Who's flown a Pacer?

[C5Engineer 1170]

I've came to the conclusion that being the slowest guy in the group, realizing that 2-strokes can and do quit, and not including my family in my flying is hindering my flying. I am looking at a really clean 58 Pacer 22/20. It has a fresh 0-320 with 160hp. It's really nice and almost show quality. Has most of the desirable qualities in one. Next step is flying it. I loaded up the wife and kid today and that part is great. There's mountains of 172 vs Pacer threads out there along with shortwingpiper club forums. Just curious if we have anyone here besides Leni that's owned and operated one. Don't worry I would keep my Avid if I do pick up a lead sled. 

 

 

[EDMO 1078]

Never saw Cessna pedals in a Pacer before!  My only go was (naturally) in a Tri-Pacer.  Last one I was offered was $6K, but some years ago. 

$32K sounds redickuless to me!   EDMO

[C5Engineer 1170]

Price is a little high Ed but a fresh 320 is worth is 22K all by itself. It has the Cessna brake stc and Cleveland double puck brakes. It's ready for big tires haha. 

[Bandit 286]

I flew with Don Lee at Alaska skis and floats a few years ago. He flies a pa 20 for instruction. He said the pa 20 is about a 3rd the price of a super cub. He loved the pa 20. We had 3 people on board with skis and a 160 horse engine. It is a good airplane. Don is one of the higher time bush pilots in Alaska now. He also has the most glacier landings on Denali. Its hard to argue with experience like that. $32 k is steep but it looks to be in good shape. A nice family airplane. Joey I also have been looking at T-crafts, I owned one back in the 70', super airplanes. The only draw back for me is Trick Air skis are not certified on them, going to do some looking at Airventure though. Remember Ed we are in the 0's now. It is not 1960 anymore. I would rather have a pa20 for that price than a over price Kitfox or Avid type airplane.

[EDMO 1078]

Price is a little high Ed but a fresh 320 is worth is 22K all by itself. It has the Cessna brake stc and Cleveland double puck brakes. It's ready for big tires haha. 

Joey,  You just have to remember that I was flying when a new 150 was $8K, and I was making about $3 an hour as a toolmaker!   Sometimes hard for me to catch up with the world when Cessnas are over $100K and Kitfoxes about $60K.  It's a pretty nice bird.    EdMO

[Dusty 126]

Check out You Tube "Wairau Rafting" these are an awesome plane(pacer)

 

[EDMO 1078]

Joey,  I still have the nose-gear mount for the Pacer - You could use it when you get too old to fight the tail....   

I brought it from Lake Hood, Alaska, when we put the Tri-Pacer on floats.    EDMO

Edited 17 Jul 2016 by EDMO

[Bandit 286]

After thinking about this, it seems like now days everybody wants the so called "Bush Plane". In all reality how many people really fly off field? I would be willing to bet if you have $60k in a so called bush plane you are not going to take it off field and beat the piss out of it. Look at all the Super Stols that are for sale for $129k that only have 50 hours or less on them. I think some people are dreaming about bush flying and get in over their heads with their decked out airplanes and realize they have way to much money in them to be practical , so  then they want out. Take my Bandit, I love the looks of the tall gear and big tires, but do I land off field other than winter, No !  I will say I do lots of ski flying when the conditions are right though. There are much better deals out there with Ga airplanes, T-crafts, Champs, Cubs ect. Although my Bandit with the 503 has been pretty much trouble free for 1200 hrs, you always have that engine out in the back of your mind.

[EDMO 1078]

Ad says "Motivated Seller" - Maybe room for an offer on it?   Although I have never seen the Cessna pedals on a Pacer, the other "improvement" I would suggest, (If you could get a field approval), would be to replace the steering wheels with a Cessna horn type, or if you have $$$ to spend, get the square tips with VGs from Stewarts.  It don't float like a J3 or SuperCub, but it will get you there faster - You just got to get used to it, like any bird you fly.  (Hint - Take it out solo and "Fly it like you stole it") !!!  - I think I heard those words from someone long ago!  EDMO

Edited 17 Jul 2016 by EDMO

[Av8r3400 1178]

I'll leave the price to you, Joey. 

A Pacer is a great plane.  A good hauler and fast enough to go on a trip and economical enough to not break the bank on annuals and fuel.  If the gear is set up right they are honest on the ground, and your Avid will have trained you enough to handle it.  (On the contrary if the gear is misaligned they can be a handful, but again the Avid is great training.)  Loose the engine and they glide like a concrete block, though.  

TriPacers are super cheap.  Real PA20s getting rare, but PA22s with a conversion  (this must be a converted tri?) are easy to be had, but both can quickly sucker punch you with engine and fabric problems making them serious money pits.  Imo, you are always money ahead to let someone else do the rebuild/overhaul and debugging, then buy. 

Millions of sources on what to look for (struts, tail corrosion, etc.) you probably already know. Get the owner to spring for an annual by a knowledgeable third party AI, and you'll be fine. 

Maybe you can hook up with Dave at OSH.  He's built one (Clipper) and is building another, very similar.  (Modified experimental PA12). He should be over for a day or two. 

Edited 17 Jul 2016 by Av8r3400

[C5Engineer 1170]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Price listed is the barnstormers price. This one has 153 on a SMOH engine and the fabric is only 3 years old and appears really nice. set up a flight on Monday to go and see how I like the short wing pipers. 

[MarkD 53]

Joey,

Because no one else has....a few words of caution to consider:   Pre-buy inspection with AD search and compliance, must see all STC's documented for approved modifications, require full access to the log books.  You are moving into the "Certified" world, CAUTION, Buyer Beware.

A proper annual will run between $2500.00 and $5000.00 if there is nothing to fix. (Note: there is rarely nothing to fix in an annual)

As for flying, it will be better handling and more docile than your Avid but not as well behaved as a C-150.

MarkD

[horsepower 24]

Looks good Joey,I always wanted a Pacer just never worked out.Put a few hours on a Vagabond took me awhile before I could keep it straight but you will have no problems.Around here a annual would be no where near 2500.00. Hope it works out for you.Randy

[C5Engineer 1170]

Cancelled my flight this morning after looking thru the logs yesterday. Wings were replaced in 2013 with 12 rib wings instead of the 13 rib ones. Tons to research with just that. It's been repainted 4 times since 1996. Empty weight seems about 40-50 lbs heavy. After spending 7-8 years learning everything I could about Avids it's rough starting all over again. If I go down the certified road it has to have a very specific mission and not sure yet if a pacer fits that.