And if you ever find log books and documentation like this with everything perfect on a 60 year old airplane please have them bronzed and donated them to the Smithsonian.
Kevin1 --- In [email protected], "bigbrownpi...@..." <bigbrownpi...@...> wrote: > > I want to save you prospective Ercoupe buyers some of the pain that I've > experienced. Ed Burkhead's pre-buy guide is a good starting point, but there > are some other potential "gotchas" out there that any new buyer should think > about. I looked at two Ercoupes before I bought, found a good owner/seller, > did my "due diligence", had an independent A.I. inspect the airplane, etc. > Here are a couple of hard lessons learned-- > > Logbooks and 337's-- Garbage in/Garbage out. Even when you have a complete > set of logbooks, they may not tell the whole story. It's very easy to make a > brief write-up like "Replaced left main main spar with Univair assembly > 415-xxx, replaced left upper and lower wing skins, re-installed walkway > tread." One would assume this addressed a corrosion issue. In my case, one > would be wrong. Once we did the center section swap-out, it was obvious due > to the way the repairs were done and the amount of hardware replaced that > there was damage to that side of the airplane at one tine that had been > repaired. Of course, there is no damage history on the airframe. (By the > way, the seller did show me a previous 337 from 1953 where the belly skins > firewall-forward had been replaced and tell me he suspected damage back then. > The rear spar replacement was from 1979, so it was another incident). Also > make sure every piece of equipment that did not come from the factory is > documented somewhere-- logbook, 337, yellow tag, etc. Any STC'ed parts > should also be accompanied by a 337. The documentation standards may have > changed over the years, but you should look for something for every major > configuration change. My point is, soemtimes logbooks can hide as much as > they disclose. Don't just take them at face value. Think like a detective > when you review them! > > Engine history-- a low-time engine is no guarantee of a good engine, > especially if it only had 250 hours SMOH in 12 years. When we removed the > cylinders, we found stuck and broken rings, burned valves, gouging on the > piston skirts, and pitting on the cylinder walls. Realize that the > compressions on the pre-buy checked good, around 74/80 or higher. This > engine had obviously spent more time sitting than flying, and the previous > owner did not fly it that much. If an engine isn't flying around 50 hours a > year, it's probably sitting too much. Also, look at the logs for how often > the cylinders are being replaced, and whether they are using "servicable" > pieces or rebuilt/overhauled. Remember, "servicable" means "within > manufacturer's tolerances". It doesn't tell you by how much-- it could be > within 0.001 of being out of tolerance! > > The main spar cap issue (again)-- I know we've beat the issue of holes in the > main spar cat to death. But here's my advice, FWIW-- if the holes were not > put there by the factory, OR if they are not part of an approved installation > documented on a 337; RUN, don't walk away. The main spar may be prefectly > safe for years of operation, but if the FAA ever decides to issue an AD, you > are probably screwed. > > Realize you aren't getting perfect when you buy a 40-60 year-old airplane. I > could not have found a better seller than the guy I bought from-- most of > these problems were lurking from years past, and he would have been dealing > with them eventually. You can't check everything and there will always be > some surprises like mag problems. But look beyond the obvious and ask "why" > questions before you buy. > > In my case, I'm giving up on trying to put a band-aid on my engine issues and > I've ordered a C-85/O-200 rebuild from Don's Dream Machines. It should be > ready about the same time we get all the sheet metal done. > > Fly Safe, > Dave >
