Have your lawyer "buddy"; everyone has one of those send the A & P a strongly worded letter demanding the return of the logbook or further action will be pursued

Mapleflt wrote:Have your lawyer "buddy"; everyone has one of those send the A & P a strongly worded letter demanding the return of the logbook or further action will be pursued

If I got a letter like that, I'd probably throw the logbook into the woodstove & deny everything.
I'd offer a cash reward.
IMHO a carrot will work better than a stick.

The $37,750 price is from 2015. Lots of new buyers since then. Lots more bent airplanes since then. They don't make them anymore. There will always be a buyer maybe a fool ,but a buyer. There will be a lot of things for sale in the near future from estate sales. Get you money ready and have at it or sit back and watch the show.

hotrod180 wrote:

Mapleflt wrote:Have your lawyer "buddy"; everyone has one of those send the A & P a strongly worded letter demanding the return of the logbook or further action will be pursued

If I got a letter like that, I'd probably throw the logbook into the woodstove & deny everything.
I'd offer a cash reward.
IMHO a carrot will work better than a stick.

That's an interesting approach to conflict resolution.

Mapleflt wrote:Have your lawyer "buddy"; everyone has one of those send the A & P a strongly worded letter demanding the return of the logbook or further action will be pursued

I’m guessing the rate of contempt toward lawyers may differ north of the border than south.

What do you call 10,000 lawyers marching off a cliff?

Lemmings

Mapleflt wrote:Lemmings

A good start….

hotrod180 wrote:

Mapleflt wrote:Have your lawyer "buddy"; everyone has one of those send the A & P a strongly worded letter demanding the return of the logbook or further action will be pursued

If I got a letter like that, I'd probably throw the logbook into the woodstove & deny everything.
I'd offer a cash reward.
IMHO a carrot will work better than a stick.

I’d do the same. Lawyers suck.

Pulled the vertical stabilizer today and ran it.

Yesterday I dropped off the rudder and a horizontal to be reskinned. Hopefully a month turn around on that. I also picked up a nice vertical. Next week I will work on stripping the paint off the elevators and the vertical (I have limited experience with paint stripper - hopefully it goes easy).

At least all the tail feathers will have fresh paint.

I also ordered up a new horton stol sticker for the vertical.

I also ordered up a new battery, leak down tester, and a few other odds and ends from spruce.

Project is underway.

I am debating installing the AV-30's in this plane. I called Uavionix today and talked with a gal there about them fixing there directional gyro problem. She says they have a magnetometer installed in them now and most guys do not have the issue anymore. They are working on ways to make the AV-30 more robust. I am pretty tempted to go ahead and install a pair to remove the vacuum system, but I'm not sure it will be money well spent. I like making new panels for these planes. It is definitely a selling point. but will it be worth the effort on a plane that has no logs ~ would it be best to keep it cheap as possible?

If it has functional VFR panel leave it until you figure out the possibility of getting logs back before dumping unrecoverable $$$. Just fly it!!

Since you are already in project mode, you might think about doing the tailwheel conversion to a 182/180.

I will stick with the standard avionics. I do want to change out the DG and attitude indicator as the DG is the super old style that I have yet to see one work and the seller said the attitude indicator was bad.

A tail wheel conversion would be cool. But I am a newb yet when it comes to this stuff. I am learning. I need to get my hands on the parts manual and the airframe manual for this plane yet. I want to replace some of the hardware.

Dad and I made some good progress today. Tail group is off.

Any reason you don't just remove the Attitude Indicator, DG, and Vacuum system and fly it? Plenty of old planes had none of the above. Might even save a few dollars.

I plan to sell the plane after 50-100 hrs. So the potential new buyer would probably cry if it did not have those instruments. I have made a couple panels, I may rebuild this panel and organize the instruments a bit better.

Also, I think people get fussy if the plane came from the factory with said instruments ~ they need to stay. Optional equipment can go away I believe

Does anyone think I am dreaming when I think I can get $60k+ for this plane finished with some time on it?

Barrakudaman wrote:I plan to sell the plane after 50-100 hrs. So the potential new buyer would probably cry if it did not have those instruments. I have made a couple panels, I may rebuild this panel and organize the instruments a bit better.

Also, I think people get fussy if the plane came from the factory with said instruments ~ they need to stay. Optional equipment can go away I believe

Does anyone think I am dreaming when I think I can get $60k+ for this plane finished with some time on it?

Canadian$$? Maybe.
Buyers won’t want to dump cash into this project with no history. It’s a flyer. I love it.

Barrakudaman wrote:Does anyone think I am dreaming when I think I can get $60k+ for this plane finished with some time on it?

Maybe a touch high with no logs, but I'd say you are close. IMO, the price floor on a bare bones narrow body has crept up from $45-$55k 2-3 years ago to $80k+/- now.

Reference the logs and aircraft documentation, there are two files (Registration and Airworthiness) that the FAA in OKC has in their aircraft data base. The Registration file will have every piece of paper from when the plane first left the Cessna factory to the dealer to present. Based on the timeline, your purchase paperwork may be included but the FAA works slow! The very early docs are photo copied on both sides from microfiche. The Airworthiness file will have every FAA Form 337 they received for the aircraft and the airworthiness doc(s). They are a great source of information with time lines. FSDO calls them a "Blue Ribbon", I doubt OKC calls them that. I have my aircraft and obtained many Blue Ribbons from a FSDO friend and the detail in these reports paints a clear history picture. These two reports can be obtained from the FAA in OKC for $10.00 if my memory is correct. I have not ordered myself. Most aircraft owners do not know about blue ribbons and if you are unable to get the logs for your plane, the next buyer will very happy to have them to review.

Bruce

That’s what I was thinking. The plane would be worth 80k + with logs.

I did get all the info from the FAA. It did not show anything about times on airframe. The plane had about 10 owners and there were no accidents/major repairs done. Only a couple instrument / beacon updates. I did not know the FAA had two different records you could request. I thought I ordered all the records they had through there online site.

Made progress today, vertical is about ready. Elevators are getting close.

New panel is roughed out. All instruments remain. I just organized them.

If you got the ownership info and the 337 info, you've got it all. It's possible when I get the emailed blue ribbon, my guy separates into two files - Registration and Airworthiness. Nice job on your progress!! Bruce