The potential purchase of N704TV was complicated by the fact that I couldn't actually get up to Indiana to see the airplane. This was primarily due to my wife's heavy summer vacation schedule for us, in addition to some work travel and other commitments. As such, I was tasked with having a pre-buy inspection done by someone I didn't know, sight unseen.
I called a few shops in the area at different airports nearby, and none had availability to get the airplane in. That left me with the uneasy option of using an A&P at the airfield where the airplane was being sold. I was uneasy about this because I am sure that A&P and the broker have some type of relationship. Whether that would influence their work was yet to be determined. Adding to my concerns was that my local A&P friend mentioned having flown up to do inspections on a few aircraft from this broker, with none having materialized in a purchase. Fun.
The A&P at the field said that he could slide the aircraft into his schedule, and that he treated a pre-buy like the inspection portion of an annual. If true, that was great to hear. I had been through the existing logbooks and generally felt good about the airplane's maintenance history, with one exception. During its time as a flight school plane, the 4TV was probably ridden hard - but the logbook entries show meticulous detail and many minor repairs, modifications, etc. The only exception to this was the last two annuals in 2024 and 2025. Those showed very little detail and few repairs. Odd.
I "did my own" research by figuring out where the airplane had previously lived - a small airport in Tennessee, based on the previous owner's information and the location of the A&P that signed off on the then current annual. Interestingly enough, a Google Maps photos from the road leading up to that airport showed 4TV tied up on the ramp.
I called the FBO to inquire about the airplane. The FBO manager was happy to provide what he recalled, which was that the owner bought the plane for her son to get his PPL, but he ended up fizzling out on it. As a result, the plane sat mostly unflown for 2-3 years. That's reflected in the log times that show very little movement in the previous three years. Not great, but not a deal breaker. Also could explain some of the lack of logbook entries, as a plane that doens't move doesn't break a lot of parts.
I then reached out to the A&P that signed off on the annual, and that was ... weird. He recalled the aircraft, and told a similar story about the owner/son. He then started to break down in tears, telling me that he had just lost his wife along with all of his equipment in an incident, and had been away from work for several months. Blasted by this, and overcome with sadness for him, I thanked him for his time, and wished him the very best ... and then immediately went online to see if I could learn what happened to his wife. After an hour of searching I found absolutely nothing. No obituary, no reference to an accident/incident. I'm a pretty good Internet slewth, but nothing came to fruition. Was the guy lying? If he was, it was well orchestrated, but if so, he should be acting instead of working on planes.
I authorized the A&P and the airfield where the plane was being sold to do the pre-buy, but also asked my buddy Hunter to sit in on the call with me and review the A&Ps notes. Hunter is the aforementioned A&P, and I offered to pay him for his time (alhtough to date he hasn't billed me).
Results of the Pre-buy
Going through the list, here are the highlights of Page One of the pre-buy:
- The only known previous damage was a right aileron replaced last year. When I spoke with the A&P he mentioned that debris sent flying from a lawnmover hit the aileron, which required the replacement. Logs and a record check did not uncover any other known damage either.
- AD compliance was good (via the logs)
- Compression checks were good 1) 73/80; 2) 74/80; 3) 73/80; 4) 75/80 (although Hunter tells me this isn't the end all/be all measure of engine health people think it is.)
- Carb heat box - cracked at flange.
- Scat hoses - recommend replacing.
- Engine controls - recommend trimming/adjusting carb heat cable.
- Negine mounts - one sagging.
- Induction boots - showing signs of age.
- Spinner - has patches.
- Lights - Beacon inop (likely the switch).
- Pitot heat - Inop.
- Wings are good - just missing fuel placards and painted caps.
- Flaps - L & R flap pulley hardware not secure, several flap buttons missing.
- Hail damage - Miniscule.
- Paint condition - 4 out of 10.
- Cables and turn buckles: Recommend correcting right aileron turnbuckle safety wire.
- Doors and windows: Windshield good - side and rear windows are hazy. Pilot door seal coming loose.
- Tires: Mains show wear, recommend replacement.
- Brake system: Both brake pads below minimum thickness - recommend replacement.
- Seats: Co-pilot seat belt frayed
- Carpet: Recommend replacement
- Side panels - No kick panels
- Cylinders - Boroscope showed no abnormalities.
For the cylinders I did specifically request a boroscope. The results of that showed no abnormalities, and the A&P's overall engine comment was that it was a lot drier (i.e. less oily) than he would have thought - good signs.
Biggest concern for the A&P was the patching on the spinner, which both he and Hunter thought was both odd, and had the possibility of creating balance problems for the prop/spinner unit.
All in price estimate to fix every item on the list ... about $8,000. Of that $8K, I went through the itemized list and marked off anything that I didn't think was absolutely necessary to get it flying safely. Two-thirds of that cost was replacing the windows, which I left off for the time being, and a large chunk of the rest owas the pitot heat and seat belt replacement. That brought the estimate of must fix items to about $5K.
Citing the extra $5K, I told the broker it was too much, and I couldn't swallow that big an investment this early on. One of the other concerns that Hunter and I both had was the fact that many of these items, while not serious, should have been picked up in the annual that was allegedlly done three months prior. For example, the rotating beacon not working and the crack in the carb heat box. Those didn't just happen. I told the broker I was going to have to pass on the deal. Which I did for two days until they offered to knock $3K off the price.
Obviously this would be a very short blog if I still walked away. I didn't, and it (hopefully) won't be.
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