He's Owned 12 Airplanes in 25 Years. Here's How to Buy the Right One | Mark Woglom E367

Mark Woglom has bought and sold roughly a dozen airplanes in twenty-five years — a new Cessna 182 he learned to fly in, a Baron he never got comfortable in, a pressurized 414, a Cheyenne II XL, four separate Cirrus SR22s, a Vision Jet, a TBM 960, a Citation M2, and the CJ3+ he flies today. Six weeks ago he added an Icon A5, because you can't go sightseeing in a jet.
Along the way he built a framework for making the decision the rest of us agonize over.
In this episode we cover:
• The three F's — finances, features, and function — and why mission is the one most buyers skip
• The "fourth F": buying the wrong airplane, and how to avoid it
• Why he never trusts manufacturer range claims, broker enthusiasm, or forum consensus
• His normalized fuel reserve method for comparing aircraft honestly, apples to apples
• Real rules of thumb for insurance, capital cost, maintenance, and the ancillary costs that ambush new owners
• Why he took a five-year break from flying while still owning an airplane
• What changed when he decided to earn a type rating in his mid-fifties
• Why his wife's headset ended a turboprop purchase
• Never get plane poor — and why a fuel stop isn't the end of the world
Whether you're saving toward your first 172 or wondering whether the step up is worth it, this one's a masterclass in buying with your head instead of your heart.
Happy Flying,
Justin
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