Falling back in love with Light Sport

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TimTaylor
Posts: 1594
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:17 pm

Re: Falling back in love with Light Sport

Post by TimTaylor »

That's not necessarily correct. As advertised might be as simple as 1000 hours SMOH with no damage history. I would hope a pre-buy inspection could do more than verify that information. For my money, I would want a pre-buy to determine, among other things:

Who did the maintenance, who did the inspections, when were they done, are all the required inspections and maintenance items current, are there any service bulletins (or whatever LSA calls them), are they up-to-date, have oil changes been done according to schedule, was the correct oil used, are all safety wiring in place, are there any visible oil or fuel leaks, what are compressions, any metal found in oil at last annual, was it even tested, how does aircraft run and sound, etc. Are logbook entries neat and complete, are required logbook entries missing, is there any visible aircraft damage, do control surfaces work smoothly and properly, do all instruments, lights, radios, appear to work properly, is anything missing from the panel, are the required documents and placards in place, is interior in good shape, is paint in good shape, etc. etc.

In other words, DID THE PERSON MAINTAINING THIS AIRCRAFT KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING?

This is just my opinion. If someone else would pay for a pre-buy simply to verify the aircraft had 1000 hours SMOH with no damage history, go for it.
Retired from flying.
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ShawnM
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Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 9:59 pm
Location: Clearwater, FL / KZPH

Re: Falling back in love with Light Sport

Post by ShawnM »

TimTaylor wrote:That's not necessarily correct. As advertised might be as simple as 1000 hours SMOH with no damage history. I would hope a pre-buy inspection could do more than verify that information. For my money, I would want a pre-buy to determine, among other things:

Who did the maintenance, who did the inspections, when were they done, are all the required inspections and maintenance items current, are there any service bulletins (or whatever LSA calls them), are they up-to-date, have oil changes been done according to schedule, was the correct oil used, are all safety wiring in place, are there any visible oil or fuel leaks, what are compressions, any metal found in oil at last annual, was it even tested, how does aircraft run and sound, etc. Are logbook entries neat and complete, are required logbook entries missing, is there any visible aircraft damage, do control surfaces work smoothly and properly, do all instruments, lights, radios, appear to work properly, is anything missing from the panel, are the required documents and placards in place, is interior in good shape, is paint in good shape, etc. etc.

In other words, DID THE PERSON MAINTAINING THIS AIRCRAFT KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING?

This is just my opinion. If someone else would pay for a pre-buy simply to verify the aircraft had 1000 hours SMOH with no damage history, go for it.
I agree Tim, this is, to me, what a pre-buy inspection should cover, and MORE. And in looking at all you outlined you could possibly know
if the person doing the work did or did not know what they were doing. Is safety wire missing? Is it done properly? Are there enough threads showing on a bolt? Are the log entries detailed and thorough? etc. You can tell if corners were cut or not by the craftsmanship of the work and the logbook entries. My pre-buy took about 7 hours (it was basically an annual) with the plane itself as it was my very first airplane purchase and I wanted to know for sure what I was buying and how much more it would cost me to bring it into compliance if needed. Then I spent the entire next day looking at SB's, paperwork, doing research and going through the log books page by page to be sure everything was complied with according to the manufacturer and Rotax. It took two trips with a LSRM to the aircraft before I decided to buy it. He was also an instructor so we even test flew the plane for about an hour as well. Just kicking the tires on a 1000 hours SMOH and no damage history simply won't do. :mrgreen:
TimTaylor
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Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:17 pm

Re: Falling back in love with Light Sport

Post by TimTaylor »

Also, is there any sign of corrosion? That would be a big concern for me.
Retired from flying.
akroguy
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:46 pm

Re: Falling back in love with Light Sport

Post by akroguy »

Back to the original question.

Fly what meets your mission at the time. If Private, your options are greatly increased. After owning three airplanes, built an put 400 hrs on an RV8 and loved it, but then had a child, needed more seats. Sold RV8, bought C-180 and also greatly enjoyed, but didn't "love" it. It hauled us around a few times, but only JUST a few times. Now that our son is 17 and shows little interest in aviation (or hanging out with us old folks!), we're back to needing only two seats. Thus, the C-180 went away and we have a shiny, new'ish '06 Sportstar that has been loads of fun, cheap to operate, easy to handle on the ground and if my medical becomes an issue, so what?! I'll carry on as a sport pilot and just enjoy what time I have left in the sky.

Only you have to answer to yourself, and your wallet. For me, just getting airborne, enjoying the scenery and sharing a flight with friends is all I need. The airlines exist for a reason. I could do without the cavity searches, but that's another story.

What...nobody else had one of those??? :mrgreen:
2006 Evektor Sportstar SE
E98 Los Lunas, NM
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