On 24-Feb-2004, Paul Folbrecht wrote:

I am now getting close to the point where I will be seriously in the
market for an aircraft- most likely a C150 or 152.

I know that I'd be a fool to buy any airplane that I haven't had
inspected by a qualified A&P that is not, of course, affiliated with the
seller. But, let's say I travel a fair distance to another city to look
at an aircraft- I obviously don't know anybody there. I do not have a
pet A&P I can take along on my whim. Does it make any sense to simply
contact a local FBO, conduct a brief "interview" with A&P candidate, and
then let him have at it and pay him? Is there such a thing pilots will
"typically do" in such a situation?


This topic has been addressed several times in different threads, so you
might want to do a Google Groups search.

In my opinion, if you are considering a used airplane located some distance
away, a two step approach is in order. You don't want to be wasting your
time and money going to look at some airplane just because it seems
attractive based on an ad or a phone conversation with he seller. Instead,
get someone local -- an A&P or a pilot you know from that area -- to have a
brief (like 1 hour) look and give you a report. This is NOT a pre-buy, just
a means to winnow out the obvious dogs.

Once you identify a candidate that's worth going to look at, identify an A&P
that can and will do a pre-buy inspection IF you decide to buy the airplane.
In other words, there is no reason to pay for the pre-buy until you've
decided that you want the plane if it passes muster. You should have agreed
on a (maximum) price beforehand, but you may want to re-negotiate (or walk
away from the deal) depending upon what the pre-buy turns up.

How to chose a mechanic for the pre-buy? Ask the seller who generally does
maintenance on the plane and choose a different shop. This may require
taking the plane to another airport, but you ARE planning to test fly it,
aren't you? For names of good shops, you can ask for recommendations from
this group, or check out user comments on Avweb.

For a simple plane like a C-150 I would think that $200 - $300 should buy a
reasonable pre-buy. You're not looking for every discrepancy, just ones
that might mean big maintenance bills or impact safety.

--
-Elliott Drucker