Need Pre-Buy Mechanic near DC

[anthony.locurto]

I am in desperate need of a competent mechanic for pre-buy inspection near Manassas, VA (KHEF). Byron at KGAI can't do it because I am buying it from a client of his (I trust his work but I want an independent evaluation), and Henry Weber at KLNS is too busy. I've tried calling Freedom in Lynchburg, VA multiple times since they are a MSC but they won't return my calls or respond to my emails. The Plane Doctor at Shannon isn't available either. I've tried Air-Mods too, but can't get a hold of anyone there. The guys at Fly Wyld have availability but they really only check the stuff on an annual which isn't what I am looking for; I want to make sure there is no corrosion and that the expensive items are mechanically sound. Below is a running list of the places I've reached out to:

• RPM Aircraft (Byron) - Not available
• Henry Weber - Not available
• The Plane Doctor - Not available
• Freedom Aviation (MSC) - will not return phone calls, or respond to emails
• Air-Mods - can't get ahold of anyone
• White Hawk - waiting to hear back, left a message on 3/19
• Classic Aviaiton - won't do pre-buys
• Integer Aviation (KOKV) - phone number out of service

I'm getting really frustrated with this process, but I won't buy a plane without the pre-buy. I have searched the MS forums for recommendations but they are either out of date or have one of the shops listed above. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know! 

 

[Andy95W]

Byron’s a straight shooter.  If nothing else pans out, I’d have him do it, just ask that a different mechanic do the inspection (maybe even Byron himself, if he has time, after one of his guys opens it up).

[Fritz1]

C&W Caldwell NJ, pay them for an annual, you buy it, they sign the annual after fixing identified squaks, if you don't buy it there is a good reason and money well spent, kicker may be to fly aircraft to their location, they may not be inclined to inspect aircraft in Virginia

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Byron’s a straight shooter.  If nothing else pans out, I’d have him do it, just ask that a different mechanic do the inspection (maybe even Byron himself, if he has time, after one of his guys opens it up).

Becca won't let him.  But I was looking at buying a plane he maintained and we worked out he would give direction to another mechanic at KGAI.

[PeteMc]

You can't get anyone at Air-Mod?  That's strange, friend just dropped off his plane for the Annual.  (You're not calling the Flight School by any chance?)

Phone: 609-259-2400

Email: airmods1191@aol.com

 

[Danb]

I’d think twice regarding C&W, I won’t respond beyond that. d 

[LANCECASPER]

20 hours ago, Fritz1 said:

C&W Caldwell NJ, pay them for an annual, you buy it, they sign the annual after fixing identified squaks, if you don't buy it there is a good reason and money well spent, kicker may be to fly aircraft to their location, they may not be inclined to inspect aircraft in Virginia

 If I am the Seller I would want the buyer to have a pre-buy evaluation done, but there’s no way I’m letting someone I don’t know do an annual I don’t need and risk them declaring it not airworthy and hold my airplane hostage. If the buyer wants to turn their pre-buy evaluation into an annual inspection once the deal had closed, feel free.

[201er]

Did you try Brian? He’s a Mooney owner and used to do a lot of pre-buys. He’s a Mooney guy and last I heard he’s been in DC.

 

I think:

@orionflt

[jetdriven]

5 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

 If I am the Seller I would want the buyer to have a pre-buy evaluation done, but there’s no way I’m letting someone I don’t know do an annual I don’t need and risk them declaring it not airworthy and hold my airplane hostage. If the buyer wants to turn their pre-buy evaluation into an annual inspection once the deal had closed, feel free.

No IA can declare an airplane not airworthy. They can perform the annual inspection and give a discrepancy list to the owner. 
If you’re concerned about the plane being abandoned, take a big enough escrow deposit to cover that risk. 

[anthony.locurto]

14 hours ago, PeteMc said:

You can't get anyone at Air-Mod?  That's strange, friend just dropped off his plane for the Annual.  (You're not calling the Flight School by any chance?)

Phone: 609-259-2400

Email: airmods1191@aol.com

 

I’ve tried calling a couple of times but there’s no answering machine. I sent them an email so hopefully I’ll hear back. 
 

Thanks for the feedback thus far!

[Becca]

On 3/19/2024 at 9:28 PM, Pinecone said:

Becca won't let him.  But I was looking at buying a plane he maintained and we worked out he would give direction to another mechanic at KGAI.

lol, I love my undeserved reputation for power here :).  If only the reality matched!

