I'm a little purturbed. And discouraged.

[eman1200]

local rental place which will remain nameless had a plane I rented often taken off the schedule due to maintenance issues. the plane is now for sale half way across the country with the standard for sale verbiage....G530! XM Weather! Great P&I !! BLAH BLAH!! just kind of p!sses me off a bit and makes me wonder how many other planes have serious* but hidden issues that people are just trying to pawn off to the next unsuspecting buyer.

*I honestly don't know how serious the issue was but it was enough for them to take it off the schedule.

and yeah, I know, gotta get a pre-purchase inspection, but still....

 

[midlifeflyer]

There are those who are happy to get an airplane with significant maintenance issues. Have you read about the guy who bought a Cherokee that had been sitting on a ramp for 10 years for $1,000 and is now flying it?
www.thisoldcherokee.com

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

what?... you wanted to fly that junk?

 

[ateamer]

If it was a leaseback, the owner might have decided to stop dealing with fairly minor, but recurring and nagging, issues and get out from under it.

 

[Gucci Pilot]

"Maintenance Issue" may have just been the easiest excuse to give to the renters.

 

[coloradobluesky]

Stop looking for bargains. Find a "creampuff". It will be the one that costs the MOST. Go to Tradeaplane.com and pick the model you want. Sort by highest cost first. Go look at one of those.

 

[James331]

"Maintenance Issue" may have just been the easiest excuse to give to the renters.

That's what my money would be on, guy was probably sick of the leaseback game, especially if the plane wasn't local to him, as seen with how it's a long ways away now, and just decided to sell.

Lots more diplomatic compared to saying "you monkeys keep flat spotting tires, fowling plugs, wearing through brakes, messing up interior trim and beating the crap out of the plane and the owner threw in the towel"

The only leasebacks which I've seen work well had local owners who weren't new to aircraft, the planes were lower end, sound mechanically, but not 9.9/10 put on a glass mantel types, also places where the CFIs were ontop of things.

There are those who are happy to get an airplane with significant maintenance issues. Have you read about the guy who bought a Cherokee that had been sitting on a ramp for 10 years for $1,000 and is now flying it?
www.thisoldcherokee.com

These are the things which make me want to get my A&P.

Contrary to popular renter type beliefs sitting around, shy of corrosion, hail, getting hit and the like, isn't the end for an airplane, yeah the paint, windows and interior and seals might be needing some help, but I've seen plenty a A&P buy planes which sat and get them 100% airworthy and flying with not too much effort! Couple of them would lay paint and toss in new glass and make a few bucks.

1k for the PA28, if you could turn your own wrenches that ain't a bad deal at all.

 

[eman1200]

Stop looking for bargains. Find a "creampuff". It will be the one that costs the MOST. Go to Tradeaplane.com and pick the model you want. Sort by highest cost first. Go look at one of those.

Hhmm this really doesn't have anything to do with me looking for a plane or how I look for one. It's more of a "I know something about this plane that other people don't know and that isn't being advertised" kind of thing.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

are you smarter than an A&P?.....and they aren't capable of figuring that out?

 

[drotto]

I know every time a plane at the school I use goes in for annual or 100 hr the schedule has it listed as down for maintenance. So it does not mean the plane has a big issue. I further know (the school does not hide the fact) that they have a trainer plane listed as down for maintenance for almost two years that they have been trying to sell.

 

[wanttaja]

*I honestly don't know how serious the issue was but it was enough for them to take it off the schedule.

This is a tad ambiguous. Do you know what the issue was, but are unsure of its severity? Or do you only know that some sort of issue took it off the line?

Ron Wanttaja

 

[eman1200]

are you smarter than an A&P?.....

I'm going to say that I'm probably smarter than some A&P's but not all of them.

I know every time a plane at the school I use goes in for annual or 100 hr the schedule has it listed as down for maintenance. So it does not mean the plane has a big issue. I further know (the school does not hide the fact) that they have a trainer plane listed as down for maintenance for almost two years that they have been trying to sell.

This is a tad ambiguous. Do you know what the issue was, but are unsure of its severity? Or do you only know that some sort of issue took it off the line?
Ron Wanttaja

I lumped the issue into 'maintenance issue' to keep the post short and to the point. it was enough of an issue that they took it off the schedule, grumbled about it, now it is being sold.

 

[timwinters]

are you smarter than an A&P?

Is that a rhetorical question?

 

[brcase]

"Maintenance Issue" may have just been the easiest excuse to give to the renters.

Reminders of a funny story..
A couple years ago I ferried a supercub to Glasglow Montanta, the next morning a arrived at the airport to catch the small commuter flight home. In front of me was a guy that the lady at the counter was explaining that the flight had been canceled to due weather. The guy in front of me was a bit surprised as he explained he was National Weather Service Guy and had written that mornings weather forecast and the weather was fine. At which point I chimed in that I was a pilot and the weather was well above minimums. Of course the lady said it wasn't up to her but the flight was cancelled. I am sure the real reason it was canceled is we would have been the only two passengers. The NWS guy ended up carpooling to Missoula (IIRC).

Brian

 

[LDJones]

I'm going to say that I'm probably smarter than some A&P's but not all of them.

I lumped the issue into 'maintenance issue' to keep the post short and to the point. it was enough of an issue that they took it off the schedule, grumbled about it, now it is being sold.

