Schllc

It certainly shows some pride of ownership and a regularly flying plane is good too.

I don’t think you’re wrong at all. That is a potential upside. You should also be prepared to go worst case as well, or walk away.

I was 20 at the time, and don't know how much was actually done in between designs. What I do know is that the entire airport runway environment was done and we did inspect the first one throughout the course of the project. The second and third i didn't participate inspections and don't know what happened. I was just drafting and checking other drafters work, i did do inspections on the fourth one so it was done at least twice. When i asked the firm owner why we were redoing it he said they had grant money to spend. This was around 1992-1995. They were his single biggest client until he retired in 2015. We did a lot of municipal work and all of it was haphazardly managed and no one cared about cost. They would demand stainless steel tubing and risers at 10/12 times the cost of galvanized as one example. Even though the service life of the galvanized was 30 years. look up Milton”s four ways to spend money. Goverment 1,0000,000% embraces the worst of the four. but i am not cynical at all..... sarcasm/off/

100k is wishful thinking. paint alone will be 30k+. the have to's are bad enough, when the "while we are there's" it will go to 200 in the blink of an eye.

while you are probably technically correct, the funds they receive are more often than not fungible. I worked for an engineer who did all the electrical design for an airport while i was in college. We redesigned all the runway and exterior lighting 4 times in three years. Bureaucrats find a way....

Better yet, go directly into your IFR while you have the grasp of information and the momentum. nothing better than training for hard IFR in the plane you will be flying. All of that dual you are planning for could apply directly to your IFR requirements.

Congrats! Beautiful looking bird!

If you clean off the old door seal before you go it will be half that. the adhesive is super easy to work with and cleanup. Is a brass bristle brush. Do NOT do this in your hangar and tape off the cabin.

The longer you fight it the more it will eat at you. It sucks and I doubt many of us would feel any less frustration or anger. But you’re almost done with them and have a significant upgrade. And you don’t ever have to go back. Hang the engine, put some distance from that shop you, then find a good guy. They are out there. Really sorry this happened to you .

Yes they do. The door seal for the k fits. I installed it in my acclaim.

You will not believe the difference until you hear it for yourself. it is extremely easy to install. it will take you more time to remove and clean the old seal. I opted for a manual inflate, for price, weight and simplicity.

this is absolutely where they are going, and foreflight has little to no path for the same application...

I’m a long time ForeFlight subscriber, and I do not relish the thought of learning a new system. After I found out I get GP free with my charts subscription I downloaded and attempted to move my logbook and airplanes into the GP. It will not be a simple task so I am dragging my feet. that being said, I feel it’s going to boil down to one thing, which one can be utilized in your existing panel without the need for an extra device. I realize there are many planes out there that do no have compatible avionics, but that is slowly changing, and I don’t see ForeFlight entering the avionics game…

The later models do indeed have a bracket and a stiffener welded to the frame, but it is still a rather small thin wall tube… That being said, it’s a chromoly cage vs aluminum in most planes…

Agreed

Reminds me of the time I was unfortunate enough to find my plane at an MSC at KFXE. when I picked it up from annual, which is a whole other story, I found a ziplock in the back pocket with five interior pieces they broke during annual. They didn’t replace them, they left them off and just put the broken pieces in the bag and said nothing. It tracked with the rest of my experience there, but still felt crappy. I agree with @Flyler. Get a quote, and discuss with them. anything they contribute I would consider a win… if the owner isnt doing the work, I would assume he didnt know, but he needs to be aware because if his employees are doing this with something that obvious, what else are they doing? it took me years to instill this in my guys, but I always told them, everyone makes mistakes, and I would never punish someone for an errant mistake, but if they lied about it, there would never be a second chance. Good culture produces a superior product.

Probably should have given more consideration to the model plane....My experience is only with ovations and acclaims and if i was at the end of the runway and was still only seeing 69 (or even 80 knots for big headwind), i would know something was very wrong.

If the sole purpose is hours, then why not get something slow and cheap. takes you a bIt longer each time but that’s hours, and you won’t have to go as far from home to get the same time in the seat. A 172 or a Cherokee sound like your best choice.

Wow, if you couldn’t top 69 knots on/over the runway, why would you even try to take off ?

The purchase price of the plane is mostly relevant if you have to finance. When you buy an airplane, and if you maintain it well, it is basically an interest free savings account. You will more or less get what you paid for it when you sell. The cost to operate, store, insure and maintain is the cost that seems to surprise some new owners. My original budget was a little less than yours, and I ended up spending 2.5x what I expected, and I do not regret the decision. Buy the newest, best maintained and equipped airplane you can afford, it will pay dividends in dispatch and less surprises. over the last 10 years I have scrubbed two missions because of mechanical/electrical issues and I fly 200 hours a year. Btw, it is hard to fly 500 a year if you are working, that’s a LOT of traveling. But if you manage to squeeze all that in, I agree you absolutely need a turbo and at least tks. Lots of opinions about turbos here, so I’ll just say this, I have yet to meet the person that bought a turbo and regretted the choice.

I have been in some type of service business almost my whole life. The last 25 in the construction of high end custom homes. When it comes to anything involving people, nothing is certain, sacred or off limits. I tell my clients you want to be the first born, the second wife and the third contractor. Reason is that people have to go through the first two to figure out how to avoid the lies and/or the ignorance. The relevance here, is too many people get distracted by the low bid, or sometime the high bid. Thinking the former is the only honest guy, or the former is the best just because of price. I fell for it a few times myself…. This doesn’t mean the low guy is always to be feared nor that the expensive guy is taking advantage. What it does mean is that if there is a big difference in price, one must figure out why before moving on. For me, in this instance an overhaul would be the only option because I’m not waiting two years, so who to pick? One thing all good shops have in common is the culture is oriented for service and excellence. The culture is easy to suss out by a visit and conversation. The second step would be talking to an old client, a not so old client and a new client. References are gold in these situations. All mechanical things are prone to issues and while we all hope to have none, when you do, is the guy who did your work going to be there? Or more importantly do you want to go back to him? I would venture to bet if one could collect accurate statistics, the factory engines are likely a minimal amount better regarding defects, at least for the majority of reputable independents. But I don’t believe the percentage would be large enough to make me wait an extra six months, much less two years. My vote would be find a good shop and let’r rip. Make sure they put new cylinders!!

given thats generally the weak spot of any of our engines, i am surprised that it isn't mandatory. i would not overhaul an engine without new cylinders. required or not...

Can you call it overhauled with the old cylinders and pistons? I would think that’s one of the only mandatory replacements.

Yet another reminder of consequences of “the turn”…. I sure hope I never have to make that decision. rip….

OP said he had a 1984 with original equipment. that would not include a gps… that being said since Canada added the new requirement there are a lot of used 345’s on the market. Probably around 7k