Buying a 170B

[Lee]

For what it is worth. I may be the exception but, I spent a lot of time with both the owner and the mechanics (IAs) who maintained the airplane I bought and did my own inspection. The owner's hangar was one clue: it was spotless and this was reflected in the airplane and the logs. (So was the owner's home ... he invited my wife and I to come by to meet his wife and their place is immaculate ... gave me pause for thought!) The mechanics apparently took their time going through the airplane at annual time ... I believe it based on the records, shape of the airplane and conversation. I did not have an annual done ... the last one was done the end of January. I know I took a chance but, I asked a bunch of questions, went through the logs in detail and opened as much of the airplane up as I could get to. I also looked at several other 170s to try and get an idea of what a 53 year old airplane in reasonable shape should look like. None of them are perfect ... mine isn't but, it is in very good condition. George Horn and a couple of other guys in the the Association were of enormous help. Buying an airplane, especially one with some age on it, is always in the arena of risk taking. Everyone involved can be as honest as one could wish but because we are dealing with mechanical objects, there is always the possibility (if not probability) something will break. It is a big investment and one of those "thought provoking" moments when you plink down the $$$ but, I have zero regrets and thoroughly enjoyed finding the airplane and then flying it back to Memphis from Winterhaven. I need to fix a couple of things but, nothing that really surprised me. The -170 really is a nice machine to go kiting about the country in! Regards, Lee