From: randy@khan.gatech.edu (Randal T. Abler)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: A tale of IFR Range, Part #2. YJFC buys a Cessna Cutlass 172RG
Summary: logistics of buying
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:57:22 GMT
Originator: randy@khan


A little more than a week back I posted a summary of the events that
led our flying club to sell a C172 and start looking for a Cessna 172RG.
Once you've decide what model plane to buy, its easy, just find a good
plane at a good price and buy it.  If only life was so simple.

We started out by making a list of what equipment we wanted on the plane.
This list included
        dual NAV/Coms w/ dual VOR heads
        Glideslope & Marker Beacon Receiver
        ADF
        DME
        Strobes
        Standby Vacuum
        4 place intercom
        EGT
We associated a cost with adding any of these items, and added it to
the sales cost of the airplane.  Then we added in a engine reserve
based on the percentage of TBO on the engine and propellor.   This all
got plugged into a spread sheet and the adjusted cost determined.
Interestingly enough the adjusted prices all fell into a very narrow
price range.  So, we went back to look at what additional "features"
were associated with the different planes up for sale.  Also, a lot of
the C172RG's have either newly overhauled engines, or the original
engine getting very close to TBO.  C172RG's were built between about
1981 and 1985 and seem to end up needing there first overhaul right
about now.  Although purchasing a run-out engine and rebuilding has
advantages, it also can be time consuming if you decide to rebuild the
existing engine rather than just swap engines.  Rather than spending a
lot of time setting up a rebuild, I preferred to get a plane with low
time on a rebuild done by a known shop.

Looking at the features, it is pretty hard to find an IFR equipped
C172RG that does not have an autopilot.  Although an autopilot is a
very nice feature especially for single pilot IFR, they are
tempermental things that have a lot of costs associated with them.
You have to buy more expensive gyros (turn coordinator, heading
indicator, and perhaps attitude indicator) when it comes time to
overhaul gyros.  You have servo system that can go wrong.  They also
couple into the avionics to do NAV track.  They can be a maintenance
nightmare.

Of importance to remember is that our flying club is associated with
an engineering school, so lots of bells & whistles has a general
attraction for our members.  One C172RG was advertised as 2300 TTSN,
300 SMOH, STEC-60 AP, WX-8, Narco RNAV, strobes, EGT, Carb TEMP,
hangared. After some discussion, we made a offer about 10%
less than the asking price, conditional on a pre-purchase inspection,
which was accepted.

After some hassles with our local bank, mostly due to the fact that
the branch manager had been sick, then resigned?, we got most of the
banking issues on the right track and started looking at how to do an
inspection.  Our local mechanic has flown out to do pre-purchase
inspections for other people, but he was unable to schedule time out
of town for anytime before the end of august.

Two other obvious options were to bring the plane to our mechanic to
do the prepurchase, or to have an independent mechanic in the sellors
area do an inspection.  Having an independent mechanic do an
inspection would require somebody (me) to go out and coordinate and
oversee the inspection.  Bringing the airplane here had some initial
appeal since our mechanic could then check it over more thoroughly in
his shop, including putting it up on jacks and testing the gear.  On
the other hand, the logistics of getting the plane here were
difficult, especially in conjunction with insurance & liability for
our club.  So it would probably be easier to hire a mechanic out there
to do the inspection.  Since I had to go out and oversee the
inspection, I started talking to our mechanic (whom I've worked with
for a while) about what to look for in a prepurchase, what problem
areas to check in the C172RG, and what the general warning signs were.
He helped me check around to verify the name of the shop that did the
overhaul, and got a list of AD's that were applicable to that serial
number.

The place that was selling this plane is a FBO out in Texas, who had
their own maintenance facilities.  I decided I would go out to the
sellors location, test fly the plane, then work in conjunction with
their shop to inspect the plane (ie, use their tools).  I made
arrangements to stay with some friends (Georgia Tech alumni) who I'd
been looking for an excuse to visit, and purchased a one-way ticket
leaving Saturday.  On friday, the bank still hadn't closed the loan
(which was being handled by one of the other club officers), but they
expected to have everything set first thing monday morning.  So I
packed up a small tool kit, an overnight bag, my flight bag, my all
my notes on what to check and headed out to Texas on Saturday,
intending to test fly & inspect the plane on Sunday, then sign the
papers, transfer the money, and fly the plane back to Atlanta on
Monday. Boy, was I in for a dose of reality.
-- 
Randal T. Abler   	randy@cerl.gatech.edu		 
CERL/EE Georgia Tech