 Training Plane
On May 27, 6:25 pm, "Robert M. Gary" <N70...@> wrote:
> On May 27, 12:04 pm, Dan_Thomas_nos...m wrote:
>
> > If buying an airplane is to save money on training, forget it,
> > unless you're buying something that's been very well cared for or is
> > relatively new. Sometimes one of our students will decide to do just
> > that, and will find out the hard way (after we've warned them) that
> > airworthiness issures are very likely to crop up when we inspect the
> > airplane before any of our instructors fly in it. It doesn't take much
> > to mean thousands of dollars in repairs before it goes anywhere.
>
> Personally, this sounds very dishonest to me. If the plane has an
> annual signed by an IA why do you need to inspect it again? Do you
> require that your shop do the repairs and inspections? Sounds like
> students who buy their own plane should seek out inde CFIs rather than
> visit your place.
>
> -Robert
You wouldn't believe what we've found in "freshly annualled"
airplanes. Broken exhaust stacks. Missing nuts on strut bolts. Broken
stabilizer spars. Broken wheels, inside where you can't see anything
but where the wheel bearing repack (an annual item) would catch such
stuff. Fuel strainers that appear to not have been apart to clean the
screen since the airplane left the factory 30 years ago. Inspection
covers that have their screws rusted solid because they've not been
off in years, either. Elevator and trim cables wrapped around one
another and chafed halfway through. Mouse nests near cable pulleys
and just waiting for that bit of turbulence to knock them into the
workings and jam them. Corrosion in several forms. Wrong parts
installed. Unapproved (and therefore illegal) repairs.
Too many mechanics are to quick to assume everything looks
good. Some mechanics are really fast at doing annuals, so they can
charge less, so the owner uses these "economical" guys. The shop next
door does the work properly and has to charge more for the extra time,
so he's a "ripoff artist." You most often get what you pay for,
especially if it's at low cost. If you're buying the airplane, you're
getting what the previous owner paid for. And it's so easy to get
airplaneownershipitis that you just have to have that airplane and
it's just been annualled and must be OK. Surely no mechanic would sign
out a piece of junk, right?
Unpleasant surprises might be in store next annual, if not
before.
Dan
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