I was being berated yesterday for knowing nothing about buying aeroplanes. The guy having a go at me has bought numerous aircraft for his own use and is therefore a soi-disant expert.
My view, though I didn’t express it to him at the time as I didn’t want an argument, is that I know more than him about buying aeroplanes, because I have only ever bought three, and the purchases have been so successful that I have kept those aircraft for many years and put hundreds, even thousands, of hours on them.
The best husband isn’t the one who has had most wives.
What do the panel think?
Just whip them out and measure 
Indeed. My father once returned from a trip abroad (a particular country in the south, not hard to guess, he always spoke about how beautiful the women there were) and came back with a little souvenir. It was a tape measure, about 12" long at maximum, and it had colour coded bands marked “poor” “ok” “good” “very good” “excellent” “sex god”. I am sure Amazon sell it…
I would think that anyone who intimately knows their aircraft (this sounds like you Timothy) is already more of an expert than most. Knowing your aircraft, all the paperwork that goes with it, all the pitfalls and gotchas is one hell of a good training for knowing where and what to look for – after all many of the essentials are the same.
To be the complete expert the greater that experience can extend over a range of different aircraft the better. In that respect I guess that is why engineers that are working day in day out on different aircraft are well placed.
Ultimately combine both with someone who has type specific knowledge of the aircraft being purchased and you are in safe hands.
Without boasting, I reckon I could tell a prospective buyer more about certain types of aircraft, boats and cars than the majoirty of other people and I could apply some of these principles to having a reasonable idea of what too look for in a new type, but I would have no idea on some of the type specific stuff to that new type.
Of course, it is often the type specific stuff that is the real problem. Unfortuantely for obvious reasons this is often not well publicised and is often information diffiuclt to come by. For example I can think of one type that had particular issues with the oleos. Very few people were aware, and it certainly would never be apparent from an external inspection. Even less people were aware of the possible solutions. If you got it wrong you could end up with an aircraft that you would end up spending more than the value of the aircraft to rectify. That is a very expensive lesson.
As to husbands and wifes, I suspect the intimate knowledge may or may not be an advantage.
Timothy, like you I have only bought three aircraft, and two of them were Aztecs, although I have considered buying several others types. I think that I know something about buying but would not in anyway suggest that I am knowledgable enough. For instance I made sure to get specialist knowledge from a recommended source in the US regarding a potential purchase of a C210. You can never know everything about specific aircraft and even the most knowledgeable can make mistakes with buying used aircraft.
A prebuy assessment doesn’t spot everything and in some cases seems pretty useless. My current aircraft was purchased from an online auction with no prebuy allowed and no inspection of the plane allowed either. You could only look at the plane, no inspection covers to be removed, and of course look at the logs. It had been standing for about two years in a hangar. I knew the type pretty well but many experts advised me that the engines would be corroded and I would have terrible problems with systems etc. It had very low hours for its age and was relatively cheap to buy so worth the risk. It has been flawless in about 500 hours of operation so far flying across Europe IFR,except for normal maintenance items.
On what basis did this person suggest that they were an expert?
JohnR wrote:
On what basis did this person suggest that they were an expert?
He had bought so many.
Well buying so many is easy if you have the money. Doesn’t mean any of them were any good!
My current aircraft was purchased from an online auction with no prebuy allowed and no inspection of the plane allowed either. You could only look at the plane, no inspection covers to be removed…
That is what a lot of people do anyway, and some “prebuys” are like that too 
If the Q is who can do the best prebuy inspection, I think it is not just a mechanic – because almost none of them know anything about flying, engine operation, or avionics. The person who can do this best is someone who has owned and flown that type, participated in the servicing of it (or brings his mechanic along) and who knows the avionics. If I was buying another TB20 I would bring my mechanic along and between us we would do a hopefully thorough job.
Just buying a plane involves no skill… well maybe some negotiation skills.
JohnR wrote:
Well buying so many is easy if you have the money. Doesn’t mean any of them were any good!
That’s my point. He has ended up putting very few hours on any of them. They have all turned out to be wrong for different reasons. But he remains an expert.
Ho hum.
I’ve studied the methods of a few guys in the UK/Ireland who have each bought 100+ aeroplanes in their time. They are all excellent at striking up a rapport with people. So much so that you would actually want to sell them your aeroplane regardless of the price offered. Work on the relationships. I bought a plane off a guy last week for half of what he paid for it three months ago, and he would still do business with me again. He left his GPS, headsets and flying gear in the plane and gave me the keys. I’ve kept all that for him. Next time I see him he’ll get all back.
If you are good, life is good :-)
