Looking to purchase this aircraft. Any thoughts?

[Charles Schefer]

[Charles Schefer]

Here are a few recent pics that show the props reasonably well. Thank you for the kind comments on them.

- Charles

[Albert Murrer III]

I really do like those props. Definitely different and stands out. I think I might be taking your idea

[Charles Schefer]

[Albert Murrer III]

Is this the right tube for the goodyear tire? Straight stem?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/l ... tires3.php

G15/6.00-6 Flight Mate™, Also for 600 x 6 tires Butyl Tube TR 20, (2), S

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

I second what Charles said! Unless you have unlimited budget, best to make sure all the hidden and important things are taken care of before the fancy stuff. All the gee wizz avionics in the world dont mean much when you cant keep engines running, or the plane is sitting on its belly after a gear collapse. I tell people to budget half the purchase price for stuff you NEED to do in the first year, and not start on stuff you WANT to do until you have had at least three costly surprises. It usuallly works out about right....

[Charles Schefer]

Turn about is fair play... I second what Zach said!!! I bought a fairly premium airplane (IMHO). It's only weak spot was the landing gear and I took care of that after I bought it. In spite of it being a good example of the type I put a significant amount of $ into it the first few years. Zach's description seems very on-target to me.

Quick story...

I had Cliff Wilewski and his excellent team at Heritage Aero do the pre-purchase and took that straight into a first annual. I did have Heritage subcontract to an avionics shop to look at some panel stuff for me (which I ended up not doing). Cliff told me he joked with the avionics guys that "he got me first". Cliff told me the typical pattern with a new buyer is they go straight to the avionics shop for upgrades. Then... they get to their first annual (the infamous "catch up annual") and get a huge list of stuff that needs to be done which is out of the budget and they have a problem. In my case I did it the other way around focused on mechanical perfection first. Truly it cost a lot more than I expected or imagined. Not because the plane wasn't a good one after all... but because the reality is a 45+ year old plane that is being sold is inevitably going to have some stuff to be sorted out.

Focus on the mechanics first and the pretty avionics later. The plane has been flying for 45+ years without all those bells and whistles and it will continue to do so if it is mechanically sound.

- Charles

[Charles Schefer]

[Timothy Poole]

[Kristin Winter]

There is just no substitute for a knowledgeable pre-purchase inspection. It is vastly cheaper than a $20K catch up annual.