Pre-buys and A&P Reputations

[Fearless Tower]

Slightly hypothetical question...

If an airplane you were interested in was currently maintained by an extremely well respected A&P IA for that particular airframe......would you take his word for it, or bring an independent (and likely lesser experienced) A&P IA to verify the work?

Let's just say that it is the kind of situation that if you asked around for a recommendation of an A&P to do a pre-buy on a given airframe, you would likely get a recommendation to call the guy who is already maintaining it.

Thoughts???

 

[Skylane81E]

I'd still get someone else.

 

[Tom-D]

Slightly hypothetical question...

If an airplane you were interested in was currently maintained by an extremely well respected A&P IA for that particular airframe......would you take his word for it, or bring an independent (and likely lesser experienced) A&P IA to verify the work?

Let's just say that it is the kind of situation that if you asked around for a recommendation of an A&P to do a pre-buy on a given airframe, you would likely get a recommendation to call the guy who is already maintaining it.

Thoughts???

It's simply a matter of how well you respect the seller/maintainer.

I know a lot of A&Ps who think they are experts.

Who would you get to inspect a EXP home built? the guy who built it or a ______?

I'm currently looking at a Cozy Mark 4, the owner is well known, the aircraft is beautiful, and the designer was the building supervisor of the project, how much farther would you go?

 

[Greg Bockelman]

Thoughts???

It is NEVER a bad idea to have a second set of unrelated eyes look at something.

 

[CMTowner]

If I trusted the person who gave the recommendation I may go with it. If I had any doubts, I would find someone else.

 

[wabower]

Having done this exact transaction on more than one occasion, I agree with having a second set of eyes look at the deal, especially the paperwork. For example, the Cessna 180 that I bought ~8 years ago was very well maintained, but the A&P owner had made a couple of improvements that were not approved for the engine that was installed in the plane.

I can't remember the exact details, but the original engine had been replaced with a similar engine but with a different suffix (dash number) than the original engine. The owner had installed roller bearings that were approved for the original engine but were not approved on the replacement engine. They were probably better from a performance/longevity standpoint, but didn't conform with the allowable specs for the engine.

When we asked why, he said he simply mis-read the information and thought they were legal. He was a bit embarrassed and it was an honest mistake that he rectified immediately, but still nice to know up front rather than find as a surprise at a later date.

 

[poadeleted20]

If an airplane you were interested in was currently maintained by an extremely well respected A&P IA for that particular airframe......would you take his word for it, or bring an independent (and likely lesser experienced) A&P IA to verify the work?

There are about half a dozen folks in the Grumman world whose word I would take that way -- and have. But I've known these folks personally for 15 or 20 years, so it's not like I'm just dealing on their reputation. Also, I'm a bit more knowledgeable than the average airplane buyer, so I'm not as reliant on having someone else go through the logs, for example. But if it wasn't someone I knew personally, I'd get that second opinion.

 

[Henning]

Slightly hypothetical question...

If an airplane you were interested in was currently maintained by an extremely well respected A&P IA for that particular airframe......would you take his word for it, or bring an independent (and likely lesser experienced) A&P IA to verify the work?

Let's just say that it is the kind of situation that if you asked around for a recommendation of an A&P to do a pre-buy on a given airframe, you would likely get a recommendation to call the guy who is already maintaining it.

Thoughts???

Depends who it is, there are plenty of guys in that position I would trust, there a few I wouldn't. PM me a name and I'll give you a better opinion if I know them. The real question is, do you plan to keep using them as well?

 

[Tom-D]

There is no substitute for any buyer knowing all there is to know about any product they buy.

When you are a really savvy buyer you will know the questions to ask.

Like Ron has eluded to, he has become smart enough about the AA series that he will never be stuck with a bad buy.

Any buyer should do the same.