Southern Californian bought a $30,000 plane to renovate and describes the process as life-changing despite the six-figure cost

The airplane – by its very nature – is extremely cool.

It is always a cool experience to see an airplane landing or taking off into the great blue sky.

In a recent video, one YouTuber bought an airplane of his own.

And he documented the entire renovation experience on his channel.

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YouTuber buys a Cherokee – no, not that Cherokee

Eric Haase runs a YouTube channel called SoCal Flying Monkey.

His channel, as you might imagine, is dedicated to all things airplane-related.

Eric has flown planes for a number of years, and has owned a few of them himself.

In this video, released a few weeks ago, Eric explains that he wanted to buy himself a plane.

He explained that he wanted his next plane to be his forever plane.

In fact, his friend Dom found him the plane, which he described as a ‘blank slate.’

It was previously a cargo aircraft, with just under 2,000 hours of flying and ‘terrible avionics.’

Dom said that, if the airframe was solid, it could make for an interesting restoration project.

Eric purchases Piper Cherokee 6

Eric realised that this Piper Cherokee 6 was perfect for him.

Ultimately, Eric negotiated a price of just under $30,000 with the owner in Tennessee.

Dom then flew the airplane to his hangar in Florida, whilst Eric dealt with the admin in California.

The first issue to address was the engine, which was in very good condition.

Dom told Eric that the engine made great power on the flight home from Tennessee.

Although Dom told Eric that he could get a lot more flying out of the engine, it wasn’t enough.

Eric noted that his family would be flying in this airplane, so he asked Dom to overhaul the engine.

The team got to work with the upgrades, with Eric having new avionics and transponders installed.

After implementing the upgrades, Dom flew it to the paint shop.

He said: “It takes off like a scalded dog and climbs like a homesick angel.”

Needless to say, Eric was thrilled with the paint job and the upgrades.

Final upgrades added to Eric’s Airplane

Eric decided to add a new autopilot system to his airplane.

He also adds a new instrument dash to the panel in order to improve the interior of the cockpit.

Eric ends his video by noting how much his Piper Cherokee 6 has changed his life.

He notes that it is relatively economical, comfortable, and easy to fly in and out of ‘almost any airport.’

Eric also notes that the Cherokee airplane has allowed his family to take some of their best trips around Southern California.

In the description of the video, Eric explains that he thinks the total upgrades cost him around $100,000 for the Piper Cherokee 6.

We absolutely applaud Eric and his family for the brilliant work they have done on their new airplane.

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