Plane shopping; Q list for seller

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
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west Texas
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Dave Taylor
What are a few initial questions would you want to start asking a seller?
ie in casual conversation, what 10 or 20 general questions would be most important to you?
I won't give you the model so you won't be distracted by details. General questions. Before you look at the aircraft.

10 year old, 2nd owner, EXP aircraft. You have the usual spec sheet with the hours, component list.

Go.
 
I will let the guys that own experimentals list anything that's specific about them. When I'm looking at a plane with sepcs that meet my mission in addition to the traditional questions about total time and tsmoh I want to know how many hours it's flow per year in the last three years and how many flights it's made in that same time.

A plane that's not flown frequently tends to have more issues than one that is flown infrequently. A plane that's flown 50 hours in a few long flights per year may have more problems than one that's flown 50 but around an hour per week.

Gary
 
Thanks Gary I like the questions about frequency of flight.
So far I have:

1. Who built it and when? (ie first time builder or builder assist shop)
2. Are you the (2nd?) owner? (not vital, but I like to know history)
3. What TAS are you seeing? (this model has widely varying TASs)
4. Where have you been with it? (I'm still trying to learn its capabilities)
5. How much has it flown in the last year? (Gary's Qs)
6. Is there a mechanic looking after it or do you handle all mx? (if a mech, I might call him later)
7. Tell me about repairs & modifications you have done.
8. Any problems you have encountered and how remediated?
 
Any known quirks with how it fly's? (obviously you will find out when you fly it, but knowing it always needs rudder trim or wish it had some aileron trim would be nice)
How much oil does the engine use per flight hour?
Why are you selling?
Anything you would change if you were keeping it?
 
I have a list of questions I have been sending to sellers it goes something like this.

How many hours has it flown in the last 6 months

How many hours has it flown in the last year

I see the overhaul was done x hours ago what was the date of the overhaul?

When was the last time you did an oil analysis? What were the results

Is there any damage history, hail damage, corrosion?

Then I go through that lists of specific airworthiness directives and say have you addressed acts? Have you addressed why? Have you addressed the question mark
 
Doesn't matter who built it or how many other planes they've built. I would tell you though to get someone who has built one to check it out. You can hide a lot of mistakes on a build.
 
For #6 - subsequent owners cannot have the repairman's certificate so there must be an A&P signing it off annually. Get that name. EXP owners can do everything they want but they can't escape the condition inspection if they didn't build it. Some, like me, don't do anything they couldn't do on a certificated plane. [Note: you said EXP -- I'm describing E-AB. The E-LSA and LSA rules are different on Maintenance]

You should also ask for the plans (most have lots of interesting notes on them) and the build logs.
 
I like all of the questions above. But I do think that it matters who built the aircraft. Is it possible to talk to the original builder? Is he/she known in the builder community? Reputation? How many airplanes have they done? Are the builds still flying? Etc.

In the case of Van's, (and I think other experimental kit manufacturers have similar procedures...) there will be a list of applicable SB's (service bulletins) which are like AD's, but for experimentals. Check if all these are complied with for the aircraft and who did the work.

Also with experimentals, you have MUCH more "variety" in the quality of engine repair and maintenance. It is common to find that the (non A&P) builder bought a junkyard engine and rebuilt it himself. In these cases, it is very difficult, IMO, to know what you are getting. It is always nice if you can find an experimental aircraft with an engine with full certificated aircraft pedigree including all maintenance and AD's.

Aircraft wiring: who did it? was aircraft grade tezfel wire used throughout? Do wiring diagrams exist for the aircraft?

Any under wing fuel stains? It is amazing how many experimentals have tank sealing problems.

Best of luck on your search.
 
Do you like gladiator movies?
 
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