So You Think You Want To Own a Short Wing Piper? The Pre-Purchase Inspection

[Old3pacer]

Those pics are GREAT!!! Eye candy

[Steve Pierce]

That was an epic trip. Hope to get to do it again this Fall.

[SynisterAZ]

Awesome shots, looks like UT?

[Steve Pierce]

Awesome shots, looks like UT?

Yes, Mexican Mountain and Dirty Devil if memory serves me orrectly. I love flying out west.

[Pacer42Z]

I’ll be going out West to the High Sierra fly in in October. I paid the admission already. While I’m out there I will spend a couple of days in Utah. Mexican Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Dirty Devil and Hidden Splendor are on my list. Anyone else planning to attend the High Sierra fly in?

Juergen
Pacer N3342Z

[Steve Pierce]

Nokai Dome is my favorite.
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[dgapilot]

Not sure if it’s been covered yet, but an accurate Equipment List and Weight and Balance are important in your purchase decision. That shines paint job cost you in useful load! Now with the 2000 gross weight of the later PA-22s, maybe not so much an issue, but with Clippers and Vagabonds it can be a huge issue. I’ve seen any number of legal single place PA-15s!

Also keep in mind there is no legal definition of what a pre-purchase inspection is. If you go that route, have a written agreement on what the mechanic is expected to do and the format he is supposed to report it to you. The best bet is to have your mechanic perform an annual, but I know that’s not always practical. Decide early on if you are going to negotiate the price before or after the inspection. Who will be responsible for taking care of discrepancies? Is the inspection just a “pass I buy, fail I walk” type inspection. Always be ready to walk away! Don’t get emotional about an airplane until you drop the bill of sale and application for registration in the mail!

If you look outside the country, keep in Mind there are expenses in getting the airplane registered and having an airworthiness certificate issued. You will likely need an escrow account, best to use one of the title services walk the paper through in Oklahoma City, you will need to have a 100 hour inspection done within 30 days of when your certificate will be issued, and your DAR will likely cost you at least $1000. It’s not a hard process, but unless it’s a really good deal, it likely isn’t going to be good from a financial standpoint. And by all means stay away from an aircraft certified under TCCA Owner Maintained! In any case, if you go the route of buying an airplane registered in another country (or if you sell one out of country) talk to a DAR BEFORE you do it. There are certain steps that need to be done in the correct order or it will be months or years before you untangle the paper.


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[J Ryd]

So without an "introduce yourself" forum topic, ill jump in. Got my cert last year and having a blast. Having built a couple custom motorcycles, restoring a couple cars, and painted several cars. I've had my eyes on a couple different experimentals that I was pretty serious to start (really like Rans). It seemed like the right fit. I knew about the Tripacers from reading AOPA affordable planes section. Never gave it another thought untill my wife saw a pic of one and said "that's really cute" I'll spare the rest of the story but the upshot is that I'm looking at a PA-22 and doing a pre-buy next week. The current owner pointed me to this website for all things shorting. WOW, I'm impressed with everyone's help to each other! And this thread particularly.
Question... is the FAA records the same info that Aero-Space reports gives (they are partnered with AOPA)
Jan

[Old3pacer]

Welcome!
Your search story sounds familiar.
The aero-space report is based on the same FAA data. It is easier to read than sifting
through the FAA paper. It includes chain of title [ownership], 337s, accidents, liens. On
a plane this old, you may find paperwork indicating unpaid liens. Some of these are easy
to resolve...some not so much. You determine how much risk you are willing to accept
on these issues.

Good luck!

[Steve Pierce]

Welcome. Like Anne posted above, the data is the same just organized and certified for liens for banks etc as I understand it. FAA can take 10 days to ship where Aero Space reports gets the data instantly.