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Hello all,
I'm new to the club so here's my new guy question.
I'm in the process of buying a 150F. The logs show 4,650+- tt engine +airframe, 495 SMOH. I just went to look at the logs again and saw that there has never been an overhaul where the top and bottom have been done at the same time.The engine never made tbo w/ 3 majors. not all the cylinders have been replaced w/ new since '76.
Last major done 1n 1992, 250 hrs flown through '96, a top done 4 or 500 hours b4 that. The rest of the hours since '96.
Here's the question. Whaddya think?

The plane has great paint ,great avionics, horton stol, alternater, nice int, complete logs, ifr. etc. Its not the first one i've looked at, I even looked at Eric Salvo's last summer.
That's enough for now.

I've been reading a lot of the clubs threads since i joined and I'm really impressed with the knowledge and help you folks give one another.
Jerry Holmes

Jerry, I am proud to be the first member to say to you: "welcome".

I let to some american the answer.

First off, welcome aboard, Jerry! You've come to the right place!



A legal overhaul requires a complete overhaul, not half and half. It cannot be 495 SMOH if you are correct and both ends were never done at the same time. It has never been "majored".



What you're describing is a bottom overhaul in 1992, and a top overhaul before that, but they cannot be combined and called a major overhaul. It sounds like there is no more than around 900 - 1,000 hours since any part of the engine was looked at, but it's still not technically (or legally) a major overhaul by FAA definition and regulation. From the information you've provided, I'd say this engine has the equivalent of 4,650 hrs +/- TSOH. With about 900 - 1,000 hrs since top overhaul, it may be past time for cylinder replacement.

NOTE: If the cylinders were overhauled and reinstalled when the bottom end was overhauled, then it can be called a major, if all other overhaul requirements were met, but this is not what you've described.

With 495 hrs since bottom overhaul, It may be as good as or even better than a 1,000 TSOH engine, but that's a very big unknown value! Without a complete overhaul at any given time, a lot of shortcuts could have been taken, and probably were, since funding was apparently a big factor in the decision making.

None of the great paint, great avionics, horton stol, alternater, nice int, complete logs, IFR etc. is any good, if the engine isn't reliable. It's just too big of an unknown quantity to know if it's a reliable engine or not. The price of this plane should (I think) reflect the possible need for a major overhaul!

Remember, we are all going to play devil's advocate and try to keep you out of trouble here. It may be prove to be a wonderful plane for you, but you need to realize the possible pitfalls before purchasing anything.

Right on Jerry! C'mon in 'n' make yerself at home! Welcome aboard!



Yeah. That's the thing - buyer beware. A lot of guys (and gals... ) here have a bundle of experience and knowledge. They'll do their best to keep you outta trouble.

Good luck to ya!

Well...I'm not an American...so the following may not count EH

I found it a good rule that the "value" of a 150 goes with the engine. I found a '59 model (the style I was looking for) that had 250 hours on the engine SMOH. The O/H was a $15,000 overhaul done at an engine specialty shop.

I paid $20,000 for the entire aircraft.

Welcome Jerry,

Our previous 150 came to us with about 250 hours on the top and newly overhauled on the bottom. We flew it for over 600 hours. The new owner has had it for a couple of years now with no problems. So, a complete O/H done at one time is not required to have a good engine.

Can you confirm the actual times on the top and the bottom?? Can you confirm the work done? These would be the questions I would be asking..................

True enough, but still leaves room for skepticism. The first question is whether or not aomething was missed and the logs really can prove 495 TSOH. If so, then the question becomes the asking price. What should it sell for?

Got pics, Jerry?

Here they are:

Jerry, that is a nice looking plane. Remember to check the engine (including the oil pressure when warm) and logs out carefully. The damage history [ntsb.gov] is ancient, which wouldn't worry me.

Does it have the alternator conversion?

Looks pretty enough. Now all you require are numbers. When was the bottom end done. New parts? rebuild? Yellow tags? When was the top end done? New? Used? Yellow tags? What parts were used.

How about this, give us the information of when the engine was last done on the bottom. Skow us the log entry and yellow tags.

Same as with the top. When we can set hard numbers on the table we;ll have a better idea.