Pre-buy inspections

Remote prebuys are certainly possible. Ask AOPA for help locating a
good mechanic in the area. Or ask your local mechanic for
suggestions.

On the other hand. A C150/C152 is a very common airplane. I have to
imagine you can find a suitable candidate within your state or the
bordering ones. If you do, work out a deal to fly it to your local
mechanic for the prepurchase inspection.

I would have my mechanic perform an annual inspection on the aircraft
with the explicit instruction that no maintenance is to be performed,
and if the estimate for repairs exceeds $X dollars, the work is to be
stopped. Make sure the mechanic starts with the potential big ticket
items first.

You can also save some effort by doing an AD search/compliance
analysis on the plane. Find the ADs applicable, and then search the
logs to make sure it has been complied with. THEN, make sure the
mechanic actually checks on the plane to make sure the ADs weren't
just pencil whipped.

-Nathan


On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 04:23:29 GMT, 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?

And, on that note, what is reasonable cost for a pre-buy on such aircraft?

~Paul
~PP-SEL

(Ross Oliver) wrote
You should ALWAYS have the prepurchase inspection performed by
the mechanic/shop who will be doing your ongoing maintenance
and annuals.

That's great if the airplane is local, but often not feasible if the
airplane is far away. Of course one might argue that when buying
something like a C-150 you should always buy local anyway. There are
no great deals on far way airplanes. An airplane that common will
sell locally unless it's overpriced or junk. By the time you hear
about it hundreds of miles away, you can be certain that if it sounds
like a great deal, it's junk.

Expect to pay to have the aircraft ferried to your location, and
ferried back if you decline to purchase, or buy the ferry pilot
an airline ticket home if you accept. Yes, this will cost $$$,
but no one ever said aircraft ownership was cheap. It will be
money well spent.

This guy is buying a C-150. It has a block-to-block (including taxi,
climb, etc) speed of about 100 mph, and a fair operating cost of about
$40/hr, not including the ferry pilot who will expect to make at least
$20/hr plus expenses. For a 1000 mile (each way) trip, you're looking
at spending $1500 - 5-10% of the purchse price - to get the plane
there and back, and you haven't even started paying for the mechanic.
This is not money well spent.

A far more realistic approach is to hire a mechanic (personally
recommended by someone) in the local area to do an inspection. Decide
in advance what the scope should be - the 100 hour inspection
checklist from the service manual is a good choice - and have him
quote you a price. If the mechanic has a flat-rate annual quote that
includes only the inspection, no parts or labor for repairs, ask for
that. Tell him not to repair anything - just put it back together the
way he found it - because the owner will likely insist on that. If
the mechanic isn't comfortable with that, find another mechanic.

If the owner is unwilling to send the aircraft to you, this could
be a tip-off that the aircraft is not up to the trip, or has
"issues" that he doesn't want an independent third party to see.
The aircraft may not be a good buy.

Nonsense. I certainly would not send my aircraft hundreds of miles
from home to be looked over by a mechanic unknown to me without my
supervision. If you want to look at it, come here. Bring your
mechanic.

Michael

Thanks for the responses. The planes I've been considering are not
*that* far away- across the state, or a few hours drive at most. I'm
not talking about flying from WI to CA to look at a 150.

Nope, I don't yet "have" a mechanic although I've chatted with a couple
at my FBO.

Still not sure exactly how I'll go about this. Friday I leave for a
9-day vacation so any airplane buying is going to have to wait until my
return.

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?

And, on that note, what is reasonable cost for a pre-buy on such aircraft?

~Paul
~PP-SEL