by Chuck Reynolds
As a follow on to Susan’s post dealing with Aircraft or Lawn Ornament, and Maintenance Record-keeping Requirements, I thought it important to relay a recurring scenario I was intimately familiar with over the years, which involved the purchase of an aircraft. Some of you might relate to this story since it still continues to happen time and time again to this very day. If you are thinking about buying an aircraft, the few minutes you spend reading this article may save you big time down the road. And it doesn’t matter what size or type the aircraft is.
One thing that never ceased to amaze me was the guy that walked into the shop and said, “Hey, ya got a minute?” “I found this really neat airplane that I just have to have.” “Could you take a quick look at it and tell me if it’s ok?” “Ok for what,” I countered. “Well you know, see if it’s ok to fly and stuff like that, you know, a pre-purchase look see or inspection or what ever you call it,” he said. I replied, “sure, I can do that, but I need some help from you; can you please tell me what the heck a pre-purchase inspection is; I am not familiar with that term?”
I sat down with the customer and asked him for some additional details about this really neat airplane he just had to have. I discovered that the aircraft was a derelict, an old Cessna 172 that had been parked on the airport ever since I could remember. He had a chance to pick it up cheap from an estate sale. The poor thing was all covered with slimy green moss; it had flat tires and so on. Most of you who are reading this know what I was looking at. At this point, I explained to the customer that the only way he and I could determine if the aircraft could be made airworthy again would be to inspect it from nose to tail. “Wow,” he said, “what’s involved in that?” Now, the door was open.
I have always felt that the aircraft Owner/ Operator or perspective buyer for that matter should be thoroughly familiar with their responsibilities first and foremost. The first place I led a customer to was 14 CFR part 91 General Operating and Flight Rules. Specifically § 91.3, Responsibility and Authority of the Pilot in Command; § 91.7, Civil Aircraft Airworthiness; and a bit of § 91.417, Maintenance Records. After reading those three rules, most customers I dealt with really sat up and took notice. Then, this question always seemed to come up next. “What does Airworthy mean?” “That’s a good question,” I would respond, “and once we take a look at that I think you will begin to see what we need to do and how we will inspect your aircraft.”
Next is a short visit to read 14 CFR part 3, General Requirements; it’s the only place in the rules that the FAA actually publishes a definition of the term “airworthy.” A few times I have led a customer to the procedural stuff contained in 14 CFR part 21, specifically §21.183(d). Of course that led to the question, “what is a Type Certificate and what do they mean by condition for safe operation,” and so on. I usually closed the book at that point and pulled up the Type Certificate Data Sheet for the customer to look at. Then I asked the perspective buyer if he had taken a real good look at the aircraft. “No, not really, kinda hard when it’s all covered with moss and the grass is all grown up around it,” he replied. I agreed.
“What if it was a car and you were hot on it,” I asked? “What would you do first?” “Well,” he said, “I’d get it out of there and to a place where I could clean it up so I could really see it.” Again I agreed.
I pointed out that the owner/operator was required to have and keep maintenance records, log books, if you will. Before we went to the trouble of moving the aircraft I suggested he retrieve the records. From those records we could get a general idea of the history of the maintenance and repairs that had or had not been performed on this poor old Cessna 172. He agreed and said he would call when he had the records in hand. Two days later he called and said he had a box containing the aircraft records. “Bring them down and lets get started,” I said.
A side note; at this point I had about thirty minutes of my time invested. I knew this kid wanted this airplane in the worst way so I asked him what his plans for the airplane were. “I want to be an airline pilot and I need a time builder; I need to get my Commercial and Instrument ratings,” he replied. Enough said.
We were starting to look at the records when he asked, “how long will this take and how much will it cost?” Both good and reasonable questions which I answered indicating my hourly rate and an estimate of 3 hours to look over the records. The kid was lucky; the records were in good shape up until the aircraft was last flown and parked almost 10 years prior and it had very low time for its age. At this point I advised the kid that based on the records we both reviewed that I thought it was worth continuing.
Enter the pre-purchase inspection again. The kid and I sat down and came up with a game plan. He knew he was responsible for the cost of the inspection and had a fund set-aside for it. I gave him a quote for time required to do the inspection and nothing else. I then asked him what he thought we should do during the inspection to see if he understood what was required. I reminded him that I had to complete an inspection that would determine if the aircraft was airworthy and in condition to operate safely.
“What do you use for a checklist,” he asked? “Well,” I said, “what would you use?” He gave me a pretty good answer, which was, “you must make sure that the airplane complies with the Type Certificate to start with.” “Surly Cessna must make a check list for this airplane, right?” He was beginning to catch on. He continued, “what about the people I have heard about that got a pre-purchase inspection for a hundred bucks?” “Well,” I said, “they didn’t get much did they?”
“Look”, I said, “the whole point here for you to know and understand is that there is no such inspection required by, or defined in the FAA regulations.” “Simply put, what must take place is set forth in good old §91.407(a)1; that’s where we start.” I went on to explain that as far as I was concerned the only way to determine the airworthiness of an aircraft was to begin with an annual inspection and work from there. The young lad agreed.
Some eight plus hours later, not including a very intense wash job by the eventual owner, I determined the aircraft was unairworthy for a number of reasons. Four bad wheel bearings, two badly corroded hat sections in the upper cabin that act as the wing attach points, and a corroded rear bulkhead horizontal stabilizer attach point, were the worst offenders, along with a rotten interior and magnetos that were trash. Even after all of that the kid still had very little in his investment. So we commenced the job of getting his newly discovered prospect airworthy.
He eventually went on to fly for and retire from Delta Airlines. I ran into him years later at the funeral for the lady that taught us both to fly. We shook hands and he jokingly asked me if I knew where he could get a cheap pre-purchase inspection done on a Beech 18 he was looking at. That my friends, is another story. We parted with smiles on our faces and his last comment to me was, “pre-purchase inspection, my ass!”
Charles L. Reynolds or “Chuck” as he is known received the FAAs Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in May 2011. The award is named in honor of Mr. Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight. The award recognizes the lifetime accomplishments (50 years) of senior mechanics. Mr. Taylor served as the Wright brothers’ mechanic and is credited with designing and building the engine for their first successful aircraft.
Chuck began his aviation career July of 1957 in the Pacific Northwest pumping gas at a local Fixed Base Operation and learning the ropes; he had been interested in aviation since the age of six, living in close proximity to the Portland Airport in Oregon . Chuck eventually went to work for the FAA in the Seattle Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), but not before he had amassed a wealth of knowledge and know how, working on everything from a Cessna 120 to the Lockheed L-1011.
He speaks fondly of his time employed along the way at Soloy Conversions where he worked in Quality and maintained his A&P Certificate, Inspection Authorization, which he earned in 1974, and held both DMIR and DAR privileges. Chuck has touched a lot of lives and is greatly appreciated by those that had the privilege to work with him. Heck, we still all bug him today and I know he loves it!
I was fortunate to cut my FAA teeth, so to speak, under Chuck’s wing, at the Seattle FSDO. I can never repay him for all that he taught me; maybe we should never put it into terms like that but rather press on carrying the knowledge, and hopefully the wisdom we’ve gained from that knowledge through Chuck and others like him, and share it with the many who are now coming up through our ranks. Perhaps we honor those that gave us so much simply by “paying it forward.” We love you man!
