Pre Buy Inspection at El Tiro Gliderport

On Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 7:25:07 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
As I recall, the LS-6 has a single fill/dump valve in the fuselage
behind the seat and a T-fitting to join the two wing bags to the dump
valve.Â* The fill/dump hole is in the bottom of the fuselage behind the
landing gear.Â* It should be cheap to replace or trivial to service given
there are service parts available.Â* All these parts appeared to me to be
hardware store materials.Â* But then, I was not the first owner of the
ship...

On 4/24/2019 7:09 PM, K m wrote:
On Friday, April 19, 2019 at 11:50:54 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Can anyone provide a reference for someone that can do a pre-buy inspection at El Tiro Gliderport? I've already seen the glider in person and feel its a safe purchase but wanted to get a second opinion if I could.

My two main concerns are the ballast system working after 10+ years of not being used and road worthiness of the trailer as it hasn't moved in 3 years.

Are those items typically evaluated on a pre-buy inspection?

I know you can take the bags out and fill them for leak checks, but not sure how the valves can be tested.

Is it possible to check brakes and bears by simply jacking the trailer up and listening for rubbing in the wheels?


Thanks for any advice.
David,
Your idea of jacking the trailer and listening is a good one but keep in mind the bearings might have to be pretty bad for you to "Hear" much. I've done more work on trailers than I care to recall (Up to replacing the metal lower panels on a Cobra trailer) and I will tell you without reservation that the vast majority of pilots never do any kind of preventative maintenance. Just expect the same and price this into your offer.

You said you "Feel it is a safe purchase" and I don't think the bags and valves are a big ticket item. If you feel safe otherwise just assume the worst and price new bags into your offer. I don't know about LS6 valves but I serviced mine with new O rings and all new stainless bolts for a few bucks. If you can't find anyone for an inspection pulling the bags is no big deal (I've seen this done out in the open at contests) and had to do it myself on the road once. Plan a few hours or just rig the ship and fill it and see if it leaks.
Good Luck!

--
Dan, 5J

Don't worry about the trailer - Cobras are well-built and spend a lot of their life just sitting. Tires, on the other hand, are likely to be shot after sitting in the Arizona heat. Likewise water bags and fittings. I wouldn't bother with an inspection, just assume that there's a good chance they may be in bad shape. We Arizona pilots deal with these issues all the time..

Mike