Need Pre-Purchase Test Flight Checklist suggestions

[William Munney]

Greetings all.  New member here.  I have aviation experience but have never owned my own.

I am considering buying a Mooney Ovation and would like some suggestions or a checklist for its pre-purchase test flight.  I will be going over the physical condition and logbooks of the airplane with a mechanic and have arranged for an avionics pre-buy at a local shop as well.  I will be test flying the airplane with someone insured on the airplane.  I’m trying to get as much done in as little time as possible while being thorough.

Fire away please.

Thanks.

[Z W]

Welcome.

Sounds like you are on the right track.  Be aware that there are no defined standards for a "pre-purchase inspection."  Many have paid for those only to find corrosion or other major issues at their first annual inspection, which is a legally defined inspection with a checklist.  They have no recourse against the seller or the pre-buy shop unless they contracted with the shop to do certain things.  Just putting it in the shop for "pre-buy" doesn't get you anything guaranteed.

Mooney has a 100-hour / annual inspection checklist (attached) 100-HOURANNUAL-Inspection-Guide.pdf.  I would say it would be a good place to start, and I would strongly consider working with the shop to have the "pre-purchase inspection" turned into an annual as long as no major items such as corrosion, low compressions, missing AD's, etc. are found at the beginning.  And I would tell the shop specifically to look hard for corrosion.  Almost everything else can be fixed for a reasonable cost.  Then you start out with your new plane good to go, in theory, for a full year.

Most good purchase contracts say the seller will pay for any airworthiness items found during pre-buy, and the buyer pays for anything else.

As far as a checklist for the test flight, I've never seen something like that, but would probably just work my way left-to-right across the panel and see what works vs. doesn't, and make sure it flies straight and true hands-off.  Pay particular attention to the autopilot.

[A64Pilot]

Contact Mooney, they should be able to give you a copy of the Certification test flight that every airplane is flown after manufacture and prior to Certification.

‘I used to give ours out to anyone that wanted one after heavy maintenance. There is no aggressive flying, it’s just checking everything operates like it should, stall breaks clean and at the proper speed and the warning goes off within spec etc. Any pilot can safely use it, it’s just read, do and verify.

A lot of it will be ground checks

I STRONGLY support the turning it into an Annual once your 99% sure this is the one, as has been said there are no performance standards for a pre-buy, because a pre-buy isn’t an FAA defined event. Also an IA is required for an annual, but anyone can perform a pre-buy.

[midlifeflyer]

I think Savvy may have a checklist for when they or their designees do one, but it comes down to noting proper performance per the tables, responsiveness to flight controls, and that the avionics and instruments work properly. That last may be a bigger deal now than earlier and you probably want some help if any are unfamiliar.

[William Munney]

Thanks all.  I have arranged for a full avionics and auto-pilot pre-buy.  I’m going to contact Mooney and see what they suggest for a flight test.  Probably have more questions after these are complete.

It just got a fresh annual.  Supposedly no corrosion.  Needs a motor.  FIKI.  Nice panel.  Paint and carpet are crap by my standards.  “Fixer upper” in other words.

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, William Munney said:

Thanks all.  I have arranged for a full avionics and auto-pilot pre-buy.  I’m going to contact Mooney and see what they suggest for a flight test.  Probably have more questions after these are complete.

It just got a fresh annual.  Supposedly no corrosion.  Needs a motor.  FIKI.  Nice panel.  Paint and carpet are crap by my standards.  “Fixer upper” in other words.

Sometimes "Fresh annual" on an airplane for sale means that the ink is fresh, but not much was done to the airplane. (I bought a Grumman Tiger almost 35 years ago that had a "fresh annual" signed off two days before. I found three separate bird's nests in it.)

(This isn't really what to look for on a pre-buy, but more in deciding which airplane to choose to start a pre-buy on.)

