Finding Your Ideal Aircraft: Bringing the New Baby Home

A repositioning flight becomes a reality check for a new aircraft owner.

Monday, November 21, 2022 at 01:01 PM ET

Verified

The Commander comes home. Nothing quite matches the feeling of parking your new airplane in its hangar. [Credit: Jonathan Welsh]

Key Takeaways:

The author experienced immense excitement upon purchasing his first airplane, a 1992 Commander 114B, comparing it to a Formula 1 victory.
Despite the thrill, immediate post-purchase realities included insurance requirements for dual instruction and the author's own admitted rustiness with complex aircraft.
His first flight as an owner was surprisingly challenging, akin to a student pilot experience, but culminated in a successful landing, securing the plane in his hangar, and a celebratory welcome from fellow pilots.

See a mistake? Contact us.

When I bought my first new car in 1995, the dealership sent sparkly balloons to my door the next day. When my wife and I moved into our house we celebrated with champagne. But when we closed on our airplane just over a week ago, the experience was so thrilling that I wanted to spray the champagne the way Formula 1 drivers do on the victory podium.

But there was work to do. I had to arrange to get the new-to-us 1992 Commander 114B from its longtime home in Lincoln Park, New Jersey (N07) to our hangar at Sussex Airport (KFWN), about 20 nm north.