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I know most on this forum know the value of a good pre-buy, but I wanted to share this story as an example why there can be great value in them for those who may consider skipping this step in the purchase process. This story doesn't pertain the actual physical pre-buy itself, but rather a logbook and records review that is usually part of a pre-buy, or at least should be.
First a little background. In a former life I was a competition aerobatic pilot. I got out of the sport mostly due to life events and job changes that left me little time to practice and devote to the sport. My Pitts S-2B became a hangar queen, so I finally decided to sell it. Well, call it a mid-life crisis or whatever, but I've been kind of getting an itch to get back into the sport in some fashion either as competing again, and or providing aerobatic/stall spin/upset recovery training to local pilots. A few months ago while looking at a Cherokee 180 that was for sale (I think I posted a link to it on this forum) I found an Extra 300L that looked real nice sitting in the same hangar next to this Cherokee. The Cherokee didn't do it for me, but I became real interested in the Extra. I asked about it, and turns out the owner for similar reasons to my own back in the day, hasn't flown it in over 4 years. I asked if he would be interested in selling it, and they said yes, he would entertain offers.
My years of doing conformity inspections and records checks in the FAR 135 world seems to have paid off, because researching what a fair offer would look like I uncovered some interesting history on this Extra. I asked the Mechanic that was maintaining it for the owner (annuals every year) for copies of all the log book pages. After a quick google search of the N-number I quickly found that the aircraft had been wrecked on a landing incident at Sun-N-Fun. It was rebuilt after this accident. I found those entries, and they were done by the reputable Extra dealer in Florida and included replacing all damaged parts, including the right wing, with new, so it appeared to be a solid rebuild. But looking further and closer into the records, I found that there were entries prior to the accident date at Sun-N-Fun where similar items were replaced. Landing gear, wings, canopy, etc. And, the engine was overhauled, and the fuselage was bead blasted and recoated by Maul Air. All this with only 240 hrs TT on the aircraft a year prior to the Sun-N-Fun accident. Looking closer yet, I found that there was a three year gap prior to these entries where there was nothing, nada, zilch, as far as any log book entries for anything. That's where I started thinking,
and proceed to try and figure out what the heck happened during this 3 year gap, that caused the subsequent rebuild.
The first airframe log entry following the 3 year gap, was an N-number change. Following that was an entry that the aircraft was disassembled for shipping. Then the engine was removed for OH. The next entries were replacement of most of the major components of the aircraft including cowlings, belly pan, wings, canopy, etc, and refinishing of the fuselage. Then an annual inspection and return to service, where unfortunately it was wrecked at Sun-N-Fun about a year later.
Googling and searching the NTSB site I couldn't find any records of an accident or incident under either N-number (original or current) that could explain this 3 year gap and first rebuild. The current mechanic really didn't know either. I was really stumped. Finally, I was able to gain access to the FAA records for the aircraft which included all 337's on the airframe. Nope, nothing there either. Kind of crazy, but if you damage and replace a wing on an aircraft a few times, no 337 needed. But if you add a remote oil filter, by all means, there better be a 337 with it. I guess I understand since they never really repaired anything, they just removed the old damaged parts, and then replaced them with new OEM parts. No 337 required!
I was at a loss, and short of calling the original owners, which I was about to do, I was stumped. Then, I found it! Just scrolling through the FAA registration records (bill of sales, registration applications, etc.) I found a letter written to the FAA from the original owner of the aircraft, asking the FAA to de-register the aircraft because it was destroyed in a brake fire while taxiing, and was now in possession of the insurance company. Now everything made sense. The fire happened, airplane sat for 3 years, finally someone wanted the carcass, so they changed the N-number, sold it, and the new owner had it rebuilt, where again, it was soon wrecked and rebuilt a second time. Hard life this airplane has had. And here it now sits with only 445 hrs TT, 200 hrs on the engine, with new wings and gear.
And here's the really bizarre part. I'm 95% sure that the original owner built a Glasair III a few years after the Extra fire, and used the same N-number that was originally on this Extra. He then sold the Glasair III to a fellow in California, who in 2014 killed himself in it in a VFR into IFR in mountainous terrain accident in Arizona. And the numbers of this fateful N-number included the numerals 911!
Anyway, after discovering all this history on this Extra, I went back to the current mechanic and current owner with it, and neither of them had any idea that the aircraft was once destroyed by a fire and rebuilt. They new it had been rebuilt after the Sun-N-Fun accident, but didn't know about the fire. The clues were all there in the records, you just had to investigate them a little and ask why.
Sorry for the long story. Hopefully some will find some value in it, and be sure to do a thorough records review as part of any pre-buy, and if you see gaps and things that don't make sense, start asking why.
Now for a question for the forum. What would you think of purchasing an aircraft with this kind of history, and how would you approach it? Not ideal having a damage history I know, but it's kind of a slightly different animal in that it really doesn't have a lot of repairs done to it other than the full recondition of the fuselage and the OH of the engine and prop. Most everything else was replaced with factory new parts. I can't decide whether to run away, or make a super low offer for an almost like new aircraft.
