Very well said. The only thing I can add to this from my recent purchase inspections, GET THE FAA CD FIRST! Intentionally or accidentally, in all those years many log book pages seemed to have just "fallen out", and 337's have been "lost". I rejected many by spending only $8 to $10 for the FAA information. The one I actually just bought has lots of "missing" documentation, but as an A&P I can prepare the paperwork and entries to make it perfect. The largest single problem I found was D models (which are NOT LSA or Sport Pilot legal) being sold as C or CD models. The ONLY way you will find that out is looking over each 337 in the FAA file for the conversion information. I found an easy way to get suspicious is if it has an 0200 engine or has the larger trim tab on the elevator, clues that point to a D model parading as a C, do NOT rely on an a dataplate, AW cert or a bill of sale etc, these things can be changed easily.
--- 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 >
