She Turned 70—and Decided to Buy an Airplane

Diane Purcell was looking for something to do to celebrate her upcoming landmark birthday. “I knew I was about to turn 70, and I was talking to my son, who is a private pilot, saying I really want to do something big for my 70th birthday.” “Well, Mom, why don’t you learn to fly?” he said.

Diane thought she was too old to start taking flight lessons. That is until she began receiving a barrage of Facebook posts about people who learned to fly in their 60s and 70s. A trip to Oshkosh and a day spent in the Learn to Fly tent sealed it for her.

She went back to her hometown of Baton Rouge and began flying lessons. She quickly realized, “I really want to fly. I need to buy an airplane.” Since her training started in Piper Warriors, Diane set her sights on the more potent Piper Archer. She and her son found an acceptable 1980 Piper Archer II in Lafayette, Louisiana, and traveled down to examine it.

“I made an offer that day, and then asked, so who do I call? I decided to call AOPA Finance. I’m a member. And they took care of everything. They made it so easy. I mean, every question I had they answered. And I had lots of them. They walked me through the whole process and told me they would have all the data gathered that the lender needed before they even sent it to them.”

Even though Diane is retired, she didn’t have any issues qualifying for a loan.  All she needed to  provide was a statement from her 401(k), her Social Security statement, and two years’ worth of tax returns to demonstrate current income and liquidity, as well as historical income .

When asked if buying her first plane at 70, as a student pilot, was worth it, Diane said, “The lessons I’m taking now I’m actually flying in my own airplane, which is really nice, because I don’t have to worry about somebody changing what’s on the G5 or whatever, or moving stuff around, or it’s not available because somebody needs it for a check ride.”

When asked what her friends think about it, Diane said, “When they get over the initial shock, they’re excited.” When asked if she would recommend AOPA Finance to others, she said, “Oh, I would definitely recommend going through AOPA Finance, absolutely. I bought a house before, and I think it was actually easier than buying a house.”

Great advice. Great rates. Helpful and responsive reps you can trust. Three good reasons to turn to AOPA Aviation 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.