Maybe it was a significant issue that cost the owner enough in repairs that he's decided to bail and recoup some of his costs. I've seen that happen more than once on a leaseback. It doesn't necessarily mean there is any remaining issue with the airplane. The prebuy will tell the story one way or the other for the next owner.

 

[eman1200]

Maybe it was a significant issue that cost the owner enough in repairs that he's decided to bail and recoup some of his costs. I've seen that happen more than once on a leaseback. It doesn't necessarily mean there is any remaining issue with the airplane. The prebuy will tell the story one way or the other for the next owner.

yeah, this sounds about right. that's just it, I hope it was either fixed, will be disclosed, or will be caught in a prebuy.

 

[LDJones]

yeah, this sounds about right. that's just it, I hope it was either fixed, will be disclosed, or will be caught in a prebuy.

Unless he found a shady A&P it will be disclosed in the logbooks.

 

[denverpilot]

"Maintenance Issue" may have just been the easiest excuse to give to the renters.

I thought this, too.

I've seen weaker excuses given to renters when the real reason was, "Owner has just found out he has a heart condition, and his wife has cancer, in the same six month period".

Sometimes the reasons given are just public fiction because the real reason is nobody else's business.

(And in general, people don't respond well to, "the airplane is gone", "why?", "it's just gone", "but why?", "because"...)

 

[StinkBug]

not your plane, not your business. The description you give doesn't paint much of a picture. Could be "down for maintenance" simply because that's an easy one to pawn off on people, could actually have had a problem and the fix ran the owner dry, could have been an expensive annual that did the same. There's a ton of honest reasons the plane could be up for sale that don't include undisclosed issues. The only "maintenance" issue could have simply been cleaning it up nice to sell.

 

[Coloradokevin]

There are those who are happy to get an airplane with significant maintenance issues. Have you read about the guy who bought a Cherokee that had been sitting on a ramp for 10 years for $1,000 and is now flying it?
www.thisoldcherokee.com

I have a friend (a very experienced airline captain) who is just looking at getting back into general aviation flying. She told me she is looking at a $4,000 plane at a local airport that hasn't flown in something like 5 years. Her plan is to maybe put $10,000-15,000 into it, and have a good flying plane at a bargain price. It's a gamble, but I think it's a reasonable one if accompanied by an educated pre-buy look.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

good luck with that......I hope the captain has a pile of money.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I have a friend (a very experienced airline captain) who is just looking at getting back into general aviation flying. She told me she is looking at a $4,000 plane at a local airport that hasn't flown in something like 5 years. Her plan is to maybe put $10,000-15,000 into it, and have a good flying plane at a bargain price. It's a gamble, but I think it's a reasonable one if accompanied by an educated pre-buy look.

My acquaintance was very lucky as you can see from the expenditure list. Could easily have been an exercise in futility.

But to some, the only risks of this type they regret are the ones not taken.

 

[jsstevens]

local rental place which will remain nameless had a plane I rented often taken off the schedule due to maintenance issues. the plane is now for sale half way across the country with the standard for sale verbiage....G530! XM Weather! Great P&I !! BLAH BLAH!! just kind of p!sses me off a bit and makes me wonder how many other planes have serious* but hidden issues that people are just trying to pawn off to the next unsuspecting buyer.

*I honestly don't know how serious the issue was but it was enough for them to take it off the schedule.

and yeah, I know, gotta get a pre-purchase inspection, but still....

I belonged to a flying club several years ago. They had a C-172 that had been rebuilt after a dip in the lake. It had the best avionics and flew well so I flew it more than any of the others. When the club dissolved they leased it to the new club for a few months while they were trying to sell it. The last trip I took in it was to fly my wife to the Florida Keys, pick up my daughter and fly us all home. The next week it went into annual. Did I mention that one of the old club's co-owners was an IA did did all the maintenance? At annual they stopped counting at $10K worth of airworthiness issues and sold the plane to somebody in South America. I do wonder what I was flying around in on that last trip...

 

[James331]

I have a friend (a very experienced airline captain) who is just looking at getting back into general aviation flying. She told me she is looking at a $4,000 plane at a local airport that hasn't flown in something like 5 years. Her plan is to maybe put $10,000-15,000 into it, and have a good flying plane at a bargain price. It's a gamble, but I think it's a reasonable one if accompanied by an educated pre-buy look.

Ether the seller doesn't know what he has, or your friend doesn't know what she's getting into.

Ether way VERY good deal for ONE of them.

 

[Coloradokevin]

Ether the seller doesn't know what he has, or your friend doesn't know what she's getting into.

Ether way VERY good deal for ONE of them.

I very much agree with you on this one. That could be the deal of the decade, or a money pit that never flies again. I hope the former for my friend, but fear the latter.

 

[Tom-D]

I have a friend (a very experienced airline captain) who is just looking at getting back into general aviation flying. She told me she is looking at a $4,000 plane at a local airport that hasn't flown in something like 5 years. Her plan is to maybe put $10,000-15,000 into it, and have a good flying plane at a bargain price. It's a gamble, but I think it's a reasonable one if accompanied by an educated pre-buy look.

Greg's 34V sat at AWO for well over 20 years unpreserved and unattended, I bought it for $5K. but she can't restore one for 10-15k.

 

[Tom-D]

good luck with that......I hope the captain has a pile of money.

Maybe,, maybe not, it might be a POS then again it might be a jewel in hiding. A lot of soap and water and elbow grease goes a long way. Work off the annual discrepancies make it airworthy and fly the hell out of it. any one know make and model? some are worth restoring some are not.