Back in the Hangar: Pilot Reunites with His First Plane—and Buys It Back with His New Co-Pilot, His Wife

Husband and wife Stephen and Jennifer Larson recently purchased a 1968 Piper PA-32, Cherokee Six. He is a 530-hour private pilot with an IFR rating, who originally owned the very same airplane, N745AA, back in 2005. Steve sold the plane in 2014 to a Southwest Airlines captain. It was a move best described as one of enlightened self-interest, both to satisfy a divorce settlement and also to assure his children’s college education was covered.

As the SWA captain moved from base to base, Larson kept a loose eye on the airplane’s whereabouts. In the meantime, he met Jennifer, a clinical neuropsychologist. He got her interested in the Civil Air Patrol as an observer in 2016, and the two married in 2019. Years later, in 2024, Jennifer decided to take flight lessons. It wasn’t long before she decided to take flight lessons. Soon after that, they married. He offered that if she got her pilot’s license, they’d buy an airplane together. When she asked him what kind of airplane he wanted, Steve said, “I want the same damn plane I had.”

One day Jennifer asked Steve, “Why don’t you call the guy that you sold your airplane to?” She pointed out the worst thing that could happen is that he would say no. Serendipitously, the SWA captain had told his wife just two weeks prior that they should downsize. Steve found the captain on FaceBook. About three days later, the two men met on the phone.

That captain had modernized the avionics: two Garmin G5s, a  GFC 500 autopilot, a Garmin GTX-345 and a JPI EDM 900 engine monitor. But he admitted that he’d never sold an airplane before. Steve assured him he had, and then he reached out to AOPA Finance. He downloaded the sample purchase agreement  from the AOPA site, and modified it for their specific purposes. “And then it was typical of my AOPA experience in 2005. It was so smooth. It was so easy,” he said.

The Larsons scheduled a visit to Larkspur, Colorado, on April 21, after agreeing on a price. Steve and Jennifer took a test flight and signed the agreement the same day. They closed on May 15^th, with delivery of the plane to KLHZ from KFLY.

“It probably could have happened faster,” said Steve. “The limiting factor was actually his ability to deliver the airplane. It wasn’t finance or insurance.”

Steve’s advice to first-time airplane buyers: “If you haven’t done this before, the sooner you can get a hold of AOPA and do your homework, understand escrow and insurance and finance, and get that paperwork running, the better.”

A short time later, the student became the teacher. After selling the Piper, James (the former owner) flew to Oregon to check out an RV-7. There, the guy said to him, “I’ve never sold an airplane before.” “I just had a guy teach me how to do it!” James said.

Great advice. Great rates. From helpful and responsive reps you can trust. Three good reasons to turn to AOPA Finance when you are buying or refinancing an airplane. If you need a dependable source of financing with people who are on your side, just call 800.62.PLANE (800.627.5263), or click here to request a quote