I'm looking for opinions on what everyone thinks about total time on an aircraft. Excluding engine, how many hours are too many hours? I have owned a Cirrus but am looking to get into my first tailwheel plane and see there are some high time planes out there for sale.

1. Should I be concerned about a 1940's era Cub, Aeronca, Tcraft etc.. with 9,000 plus hours?
2. Is it a safe assumption that a plane with this many hours was likely used for a lot of training?
3. What extra steps should be taken during a thorough pre-buy to ensure airframe integrity?
4. What else could I do to ensure I don't get stuck with a lemon?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Old airplanes the value is in current condition.
A friend is rebuilding his old PA18A with new
Wings,fuselage,tail, and landing gear.
The old logs will have no bearing on current condition
or value.
Does the 9000 hr Cub have any original parts?
A good pre-buy by a expert on the type is the only
thing that will insure a good airplane.
Dave

Like the USS Constitution, 98% of the wood has been replaced, but it's the original ship.

Bob

condition, especially corrosion is far more important than hours on the clock. A plane that has been used for instruction in Arizona for thousands of hours may well be in better shape than one used only a few hours in a salty humid climate.

There is such a thing as metal fatigue but it usually shows up in areas that flex.

As has been stated a 9000 hr plane may have nothing original but the data plate. Do a good inspection and have fun.

I might be a bit more leery of a monocoque rivited structure like a cessna but it is easy to see "smoke" around any loose rivets.

It's really a crapshoot either way. I just bought a Super Cub that had been a pipeline patrol plane most of its life and was very high time. It had been "rebuilt" once about 13 years ago, and last year the fuselage was stripped of the covering, and the airframe stripped to bare metal, epoxy primed, and recovered. You'd never know by looking at it that it has over 29,000 hours

The engine was overhauled as a condition of the sale and thought I was doing the right thing in that regard. Once back in the air, I was never happy with the engine. It seemed to vibrate more than i thought should and for a while I thought it was the prop causing the vibration. Had the prop checked out by a prop shop, no change. Tried a different prop same model, no change. Tried a brand new Borer prop that everyone swears is smoother than the Sensenich. This time I could tell that the prop was running smoother, but since it was so smooth, it really highlighted the engine vibration. Next, I went through the trouble of swapping out the entire engine to see what that would feel like. The other engine ran fine with none of the vibrations that I was experiencing with mine...and that was a 1800 hr. engine had been sitting in a hangar for 15 years, not even pickled!! At that point I knew something was wrong with mine and sent it back to the engine guy.

He tore the cylinders off and found scoring on all 4 cylinder walls, really bad scoring on one. Cylinders were sent for evaluation and they determined that it was FOD damage not related to the cylinders, so they won't be covered under warranty. Before I learned all this, I had sent them the results from the oil sample from the second oil change (hours 10-25) and it was clean. I took the engine off 3 hours after that oil change and they are claiming that all of this happend during the last 3 hours...of course the engine guy agrees with them so he won't be liable for damages. It looks like I'm on the hook for a "reoverhaul"

Anyway, the moral of the story is that it all boils down to luck...

Thanks everyone for the input. I have owned and it really is a crap shoot.

fat tire bob wrote:Like the USS Constitution, 98% of the wood has been replaced, but it's the original ship. Bob

"You can't keep a good data plate down".

Just letting you know I PM'd you with some info on a really great Champ that is for sale. Let me know if you are interested or if anyone else is let me know. Thanks

MSD

please pm me with the champ info as well

I ended up finding a low time Tcraft BC12 with the short mount 85-8 no electric.
Thanks for the input everyone.