Beware the scam-brokers that hide the N number and Serial Number's of the
aircraft untill they get your money "deposit" by law they dont have to give
you your money back after they give you the aircraft info as that is whay
you are buying. Resources: Washington State Bar Association, Better Business
Bureau.

When I was looking for an airplane I lost funds to one of these scam-brokers
that said he would find me what I want for XXX amount when he asked for more
money and produced no results except for junk with liens and hidden damage
history I took the rest of my money and ran. you got lucky that you were
able to get out.

I would buy a properly repaired airplane after I had a title search done and
a pre buy inspection and extra time allotted for inspecting the repair and
things attached to that repair + the log books. If deemed airworthy time for
a test flight and not just around the pattern plot out a nice cross county
flight and test all the systems after about 3 hours 1 way check the
airplane's oil usage out. Call you mechanic have him/her be there when you
return to give the engine a through run through. Grab a sample of oil and
send it in to be tested wait for results don't ever trust the owner they are
just trying to sell an airplane and the brokers are just trying to make
their commission.

If a seller, broker or owner dose not allow you to pre buy the aircraft or
is not willing to wait of an oil check or title search thank them for their
time and walk. Listen to your gut if the owner give a lame answer for a
simple question or evades the question that a pilot/owner should know then
walk. If they don't let you test fly the aircraft at your expense with them
along then walk as they may be hiding something.

Don't scrape the bottom of the barrel leave some for someone that can handle
the bottom of the barrel.


" wrote in message
ink.net...
Almost bought an airplane. Talked to the guy over the phone. He's
brokering it for someone else. Asked him about damage history. No damage
history, he said.

Now, one thing I always do before I go to see an airplane is I check the
NTSB database. Actually, I do this before I call the owner so I can tell
if
he's lying to me or not. The NTSB database showed no records for the
plane.

So, I flew out (it is in Utah, I'm in Virginia) looked okay. Your normal
spam can. Not overly sweet, but better than average, I thought.

I'm kind of tired of looking so I thought, "what the heck, I'll buy it."
Made the broker an offer less than the asking price. The owner cam back
with a counter, and I agreed.

The broker sends me the contract, and it specifically stated that there
are
no liens on the plane. But, always wanting to be safe rather than sorry,
I
call AOPA to get a title report. Well, I decide to splurge and got the
whole shootnmatch, title search, NTSB report, AD listing, and SD report.

Bam! First salvo hits. The plane has a $40,000 lien on it. "Well," I
thought, "maybe they meant that they were going to pay it off with the
proceeds from the sale."

Whoa! Incoming! NTSB report comes back with that it had a mid-air
collision with a helicopter in 1996. Substantial damage. "Warning!
Warning, Will Robinson!"

Okay, now I'm ****ed. I'm ****ed that they told me there was no damage
history when a midair collision with substantial damage would definitely
qualify as a damage history to me. I'm ****ed that the on-line NTSB
database didn't show me this. I'm ****ed that I spent over $600 to go see
the plane. And I'm ****ed that I don't know who's lying to me, the broker
or the owner.

I called the broker. Told him about the lien and the accident. He was
very
sympathetic. Claims he didn't know. Seems to be ****ed at the owner.
Claims that he looked through the logs and didn't see and major repairs.
(Interestingly enough, the AOPA search didn't turn up any 337's either.)
Before I could tell him that I want out, he offers to let me out.

So, now you know my story. Here's what my inquiring mind wants to know:

Up until the past decade or so, the common wisdom was that you shouldn't
consider an airplane that ever had an accident. Why bother? There are so
many non-damaged airplanes to be had. Recently, however, as the fleet
ages,
the wisdom has since changed to, "well, if the damage isn't recent, it
should be ok." So what do you all think? Never consider a plane with
damage history? Consider it if the damage isn't recent? If so, what is
considered "recent?" How much would you deduct for an airplane with major
damage?