Scudrunners

I'm going to give everyone here a heads up anyway just in case it is just a nice inexpensive plane.

Who know someone might buy it, base it near me and let me fly it for $40/hour plus fuel as a reward for pointing it out.

http://www.controller.com/listings/airc ... erokee-140

2800 Hours SMOH,

I know and have flown aircraft on condition well beyond the TBO's, however I knew how and who had flown them and trusted the AME maintaining them. That being said if you did buy it you should budget 15-20K for a new motor in your near future.

Hours don't really hurt a Lycoming.  Decades ago,
I flew an Apache with an O-320 with 5500 SMOH
in Florida (at night, in cloud).  No cold starts, and
it flew every day, so no internal corrosion, which
is what kills Lycomings.  They just kept changing
what broke on it (jugs, accessories).

What kills a Lycoming is letting it sit, and corroding
out internally, regardless of the hours on it.  The
cam lobes and lifters will spall, and the cylinders
will corrode.

The inside of a Lyc 540 that sat at my home airport
for one year (no salt):

[img width=375 height=500][/img]

What a mess.  The owner told me that us$50k
for a new engine was chump change for him.

On the other hand, I know of a Continental at
the same airport that sat for almost 20 years,
wasn't even pickled.  Started up, I did the test
flight on it, and off it went to BC.

Lycomings and Continentals are wildly different.

Oh yeah.  Piper cub.  Hadn't flown in years, over
3000 SMOH.  Slimy AME tried to steal it from
owner, saying it needed new fabric and engine.

Horseshit.  Goddamned thieving AME's.  This
guy has a reputation for moving data plates
around at night.

Fabric was fine but dull.  Hangared.  A couple
patches, some new gas and oil, and off I went.

Flew wonderfully.

Free advice:  don't let the trades make your
strategy for you.  This is true of doctors,
lawyers, plumbers and AME's.  The ones
that aren't incompetent are thieves. 

You must make strategy, and hire the trades
on a tactical basis to perform specific tasks.

The above probably won't make sense to you,
but Mike Holmes has said that over 90% of
contractors are either incompetent or thieves.

Caveat Emptor.

I have previously stated that I only know 2 AME's
that aren't thieves or incompetent (or both).

Get some wrenches and screwdrivers and pliers
and learn to do your own dirty work.

Forgot to mention this gem:

O-320-powered nosewheel fixed-gear
fixed-pitch.  Beautiful, custom paint
job.  Sat for years.

Of course, it needed the internal corrosion
inspection when the owner tried to get a
current annual.

Unsurprisingly, full of rust.  Overhaul
time, starting with new cam, lifters
and jugs.  Same old.

Instead, the owner switches AME's and
finds one that will sign off the rusted-out
engine.

Caveat emptor.

"Fresh annual", my ass.  Gotta love that paper.

Well he said he flies it multiple times a week. Letting it warm up gently and keeping the oil fresh might be helping.

It should be easy to send in an oil sample and get a guy you trust to look it over.

Sometimes I think it might be better to find one with a broken, or no engine and just buy either, a new one ($$$$$) or a good rebuild ($$$).

I'd offer $8 G's and plan to spend $24G's on an overhaul.