Day dreaming about airplanes.

[TwinOtterFan]

I would go with Budd Davisson's advice on used homebuilts. I like him,
and I think he's probably forgiven me by now.

You should get one of these:

Lol, okay.... What is it?

[Colonel]

"If you have a choice between a used homebuilt and a used snake, buy the used snake."

[Squaretail]

"If you have a choice between a used homebuilt and a used snake, buy the used snake."

That’s some good advice.

[David MacRay]

If the used owner maintenance plane is cheap enough I’d buy it, but most of those guys want hundreds of dollars for them.

[TwinOtterFan]

I wasn't able to find the exact time or article that Budd Davisson used that quote although I did find other people referencing him with that quote. I was able to find an article he wrote about buying an E or AB aircraft and for NBO "non builder owners" I didn't get the vibe from the article that he was inherently against buying one this way.

I would love to find a nice Citabria or Champ but most of them are OM and that as discussed in another thread seems almost worse.

EDIT: the article: https://inspire.eaa.org/2020/10/29/a-no ... homebuilt/

[Colonel]

I remember now. I think it was at one of the seminars at OSH, when people still met in person,
that Budd said that.

I don't mean to be negative. There are good and bad certified, homebuilt and OM airplanes.

The hard part is to tell which is which.

See, you could buy a really bad certified aircraft, which had horrible internal engine corrosion
and then a super-expensive AD comes out on the spar center section (C177/210).

Or you could buy a great homebuilt or OM which had been flown lots recently and has no
surprises (hidden damage repaired poorly).

Damage and corrosion. Those are the things to look for.

[John Swallow]

The price of these is going out of sight...

[TwinOtterFan]

I fully accept that I wiil not be the one inspecting the aircraft I purchase. As I said before certified would be great but they are sparse on the market. Meanwhile the OM and AB are coming up and coming down in price.

I have seen some nice looking OM Champs and Chiefs but always wonder why they are no longer certified when so many others are. I'm not looking to save money on maintenance and although that category wasn't created to do so it seems some owners abuse it that way.

AB obviously solely relies on the builder, the one's I've seen that I'm considering have been flying for 10 plus years, and actively flying now. I figure it must have the bugs all worked out if it's been doing its thing for years.

I'm no professional but I would rather buy a little AB tail dragger and build for my commercial that way then constantly pay rental plus all the other fees at the FTU.

Plus it's always available, on my schedule.

[Colonel]

Keep in mind that airplanes can't read. You need just enough paper,
and any more than that is not terribly useful.

Regardless of the paper status of the aircraft, please take a peek
inside the engine with a VA-400 and make sure you don't see this:

The price of these is going out of sight...

Like I said, damage history and corrosion. What has happened to
it, since it was manufactured?

A friend of mine bought a C210 which was "repaired" and a wing
came off later. Killed him and his wife. Great paper on it.

[TwinOtterFan]

The AME I contacted for the first plane I looked at works part time out of Smith Fall flying club, I believe. Older fella been doing it forever and knows his way around tube and fabric. He explained everything he was going to do that included opening the motor and inspecting.

He basically said he checks the major parts first and if they are good then he keeps digging. I got a really good feeling about the way he works, seems no nonsense. I like that. Plus he doesn't shy away from older aircraft. The first AME I called told me no one would ever inspect a Champ and basically blew me off.