For Sale: Aircraft 17204TT...at what point is too much

Mahneuvers

Mahneuvers

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Mahneuvers
Curious what people think of this plane. I've spent the day researching 182s. Someone mentioned in an earlier thread 8000 TT as being something they would avoid. I saw this add and wondered if it would ever sell.
 
Mahneuvers said:
But would you buy it? Others have already told me to run.
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How long do you intend to keep it? What's the price difference between it and the a 6000 hour plane? What was it used for to rack up that many hours?
 
Why? The flight school planes I was using were 10k plus hours.

The so called official limits form Cessna is what? 30k?
 
Mahneuvers said:
But would you buy it? Others have already told me to run.
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You'll find just like damage/repair history there is a common belief among some people that high time airframes should also be "ran from." However, its not the number of hours but how those numbers were flown and maintained. From a maintenance point, I have seen 3000TT aircraft I wouldn't go near and 20,000-30,000 TT aircraft I would ride and maintain all day long.

Same view with "damaged" aircraft as it is how it was repaired vs the damage its self. Regardless, I've never told a customer to run from any high time or repaired aircraft and it was the whole package that was important at a reasonable price. And yes I would buy the aircraft if the price fell within my calculated range.
 
RyanShort1 said:
:p How long do you intend to keep it? What's the price difference between it and the a 6000 hour plane? What was it used for to rack up that many hours?
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Exactly. Having no idea how it was used, was wondering when to just ignore.

After two partners bailed, I'm now on my own. I'm finding the first time buying experience to be extremely intimidating. I've found a lot of great information on this site. I've narrowed my search to P, Q R models. I'm in no hurry and will continue to build my knowledge...with help from this forum hopefully!
 
Mahneuvers said:
I'm finding the first time buying experience to be extremely intimidating
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The best input you can get is from the mechanic who will maintain your new aircraft. Even if you're not buying right now you have everything to gain for taking this discussion to his shop as well and see what his limits would be. Offer to buy lunch or pay for a couple hours of his time if need be. Afterall he will be the one who will charge you to fix the issues he determines are not to be right.
 
Bell206 said:
The best input you can get is from the mechanic who will maintain your new aircraft. Even if you're not buying right now you have everything to gain for taking this discussion to his shop as well and see what his limits would be. Offer to buy lunch or pay for a couple hours of his time if need be. Afterall he will be the one who will charge you to fix the issues he determines are not to be right.
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Thanks,. I sent several notes today to find out how people found their mechanics and sent a couple notes to those I know in the field.
 
I'm itching for a project after FlightsForBites.com. Considering how intimidated I am by TAP data, maybe there's an opportunity.
 
I fly a 1970 Cardinal with thousands of hours on it that's going in for annual Monday morning. The thing is, most people don't fly their plane enough in a year to really worry about pushing the airframe limits. We fly ours about 500 hours a year, and we pay maintenance bills that match that kind of usage, but it also gets seen by the mechanic on a much more regular basis than most, so little things get seen and fixed more often, and the stuff that might break from sitting isn't as likely to break because of regular use. You have worries on both ends of the spectrum. Excessive use certainly exposes you to more "wear item" failures but lack of use exposes you to a whole different set of potential gotchas.
 
mandm said:
Day VFR in a familiar area?

Or night IMC ferry flight from the mainland to Hawaii?
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Night IMC ferry is about the engine,fuel systems, and the instruments and navigation equipment, not the airframe. Engine's a wee bit high for that at 1700+ but that would be the factor I'd be looking at.
 
On an airframe with that many hours, I'd be deep in the maintenance books researching the service items for life limited, or required overhaul/teardown inspection parts, before I spent the money on buying it.
 
Craig said:
On an airframe with that many hours, I'd be deep in the maintenance books researching the service items for life limited, or required overhaul/teardown inspection parts, before I spent the money on buying it.
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Non-Destructive fatigue testing might also be an option for areas that might give the purchaser peace of mind.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Exactly. Having no idea how it was used, was wondering when to just ignore.

After two partners bailed, I'm now on my own. I'm finding the first time buying experience to be extremely intimidating. I've found a lot of great information on this site. I've narrowed my search to P, Q R models. I'm in no hurry and will continue to build my knowledge...with help from this forum hopefully!
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Nothing money can’t fix :)

It’ll be an experience. We have iron out most thing on our plane just as the group decides it’s time to step up to something with more capabilities. It helps there is a group of us to pay and to do actual work in it.

Luckily for you a Cessna is something well supported.
 
It may be perfectly airworthy but if you are questioning buying it because of the hours that means when you go to sell it the market will be smaller because of people passing it over with your same concern. It may make it either difficult to sell or you may not get full value for it. Make sure you think beyond just your initial purchase.
 
Get familiar with Cessna SID requirements and note how they assign inspection and testing based on hours and calendar age. Why? Because nobody expected these airplanes to last this long. If the topic plane is inspected to the SID standards? I might consider flying it. From the asset perspective I probably wouldn’t consider buying it. Certainly not at the listed price.
 
kmacht said:
It may be perfectly airworthy but if you are questioning buying it because of the hours that means when you go to sell it the market will be smaller because of people passing it over with your same concern. It may make it either difficult to sell or you may not get full value for it. Make sure you think beyond just your initial purchase.
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Which is why the biggest question is how long he plans on keeping it. If it’s a 20-year “forever” family plane, use the hours as a bargaining issue on the price and make a cash offer. If not, find another.
 
I think the oldest Warrior we have is well over 17k hours and stored outside. But there's also 2-3 full time A&Ps watching all the airplanes.
 
Not sure I’d be a buyer,would have to do a deep dive on the logs,would also plan for an engine overhaul,price seems to be high.
 
Some of FBI and similar 182s I probably wouldn’t be as apprehensive about as this one. Just enough South Florida in it to make we leery of corrosion.
 
Depends on the plane. Strut-winged Cessna? No problem. @ktup-flyer has a high time 182 and it's a very nice plane.

Piper PA28? I think around 5 or 6 hours is where the wings are at risk of coming off :D.
 
Mine has almost 12k hours on it, but it’s always been maintained with an open checkbook, so it’s nicer than most with 1/3 the time. Bought it in July of 2017, I’ve flown it 650hrs+, and it has never left me stranded anywhere. I’m selling it soon for a twin, but I’m sure I’ll end up regretting it.
 
Buy on condition. IMO, the airframe hour number on a plane like this is less relevant than people make out.
 
Couple of items that jump out at me other than the high time.

The aircraft is currently based in south Florida and spends time in the Bahamas. Highly corrosive environment, combined with high airframe time. Any pre-buy better include an extremely thorough airframe inspection.

In looking up the registration and the serial number, I can't find that aircraft pre-Feb 2023. What was its previous registration, previous life?
 
condition has nothing to do with it. The next buyer will assume it's a roach. Buy it like it's a roach, maintain it like it's a gem. If you pay "normal" 182 prices for that, you'll have a steep haircut coming when you sell. Nobody wants to hear about the maintenance "investment", that's for your peace of mind only. :)
 
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