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I'm new to the club. Former USAF navigator (from 20 years ago) who is just starting to fly again as a student pilot. In the process of purchasing a 1971 150L model with long range tanks. Have placed a deposit. The annual is due on the aircraft. My question is: How much should a combination annual/pre-buy inspection cost? I intend to finish my private license training in the 150 and then the usual use will be for short cross country trips with my wife (about 250nm).

I think you should do either a pre-buy or an annual, but not both. The annual is more thorough and encompassing than the pre-buy, so I'd recommend doing the annual. That's what I did when I bought my plane in 2001. My A&P/IA charges $280 for the annual INSPECTION (paperwork trail, AD search, airframe & engine), any repairs/tune-up is extra. I think most A&Ps charge around $150 for a pre-buy.

Thanks for the advise!

Get the annual done by a mechanic of your choice. Do not ever ever use the owners current mechanic. Offer to pay a fixed dollar amount, say the equivelant of the cost of a pre purchase inspection, the owner would of course be responsible for the rest of the cost. This way you get an annual for the price of a pre purchase and the owner gets a deal on his annual. Of course any issue / snags that come up will be the owners responsibility to fix and pay for.

I can't stress enough, do not rely on an annual done by the owners current mechanic. Consider it worthless. I've looked at 3 planes in 6 months and all owners and their mechanics swore to god and on their mothers graves that the plane was in A1 condition. Each time an independent inspection revield a number of costly issues.

Other things to consider once you're firm on a potential purchase:
1. Order a Title Search. I think AOPA does it for around $40 www.aopa.org [aopa.org]
2. Order a CD-ROM containing all records (registration applications, ownership changes, major repairs/mods) ever filed with the FAA for that plane. It's the best 5 bucks you ever pay to the government. If the plane shows major repairs and no forms were filed, that should raise a red flag.
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraft.asp#copiesaircraftrecords
http://162.58.35.241/e.gov/ND/airrecordsND.asp

Hung, I owe you one! Your advice had me online immediately to order a CD of my aircraft records. It will be interesting to see what kind of history 29X has. I sincerely hope there are no surprises! Thanks, pal.

I ordered mine in 2003. Kinda interesting to see the chain of ownership. My plane went from the factory in Wichita KS to a flight school in MO, then to a private owner in WA, then to the local flight school in Topeka, then to me. The original purchase price was around $18K in 1979, less than the $19K I paid for it in 2001.

You can also preform a records search on the clubs website.
You may find some unknown info there.

At the clubs home page, near the bottom, click on the link
for "Searchable Public Aircraft Records"

on the next page about the middle click on
"Perform a Document Search For Your Airplane."

input your N number and check All the blocks on the right
and see what you find.

Ron

When we bought 24F the owner provided the FAA cd and said that he got it for free at Oshkosh at an FAA booth.