Why you shouldn't just walk away from a buy...

[Anticept]

I have seen people here avoid airplanes just because of time, damage, history of use... and you guys have seen my comments that you should not avoid a plane just because it isn't perfect, been repaired, or otherwise have discrepancies... Being fixated on perfection sometimes burns you harder.

AOPA has an article that put my reasons out there better than I did.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/march/pilot/savvy-buy-or-walk

 

[Ed Cesnalis]

My CT was ordered by Harold Thomas but suffered wing damage in the shipping container 11 years ago.

A technician for Germany flew out and did the repair.  I wanted that copy because it was yellow.  I had my choice of a few but wasn't hung up on the damage.  Turned out to be the best plane ever.

[Anticept]

Even a damaged car can be repaired like new. We're just conditioned to believe damage history means problems, when that's not really the case; it's HOW the repairs are handled.

The big advantage to aircraft is the logs will help you determine if the "how" was up to snuff.

My CT had multiple wrecks. Before and after I bought it. It is the nature of flight training. Just do right by it and it will continue to work well. There's no shortcuts to good maintenance, and really everyone should strive to know what things will cost before getting wrapped up in an airplane!

[rtk]

I almost purchased a hail damaged LSA, but passed since I wasn’t ready to make the financial commitment.  Wish I had as it was an amazing aircraft and the dimples didn’t hurt performance.  (Maybe it made it even faster?). Someone got a smoking deal on that aircraft.

But I passed on other aircraft because they had been used in a flight school.  Especially the ones that didn’t disclose its use as a trainer.  I don’t mind some damage that can be repaired to an aircraft.  But an aircraft that may have had a series of hard landings from student pilots just would be too difficult to overcome.  The suspicious ripple along the aluminum skin on the firewall or along the cowl?  Yup - that was an instant “no.”  But the aircraft that had a wingtip scrape and replacement?  No issue.  As JohnnyBlack stated above... every aircraft should be evaluated on its own merits.

[Anticept]

When things aren't making sense; walk. That's the only time that I believe you can make a blanket statement.

In your Mooney example: you did right, JohnnyBlackCT. I would have done the same. But, this topic is about not going to one extreme or the other. It's about my point of using care and caution. You can find your dream airplane in a hunk of junk if you really know what you are doing. What you think is a perfect airplane can hide some nasty things too. People are very creative at hiding problems, sometimes to the detriment of the rest of us.

But for most people, my point is that if you're shopping for an airplane, do it for the right reasons and with the right kind of attitude. Take the time to do things carefully.

rtk: nothing wrong with a trainer, just take a good hard look at landing gear areas. As you saw, you found a ripple. That's an automatic major strike, it's not cheap to fix. Will it be a problem down the road? Maybe, maybe not. It's not going to cause the front to fall off, but now it might be a weak point that will give out on a good hit later down the road.

[FlyingMonkey]

I wouldn't hesitate over an older airplane or one with a damage history.  But that is where a good pre-buy inspection, from somebody intimately familiar with the type, is worth its weight in gold.  If I was buying an older CT or one with damage history, I'd get somebody like Roger or Tom to do a thorough inspection for me.

[Anticept]

Thanks for the love Morden

[FlyingMonkey]

9 hours ago, Anticept said:

Thanks for the love Morden

Or Corey!  Or Eric!  Whoever knows CTs well in your time zone! 

[WmInce]

12 hours ago, Anticept said:

Thanks for the love Morden

And thank you, Corey . . . for being a valuable resource to the CT community here. It does not go unnoticed.

[FlyRatz]

On 26.12.2017 at 10:07 PM, Ed Cesnalis said:

A technician for Germany flew out and did the repair.  I wanted that copy because it was yellow.  I had my choice of a few but wasn't hung up on the damage.  Turned out to be the best plane ever

I suppose this was Frank? Good guy.