First a little background. In a former life I was a competition aerobatic pilot. I got out of the sport mostly due to life events and job changes that left me little time to practice and devote to the sport. My Pitts S-2B became a hangar queen, so I finally decided to sell it. Well, call it a mid-life crisis or whatever, but I've been kind of getting an itch to get back into the sport in some fashion either as competing again, and or providing aerobatic/stall spin/upset recovery training to local pilots. A few months ago while looking at a Cherokee 180 that was for sale (I think I posted a link to it on this forum) I found an Extra 300L that looked real nice sitting in the same hangar next to this Cherokee. The Cherokee didn't do it for me, but I became real interested in the Extra. I asked about it, and turns out the owner for similar reasons to my own back in the day, hasn't flown it in over 4 years. I asked if he would be interested in selling it, and they said yes, he would entertain offers.
My years of doing conformity inspections and records checks in the FAR 135 world seems to have paid off, because researching what a fair offer would look like I uncovered some interesting history on this Extra. I asked the Mechanic that was maintaining it for the owner (annuals every year) for copies of all the log book pages. After a quick google search of the N-number I quickly found that the aircraft had been wrecked on a landing incident at Sun-N-Fun. It was rebuilt after this accident. I found those entries, and they were done by the reputable Extra dealer in Florida and included replacing all damaged parts, including the right wing, with new, so it appeared to be a solid rebuild. But looking further and closer into the records, I found that there were entries prior to the accident date at Sun-N-Fun where similar items were replaced. Landing gear, wings, canopy, etc. And, the engine was overhauled, and the fuselage was bead blasted and recoated by Maul Air. All this with only 240 hrs TT on the aircraft a year prior to the Sun-N-Fun accident. Looking closer yet, I found that there was a three year gap prior to these entries where there was nothing, nada, zilch, as far as any log book entries for anything. That's where I started thinking,
and proceed to try and figure out what the heck happened during this 3 year gap, that caused the subsequent rebuild.The first airframe log entry following the 3 year gap, was an N-number change. Following that was an entry that the aircraft was disassembled for shipping. Then the engine was removed for OH. The next entries were replacement of most of the major components of the aircraft including cowlings, belly pan, wings, canopy, etc, and refinishing of the fuselage. Then an annual inspection and return to service, where unfortunately it was wrecked at Sun-N-Fun about a year later.
Googling and searching the NTSB site I couldn't find any records of an accident or incident under either N-number (original or current) that could explain this 3 year gap and first rebuild. The current mechanic really didn't know either. I was really stumped. Finally, I was able to gain access to the FAA records for the aircraft which included all 337's on the airframe. Nope, nothing there either. Kind of crazy, but if you damage and replace a wing on an aircraft a few times, no 337 needed. But if you add a remote oil filter, by all means, there better be a 337 with it. I guess I understand since they never really repaired anything, they just removed the old damaged parts, and then replaced them with new OEM parts. No 337 required!
I was at a loss, and short of calling the original owners, which I was about to do, I was stumped. Then, I found it! Just scrolling through the FAA registration records (bill of sales, registration applications, etc.) I found a letter written to the FAA from the original owner of the aircraft, asking the FAA to de-register the aircraft because it was destroyed in a brake fire while taxiing, and was now in possession of the insurance company. Now everything made sense. The fire happened, airplane sat for 3 years, finally someone wanted the carcass, so they changed the N-number, sold it, and the new owner had it rebuilt, where again, it was soon wrecked and rebuilt a second time. Hard life this airplane has had. And here it now sits with only 445 hrs TT, 200 hrs on the engine, with new wings and gear.
And here's the really bizarre part. I'm 95% sure that the original owner built a Glasair III a few years after the Extra fire, and used the same N-number that was originally on this Extra. He then sold the Glasair III to a fellow in California, who in 2014 killed himself in it in a VFR into IFR in mountainous terrain accident in Arizona. And the numbers of this fateful N-number included the numerals 911!
Anyway, after discovering all this history on this Extra, I went back to the current mechanic and current owner with it, and neither of them had any idea that the aircraft was once destroyed by a fire and rebuilt. They new it had been rebuilt after the Sun-N-Fun accident, but didn't know about the fire. The clues were all there in the records, you just had to investigate them a little and ask why.
Sorry for the long story. Hopefully some will find some value in it, and be sure to do a thorough records review as part of any pre-buy, and if you see gaps and things that don't make sense, start asking why.
Now for a question for the forum. What would you think of purchasing an aircraft with this kind of history, and how would you approach it? Not ideal having a damage history I know, but it's kind of a slightly different animal in that it really doesn't have a lot of repairs done to it other than the full recondition of the fuselage and the OH of the engine and prop. Most everything else was replaced with factory new parts. I can't decide whether to run away, or make a super low offer for an almost like new aircraft.
