I have been seriously considering purchasing a 170 B that is in Colorado (I am in Maine). There is lots of information to include all of the logs provided by the broker/owner. I have been looking these through and I also provided all the information and photos to The owner and mechanic of the local airport that I rent out of. He gave a call to the IA that did a lot of the annuals on the plane prior to the new owner. I was provided with information that this IA told my mechanic that the plane Is and oil burner, it could have had a hard landing and buckled somewhere on the airframe and the floats that came with the airplane were very corroded. All of the photos which there are many, do not show any signs of buckling and any signs of it being an oil burner. I have also followed up with asking these questions to the broker/owner and he claims everything That I am asking about doesn't seem to be true due to him working the plane over and when he took the photos he did not see any signs of being an oil burner or any signs of the airframe having a hard landing in buckling. Other than flying to Colorado which I don't have a problem doing it because I am seriously considering this plane what would one do, this is a decent airplane in My opinion and fills my mission, it will be my first airplane.

Get a pre purchase inspection done by a good IA in Colorado, BEFORE you plunk down cash. If your IA got good information from the IA that worked on it, I wouldn't touch it without a clean bill of health indicated by a thorough pre buy inspection, and with that history, I'd want a really thorough pre buy done.

MTV

Sounds like a good idea, thanks. Any recommendation on IA's in the Boulder Area?? And are you usually there with the IA when he does the pre-buy?

Sounds like a good idea, thanks. Any recommendation on IA's in the Boulder Area?? And are you usually there with the IA when he does the pre-buy?

My old advice is to not buy a plane that is not
FRESH out of annual rather than just a pre-buy.

Either way - SCOUR - logbooks.

Avweb has some good articles

https://www.avweb.com/news/usedacft/pre ... 682-1.html


Logbooks aren't a tell all be all. As it was said there are immaculately maintained planes out there with nothing in the logbooks but yearly annuals. There are also planes out there with massive detailed work outlined in the logs, while the plane is a wreck, nicely pencil whipped. The gear issue would concern me, with old taildraggers it's not checking if it has been groundlooped, it's more checking if the repairs have been done correctly.

Don't fall in love..yet. Almost sounds like you have convinced yourself this is the plane before you have even seen it in person. I have fallen in this trap myself.


Yes - You should be there for a prebuy, Number 1 - you need to see the plane before you pay someone else to look at it. If you see issues that are show stoppers, why waste more money than just your travel. Number 2 - continuing with a mechanic of your choosing to continue prebuy, If you are there you can tell him when to stop the inspection if he finds more than you want to take on.

We looked at it last week.

I'm still looking....

AKT

A fresh annual by the same person who has been maintaining the plane is pretty much useless, in my opinion... What I've always done is to have the IA doing the pre-buy give me his/her report, then close the deal (or walk away), based on that pre-buy.

If, and only if, I agree to buy the plane, I may elect to pay for the IA to continue on and do an annual inspection.

delete

There's always the possibility that the person giving the bad report on the airplane has a personal ax to grind with the seller.
Seen that happen before in many different circumstances.
Ditto on the advice for any pre-buy inspection be done by someone other than the IA who has been maintaining the airplane.
And an annual done by the seller & his own IA just before the sale might not be much of an annual--
"Oh don't bother doing much, we're selling it"

Thanks for all the feedback all. From the input I got from my mechanic and another member on here that's actually seen the plane, I think I am just going to stay away as much I wish I didn't have to! It was absolutely everything I have Been looking for other than a very questionable history. I'll carry on in the plane buying/searching process.

Nothing beats seeing an airplane in person.
Also, current condition is what matters.
"No damage history" doesnt necessarily make it fly any better.
But it can help you negotiate the price down.
Ditto funky interior or paint.
Sometimes the iffy airplanes can turn out to be the most bang for the buck.

Especially on your first airplane, you have to be really careful not to get hornswoggled, because you don't know what to look for. Especially if you're a low time pilot, you're really at a disadvantage. Somebody who has owned several airplanes and has been in aviation for awhile is in a better position to judge whether to even have an IA start looking at it. Unfortunately, learning how to be an owner is an OJT proposition--there aren't classes in it.

Keep in mind that there are very few "only this one" airplanes. Although finding a good 170B is a little more daunting than finding a good 172, it's still a fact that Cessna built bunches of them, and many are still flying. According to FAA data, there are more than 1450 170Bs still registered, all but about 10 of them somewhere in the US. If you're not hung up on 170Bs, then there are another 900 170s and 170As out there. So if not this one, then there are others to consider--and every one of them is for sale at the right price.

Cary

I was told to stay far away from a nice looking pa-12 about 10 years ago. About 2 days later the guy who told me the plane was junk and he already had a pre buy done weeks before, his best bud bought that -12 and have flown the crap out of it ever since!! I know all this becouse after I flew the plane with the owner and called him that afternoon to make a full price offer he told me it JUST sold... to a familiar name!
If that 170 looks like what your after, go look at it. It may be junk. And it may be a damn good ride. And if that 170 won't work for you mine will be for sale soon....stay tuned!

Thats frustrating...i think its for the best to let this one go though for the circumstances..i have too many people coming out on the negative side of the plane..I PM'ed you about your 170.