Cheap fixer upper 172

[brien23]

Cheap fixer upper Cessna 172 bad paint bad interior high time engine and old radio 13,000hr TTAF don't seem to last long on Trade-a-Plane they sell quick. Time was those planes sat and sat waiting for for someone to hook now they sell fast? Most of the time you can't fix up a plane for less than buying one in good shape let alone all the trouble along the way to fix it up.

 

[Daleandee]

Parts?

 

[Pinecone]

Flight school with shop.

My local flight school is owned by the owner of the shop on the field. They had picked up a couple of fixer upper C-172 for training use.

One they did paint, interior and new panel with G3X Touch, G-5, GFC-500, GTN-650Xi for instrument training.

 

[Dan Thomas]

I used to tell wannabe owners that "There is no such thing as a cheap old airplane." This was based on experience acquired in fixing the numerous deficiencies in neglected aircraft. I was dismayed, especially, by the costs to the new owner at the first annual. There were those that spent as much on that annual as they paid for the airplane, and the thing still needed paint, upholstery, a new engine, panel upgrades and so on. It was still an ugly old airplane, just airworthy for the first time in a long time.

Too many people find such "bargains" and get stung. Remember that many such aircraft have been owned by people who were increasingly unable to afford them, so maintenance got shorted. Defects deferred or ignored. ADs missed or far past recurrency.

These aren't old cars that can be restored by their owners. Most owners don't have those skills and they don't know the mass of regulations around aircraft repairs and maintenance and modifications. They're pretty much stuck with paying some shop to fix it, and mechanics aren't doing this for fun. It's their living.

At the flight school we bought low-time, older 172M's as trainers. We flew them home, and promptly tore them apart. Overhauled engine and engine mount. Old, cracked and corroded exhaust replaced. New engine hoses. New mags, new or O/H alternator. Fuel tanks out for inspection and repair and replacement of the rubber "bumpers" that supported them, and new vent tube connection hoses. Sometimes even the fuel selector came out for cleaning and new seals. New upholstery and carpet to replace the crumbling 1970s stuff. New seat belts and should harnesses. Some new instruments, new ELT usually, new radios that worked right. Repairs to the flaps and their rollers. New control cables where necessary. New engine controls no matter what. They get old, too, even when the airplane just sits.

This way, that airplane was dispatchable 99.9% of the time. There were very few failures that grounded a flight. Losing revenue flights is much more expensive than doing all the right stuff up front.

 

[frfly172]

Cheap and fixer upper don’t equate to a well maintained aircraft.

 

[pfarber]

maybe 20 years ago bust as most 172s are of the 60/70s most of the value is the motor... and today an overhaul to 0 hours is $30k+. Then add avionics for another $10k.

So unless you can save at least $40k at the buy it's a value loss

 

[RyanShort1]

Cheap and fixer upper don’t equate to a well maintained aircraft.

Up until the point of purchase, this is usually true, but sometimes a qualified mechanic wants to invest money into "bones" because they then know exactly what they have afterwards. I flew a "cheap fixer upper" Cessna 150 that a local shop bought and then completely refurbished and it was quite a nice plane when they got done. They could've spent the same money on one that already had all the bling, but there was peace of mind knowing that they had thoroughly gone through it and fixed whatever they thought it needed before the panel and paint upgrades.

 

[Gary Ward]

Pretty much why I am still flying my 172, I know what I have now and have to wear out the parts I put on it. lol
With that line of reasoning I will never be able to sell it...lol

 

[francisco collazos]

I used to tell wannabe owners that "There is no such thing as a cheap old airplane."

Don't be such a buzzkill Dan, put some speed tape on the spar and send it!!!

 

[Dan Thomas]

Don't be such a buzzkill Dan, put some speed tape on the spar and send it!!!

There are people who, while not that crooked, will ignore a lot of cracks. This is a picture of the front spar in a 172's horizontal stabilizer. Those cracks are from pushing down on the stab to turn the airplane on the ground. Cessna used to have that technique in their POHs, but once the cracks started showing up, they forbade it, and sent out SBs on it. One 172 I ferried turned out to have the spar broken all the way through, with only the skin offering any stiffness there.


Multiple stopdrills to try to stop it. Cessna allowed that. We pulled the stabs off and had them rebuilt with the Cessna reinforcement kit, but still forbade the pushing-down technique. Towbars only.

This is a shot of the aft side of the left rear doorpost in a 172, with the Cessna-provided reinforcement. That area cracks as the whole bulkhead flex when taxiing over rough ground, or landing in a crab. The crack is impossible to see unless the interior stuff and floor inspection plates are removed.



Any higher-time 172 will have that cracking, on both aft doorposts. It is a huge pain to fix. If it's left unaddressed, the bulkhead flexes more until there are cracks everywhere, top and bottom. That bulkhead as the wing's aft spars connected to it and it is carrying some of the airplanes weight. And yours.

This is the bulkhead immediately aft of the baggage door in a 172. It cracks and the one opposite to it, on the right side, also cracks. That big rear window Cessna put in in about 1966 did that, by making the aft fuselage more flexible through that area. Yaw forces cause the bulkhead to flex as it tries to maintain the fuselage shape there. If a helper pushes the tail left and right you can see it flexing.



See the crack across the bend? The sheet was forced into a compound curve there, stressing it, and with inflight flexing it work-hardens and cracks. Again, unless the interior is removed, all of this stuff goes unnoticed. When it goes far enough, you're faced with replacing the bulkhead instead of repairing it, and the airplane has to be taken apart at that point. Tailcone clean off. Not cheap.

Saving money at annual time is not a savings. It's accumulation of defects that will sooner or later cost you, especially if a prebuy finds it.