I’d almost rather have the option that’s far from perfect because I find almost perfect to be maddening. For engine upgrade guy, this would mean one of two things. He could live with the relatively anemic thrust, takeoff, and climb ability of the stock 170. Alternatively, he could sell it and upgrade to the 180—but that would introduce higher fuel burn, higher insurance rates, and years of finding, buying, and sorting an airplane to get him back into the groove of stable, predictable ownership. For him, putting the finishing touches on an almost perfect airplane seemed to make the most sense. Ultimately, I provided both owners with the same advice. Look at the cost of a major upgrade over the entire length of time you expect to own the airplane and take the appreciating value of the airplane itself into account. Twenty years from now, it’s unlikely any of us will look back and lament missing out on an additional $125 per month on an individual upgrade. But it’s entirely likely we’ll look back on a couple of decades of flying adventures made that much safer and more epic by taking place in the perfect airplane. ]
The total cost of a panel overhaul can total roughly $60,000 in this scenario, in parts and labor.
I asked both owners a few key questions, including how long each expected to own their airplane and what they enjoyed most about it. Their replies were predictable. They loved their airplanes and expected to continue flying them for another 20 years or so. Each had already spent significant time and effort to get them sorted and set up to their liking, and in each case, the upgrade they were considering would eliminate their least favorite aspect of the airplane. It ultimately came down to the question of whether each upgrade must earn its place and someday recoup its entire cost. I advised the owners to pay attention to this factor but not live by it. In other
JASON McDOWELL is a private pilot and Cessna 170 owner based in Madison, Wisconsin. He enjoys researching obscure aviation history and serves as a judge for the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. He can be found on Instagram as @cessnateur.
Amortized over the years between the panel redo and selling the aircraft, the monthly cost could pencil out to less than a cell phone bill.
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