- Joined
- Jul 4, 2016
- Messages
- 240
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Hello everyone. I am a newbie and a student pilot. I am in the process of purchasing a 1966 Cherokee 140 to finish flight school and build time in. I am not a young man (50) so not a kid looking for first toy. I had a pre-purchase inspection done and the airplane looks great in all respects except for two concerns of my inspector. He found a 4 inch crack in the sheet metal on the bottom of the right wing over the wing spar. He is an experienced and certified aviation mechanic certified to do A& P and is also an IA. He said that cracks in the sheet metal on a 50 year old plane is common, but this is in a non stressed area and someplace he has never seen cracks in a Cherokee before. He said I should talk to the owner about having it taken to a loc a l company who does all of the major insurance repair for airframes in this area to see what they thought and to ensure that the spar is not cracked. When I spoke to the owner he wanted to talk to his A & P about it and it would probably just need the crack stop drilled and a doubler applied. So my question here is if it is done by a certified A & P and signed off on would you consider that safe or should this require skin removal to check for other damage? First plane purchase here so I am trying to be safe at all costs, but the seller is a long time friend...more than 20 years and a very safe pilot.
The other area of center for my inspector was the motor has 650 hours left to TBO. Oil pressure was right on the numbers, cylinder Temps were good and compressions all in the high 70s. Runs smooth and mag drops were all great. He said mechannically the engine is right on point. He said what gave him pause was that the last TBO was done in 1979 and that a 37 year old engine was just not his idea of a good buy, but he said it runs great. He calls it the little miracle cherokee. It has all of its maintenance logs and he said the maintenance and logs are impecable. With all of that being said the price of this airplane is a steal and it is has a current annual and flyable. It is easy to walk away from a deal when things are not perfect, but this one really is priced well below comparable planes in my area. Just looking for a little advice here. Thanks.
The other area of center for my inspector was the motor has 650 hours left to TBO. Oil pressure was right on the numbers, cylinder Temps were good and compressions all in the high 70s. Runs smooth and mag drops were all great. He said mechannically the engine is right on point. He said what gave him pause was that the last TBO was done in 1979 and that a 37 year old engine was just not his idea of a good buy, but he said it runs great. He calls it the little miracle cherokee. It has all of its maintenance logs and he said the maintenance and logs are impecable. With all of that being said the price of this airplane is a steal and it is has a current annual and flyable. It is easy to walk away from a deal when things are not perfect, but this one really is priced well below comparable planes in my area. Just looking for a little advice here. Thanks.
