I’m interested in a 1963 Cessna 150D to be used as a time builder. This is the first aircraft I’ve ever been serious about purchasing. I don’t have a mechanic or have any idea how to find an A&P in my area. I’ve been talking to the seller, and he’s got an annual scheduled for this week. From what I’ve been hearing it’s a good idea to have your mechanic do a pre-buy, or just go ahead and do an annual. So where would you suggest I find a mechanic? It’s a 4 hour drive from my location to where the plane is located. What usually happens with that, does he come along for the drive..? Do I pay the owner to fly it up to me and my mechanic takes a look? Thanks for any help!
Go hang out at your local airport and ask a few people who they use and if they were happy. Offer to pay the seller expenses to bring the airplane to the mechanic you choose. I would see if your mechanic would do a prebuy inspection and put that cost towards a full annual if you decide to buy. Some people may not be willing to have an annual done by someone else unless you offer to pay for it.
Along those lines, since it is up to the buyer to do his due diligence, if it were me, I would have my mechanic do a THOROUGH annual inspection on the airplane. And pay for ONLY the annual. Any discrepancies found by the mechanic should be up to the current owner to fix or it becomes a point to negotiate on the purchase price.
Go to your local airport, or airports, and search out a mechanic who the locals are happy with. Work out a deal with that mechanic to go and inspect the plane while it's in it's inspection. The cowling and panels will be opened up, and the logs should be available. An honest mechanic should give you a break if everything is already exposed. You can use any aircraft squawks as bargaining tools in your purchase agreement. If you find issues, don't be a push over, but do be nice about it. Also, know when to politely walk away if necessary.
The typical advice (as above) is to have an independent mechanic to an exhaustive prebuy before purchase. I don't think this is really necessary in this instance. You are purchasing a 50+ year old airplane. It is going to have issues. So why do a prebuy? You are ruling out catastrophic things. Expect that lots of little things are going to break and that your first annual is going to be more expensive. You are making sure that all AD's are complied with (you can do this buy going over the logbooks carefully), that the engine is not showing signs of imminent failure (compression test, maybe boroscope and oil filter cut open), and that the airframe does not have any major corrosion or other issues. 150's are really simple airplanes. If this were me, I would first see about the mechanic doing the annual. If it is being done at a big, regular shop, I'd probably just speak with the mechanic about the condition / issues with the airplane after the annual. It is free to you. Because it makes no sense to spend $500 on a prebuy to be able to negotiate over little stuff on an inexpensive airplane. If it is being done by an independent guy and you want a second set of eyes, then by all means find your own A&P--if it makes you more comfortable with committing to the sale.
The size of the shop has zero to do with the quality of the annual. In fact I’ve seen quite the opposite where the big shops and just pushing them out the door.
I’m in Utah. Thanks for the advice, I’m at the airport everyday so I’ll start asking around. Thanks guys!