The major six things on which you should evaluate a Mooney, kind of in order of expense . . .  usually. . . mostly.  .  are :

1 Powerplant (Engine/Prop)  (In today's world finding parts to rebuild an engine can take 9-12 months. If the airplane hasn't been flown in awhile I would want an IRAN done, obviously not as part of a pre-buy since that would be too invasive. but before I planned on flying it much.)

2 Airframe (Corrosion primarily, but in this case airframe would include TKS components - these systems don't do well if they aren't exercised monthly. Big money on the parts on that $85,000 system.)

3 Panel (is everything functional the way it is so that I can fly it until I decide to do an upgrade down the road? Also what should be factored in is what will it take down the road to get it where I want it and how does that price compare to what airplanes on the market already have it.)

4 Fuel Tanks (the reason this is before paint is that it can be an airworthy issue plus you really want the tanks done before you spend the money on a re-paint)

5 Paint (While fresh paint is nice it may be covering up a lot. I'd rather see it the way it's been cared for and if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how it was maintained.)

6 Interior (Depending on how much you want to do yourself, this is a $10,000 - $20,000 item. The advantage you have on an Ovation is that every one of them came with the fiberglass side panels and headliner. Again though, if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how everything was maintained.)

 

How many of those six boxes check as acceptable?

If not many of them do, then you are buying a project to work on, not an airplane to fly. It will turn out to be much more expensive than buying a well-cared-for one where only one or two areas need attention. 

 

[DonMuncy]

5 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Sometimes "Fresh annual" on an airplane for sale means that the ink is fresh, but not much was done to the airplane. (I bought a Grumman Tiger almost 35 years ago that had a "fresh annual" signed off two days before. I found three separate bird's nests in it.)

The major six things on which you should evaluate a Mooney, kind of in order of expense . . .  usually. . . mostly.  .  are :

1 Powerplant (Engine/Prop)  (In today's world finding parts to rebuild an engine can take 9-12 months. If the airplane hasn't been flown in awhile I would want an IRAN done, obviously not as part of a pre-buy since that would be too invasive. but before I planned on flying it much.)

2 Airframe (Corrosion primarily, but in this case airframe would include TKS components - these systems don't do well if they aren't exercised monthly. Big money on the parts on that $85,000 system.)

3 Panel (is everything functional the way it is so that I can fly it until I decide to do an upgrade down the road? Also what should be factored in is what will it take down the road to get it where I want it and how does that price compare to what airplanes on the market already have it.)

4 Fuel Tanks (the reason this is before paint is that it can be an airworthy issue plus you really want the tanks done before you spend the money on a re-paint)

5 Paint (While fresh paint is nice it may be covering up a lot. I'd rather see it the way it's been cared for and if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how it was maintained.)

6 Interior (Depending on how much you want to do yourself, this is a $10,000 - $20,000 item. The advantage you have on an Ovation is that every one of them came with the fiberglass side panels and headliner. Again though, if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how everything was maintained.)

 

How many of those six boxes check as acceptable?

If not many of them do, then you are buying a project to work on, not an airplane to fly. It will turn out to be much more expensive than buying a well-cared-for one where only one or two areas need attention. 

 

I agree, except I would move corrosion to the top of the list. And I would tell the person doing the inspection, that if corrosion is found, stop the inspection at that point. No use continuing to incur cost.

[William Munney]

12 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Sometimes "Fresh annual" on an airplane for sale means that the ink is fresh, but not much was done to the airplane. (I bought a Grumman Tiger almost 35 years ago that had a "fresh annual" signed off two days before. I found three separate bird's nests in it.)

(This isn't really what to look for on a pre-buy, but more in deciding which airplane to choose to start a pre-buy on.)

The major six things on which you should evaluate a Mooney, kind of in order of expense . . .  usually. . . mostly.  .  are :

1 Powerplant (Engine/Prop)  (In today's world finding parts to rebuild an engine can take 9-12 months. If the airplane hasn't been flown in awhile I would want an IRAN done, obviously not as part of a pre-buy since that would be too invasive. but before I planned on flying it much.)

