Purchasing an aircraft is an exciting experience. Weather you are upgrading or looking for your first aircraft, the thought can often get in the way of critically looking at the aspects. This human error can cost you a lot of money if not initially taken care of.
When purchasing an aircraft, it is important to have a qualified, neutral organization to do a proper pre-purchase inspection of your potential new aircraft. When Mastenbroek Aeroskill purchases an aircraft for a client, we recommend just that.
Reasons to consult Mastenbroek Aeroskill with your aircraft purchase:
- Purchasing an aircraft without the knowledge of an experienced organization can lead to unnecessary and costly sittuations.
- The European Aviation Safety Agency regulations require that the aircraft must be maintained to an "Airworthy" condition. This airworthy assessment may be accomplished by many different mechanics or maintenance organizations with different skill levels and standards for determining airworthiness.
- We have seen people buying aircraft without the benefit of a quality pre-purchase evaluation and it almost always has led to a disappointing ownership experience, resulting in more unnecessary downtime and extra maintenance costs.
- Many potential buyers are attracted to an aircraft that has new paint and interior, however there is more than meets the eye. These cosmetic features could be hiding a host of problems that only a trained eye could spot. Paint can hide a multitude of problems like corrosion, damage, or poor repair workmanship.
Some of the areas that Mastenbroek Aeroskill will look at are:
- Aircraft records, (logbooks, etc.) – are they complete and accurate?
- Aircraft damage history – has the aircraft been involved in an accident?
- Airworthiness Directives (AD) and Service Bulletin status – are all applicable directive and bulletins complied with and have they been signed off properly?
- Maintenance status – are all inspection requirements up to date?
- Engine condition and history – is the engine performing as it should?
- System operations – are they functioning normally?
- Modifications and proper recording of the modifications – have all the modifications been properly documented?
- Corrosion damage – where has the aircraft been operated? Is there hidden corrosion?
- Another important part of a pre-purchase evaluation is the acceptance flight. Does the aircraft taxi as it should? How does the aircraft handle? Have all the flight surfaces been rigged properly? Do the avionics work as they should? Are there any excessive vibrations or flutters?
The pre-purchase evaluation:
- When performing these evaluations Mastenbroek Aeroskill always prepares and uses a customized checklist so as not to forget any of the items that need to be looked at.
- We always start the pre-purchase evaluation with clear and well-defined agreements so that everyone involved, the buyer, seller as well as the evaluator, are working from the same page.
- A well performed evaluation can make the purchasing of an aircraft a lot easier and will make ownership more cost effective.
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