Originally Posted by Grants_Pass_Bill
Originally Posted by Kirk
Originally Posted by Reg_Hearn
How about a horror story ...

The damage to the gear box had not been properly repaired. The cracks had simply been stop-drilled. Tom called the previous owner and was told "tough noogies, you bought it, its yours". Tom's next call was to the FAA.

An FAA inspector showed up to take a look.

The FAA promised dire consequences to all of the people involved, including the previous owner who was a commercial pilot. Great news, but not much help to Tom.


Your friend was lucky - I've heard stories (some from an FAA employee) in which the FAA goes after the current owner/pilot for flying an unairworthy airplane. Yes, the previous owner and mechanics are at fault, but ultimately it's the pilot who's responsible for the airworthiness of the aircraft.

I think the unscrupulous sellers know this and realize that, most of the time, the new owner will be just as on-the-hook from the FAA and therefore won't pursue prosecution.


SEE? It's just best to leave the FAA out of things entirely! whistle

The problems that I ultimately found with Mr. Ed were most certainly maintenance personnel related. (Muffler. Fuel lines and valve. Motor mounts. Other more minor squawks.) I am pretty certain that the owner thought he sold me the aircraft that he described to me. For his whole demeanor was straight forward and honest.

Bill
Grants Pass, Oregon




A good reason for owner assisted annuals. Even then, not everything is inspected. In this recent project I have discovered a few hidden niggles. A good example are the left panel mounts, which were really shot. I think the panel was being held in place by the instruments. But who looks at those?

Another one is the nuts on the bolts that hold the yokes to the universals. Somebody had those off at sometime and reused the nylocs. Those nuts were just slightly tighter than hand-tight.

Forty-year old airplanes are gonna have some aches and pains and you won't find 'em until you crawl through every inch of the airplane. And who does that?

Reg