Pre Purchase Inspection Checklist

[N201MKTurbo]

Also, there is no requirement for the IA to return the plane to service. The IAs responsibility is only to inspect the airplane. He had no responsibility for doing the work. Any A&P or in some cases the owner can sign off any remedial work that is required.

From a practical standpoint the A&P and IA are often the same person. 

Most IAs mistakenly think they are personally responsible for the airworthiness of the plane. They are only responsible for the inspection. 

[N201MKTurbo]

FWIW

All airplanes, if inspected critically enough are unairworthy.

It just depends on particular inspectors pet peeves.

[midlifeflyer]

5 hours ago, DVA said:

 

With all due respect you are taking a correct quote used in a different situation and placed it out of context in this thread.

 

 

Actually, that is kind of what  Mike Busch meant to say. There's a thread fro a few years ago in the EAA forums in which Mike participated and was challenged on the "once started, should be completed." http://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?902-Prebuy-vs-Annual

The way the discussion ended up, it was a statement in an-even-then-older version of the IA testing guide. The newest version, of course, talks about such things as incomplete annuals and how to deal with them, clearly indicating that any "should"s are recommendations and not mandates. And I don't see anything suggesting that an inspection automatically grounds an airplane even if nothing is found before it is terminated.

The bottom line of the Busch articles on the subject is, the two inspections are different from both the seller's and the buyer's perspective. Whom it helps and whom it hurts depends on the situation. A mechanic doing a pre-buy might expect to stop if he finds something leading him to recommend "no purchase" to his client; the mechanic asked to do an annual, is expecting to do an annual to completion.