2 Airframe (Corrosion primarily, but in this case airframe would include TKS components - these systems don't do well if they aren't exercised monthly. Big money on the parts on that $85,000 system.)

3 Panel (is everything functional the way it is so that I can fly it until I decide to do an upgrade down the road? Also what should be factored in is what will it take down the road to get it where I want it and how does that price compare to what airplanes on the market already have it.)

4 Fuel Tanks (the reason this is before paint is that it can be an airworthy issue plus you really want the tanks done before you spend the money on a re-paint)

5 Paint (While fresh paint is nice it may be covering up a lot. I'd rather see it the way it's been cared for and if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how it was maintained.)

6 Interior (Depending on how much you want to do yourself, this is a $10,000 - $20,000 item. The advantage you have on an Ovation is that every one of them came with the fiberglass side panels and headliner. Again though, if it's rough and dirty many times that speaks volumes on also how everything was maintained.)

 

How many of those six boxes check as acceptable?

If not many of them do, then you are buying a project to work on, not an airplane to fly. It will turn out to be much more expensive than buying a well-cared-for one where only one or two areas need attention. 

 

Thanks Lance.  Great post.  Thanks for taking the time.

It’s a project.  No doubt.  My thought is it will be very solid when i finish as i take care of everything up front and do it to my specs.  It will sit in a hangar until the engine comes.  I am not in a hurry to fly it.  I figure about a year to 18 moths for the total rehab on this because of wait times for tank reseal and interior shops and 6-8 months to fly it.  It’s not dirty, abused or neglected but it’s 27 years old and has had little use in the last 5 years.  Some damage history when it was young but repaired, signed off and flown a bunch since then.

The airframe has no corrosion.  Good there.  Hangared Midwest airplane its whole life.  TKS works as advertised.  Good pressure.  No leaks.  O2 bottle is timed out.

Cylinders and valves and compression are good.  It needs lifters.  I am installing a factory new motor instead.  In fact, everything new from the firewall forward to the tip of the spinner.  (Prop Overhaul)

The panel was completely done 5 years ago.  All glass and modern Garmin.  Most airplanes i saw out there are overpriced and a mix of mid time engines and avionics moving quickly to obsolete.  Also, paying more is not necessarily a guarantee of less expense.  Or, that has been my life experience.

The tanks need resealed.  A patch would likely do but I am on the list at Weep No More.  The tanks currently have a small weep but still airworthy.  I’ll patch if i need to.

Paint is original and Meh.  Oxidation and some chips mostly.  A good detail would have it looking very sharp from 10 yards.  Ha ha.  Interior is original and looks tired.  Carpet is tired too……which all carpet is after 27 years.

I’ll have the engine hung and do the gear doughnuts and LED lights while it’s sitting. Paint and interior if i feel like after that.

[William Munney]

On 10/9/2023 at 10:18 AM, DonMuncy said:

I agree, except I would move corrosion to the top of the list. And I would tell the person doing the inspection, that if corrosion is found, stop the inspection at that point. No use continuing to incur cost.

I agree. Here are my thoughts on corrosion.  As soon as they assemble it…….it starts corroding.  Same with new cars or any metals exposed to the atmosphere.  It’s 27 years old so it’s corroding too.  However, supposedly,  no corrosion at this time warrants any action or repair and nothing appears as though it is likely to require attention or be a cause for concern for quite awhile.  In other words, the inspector said it’s in good shape for a 27 year old airplane.

It’s been a hangared Midwest airplane its whole life so I’m sure it is far less corroded than a coastal airplane with the same age.  I suppose i could mist it with Corrosion X at some point.  We’ll see.

[hoot777]

I think I saw one from Don Maxwell one time. Not sure where I saw it.  I agree with the annual v pre-buy.  Agee up front to split the cost if you walk away