In all seriousness, we advise many people not to get a pre buy from a mechanic on field with the airplane or a mechanic that regularly maintains the plane…. It seems reasonable to practice what you preach.  Also, there’s just a built in conflict here - is the mechanic supposed to betray a long time customer and blow up a deal by finding something bad they really should have found before? And what if the mechanic missed something then just keeps missing it on the pre buy?

Everyone is just more comfortable with the sale if there’s an independent assessment.

It’s crazy that even MSC’s won’t respond to a call about a pre buy - I know there’s some MSC shops regularly on MooneySpace, I wonder if they’d chime in about what’s going on? Seems like Mooney pre buys would be a required service for them to provide. Unfortunately, Mooney is not currently authorizing new MSC’s afaik.

Edited March 21 by Becca

[Becca]

17 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

 If I am the Seller I would want the buyer to have a pre-buy evaluation done, but there’s no way I’m letting someone I don’t know do an annual I don’t need and risk them declaring it not airworthy and hold my airplane hostage. If the buyer wants to turn their pre-buy evaluation into an annual inspection once the deal had closed, feel free.

My view of a pre buy is that no loggable maintenance except for an oil change should be performed without the owners’ express permission and clear authorization as to who will be paying regardless of the status of the sale.

The annual should only begins once the sale goes through. As a buyer you wouldn’t want to pay an annual if you weren’t buying anyway. 

The idea of a pre buy and an annual are the same thing is a little out of touch with what you are looking for on a pre buy.

I know lots of owners don’t like the plane leaving the field for a pre buy. But I think ferrying it a reasonable distance is a fair ask. Most airports don’t let off field mechanics to work on their field, so being unwilling to ferry basically amounts to limiting the mechanic who can do a pre buy.  I think a reasonable deposit buys down a lot of seller risk.  You should know your planes condition well enough to know there’s not something so badly wrong that it will get grounded and not be ferry-able.
 

[LANCECASPER]

7 hours ago, Becca said:

 You should know your planes condition well enough to know there’s not something so badly wrong that it will get grounded and not be ferry-able.
 

That’s why I’ve always welcomed a pre-buy on any airplane I’ve sold. In fact in over 38 years of airplane ownership I’ve never had someone take an airplane that I owned into pre-buy and not have them buy the airplane. However, that being said I still wouldn’t  allow an annual before they close on the deal. There are some crazy people out there and I’ve only had one ridiculous experience ever with a mechanic during an annual.

In November 2014 when the buyer of my ‘97 Encore had Don Maxwell do the pre-buy, I ferried it to Don at the buyer’s expense. He flew it while it was there and at the end of the day he looked disappointed when he asked me into his office. He said it was the first pre-buy he’d ever done where he couldn’t find one single airworthiness discrepancy.

Later in 2016 Ron Fisher did the pre-buy for the buyer for my ‘00 Ovation and there was very little that had to be handled.

In 2021, at the buyer’s expense,  I ferried my ‘93 Bravo to FL to Rob McGuire to have him go over it. He did with a fine tooth comb and couldn’t find a discrepancy. We closed three days later and I flew commercially up to NJ to buy the Acclaim I own now. I have done some deferred maintenance on that since I’ve owned it, which I expected. I also expect that someday when I sell it that the pre-buy experience will be the same as the others I've sold.

I have a history of running out of things to do on the airplane and then selling it and starting the process all over. I’m seeking help for that. : ) 

I don’t defer maintenance and I’ve never hoped that a buyer or their mechanic would miss something that I knew something about. 

[PeteMc]

6 hours ago, anthony.locurto said:

I’ve tried calling a couple of times but there’s no answering machine. I sent them an email so hopefully I’ll hear back. 

Just talked to Dave.  Said "it's spring, I'm swamped" but he did see your email.  Either keep trying to call or send him your number so he can call back.  He's often out on the ramp or doing a run-up in a plane where the remote phone he carries doesn't ring.

Other comment (which I believe having him work on my plane for 25 years or so) is that he'd like to help you out because he hates seeing people (seller/buyer) get screwed over with pre-buys.  Other comment was, obviously, can the plane get to him.

 

Edited March 21 by PeteMc

[Fly Boomer]

4 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

I’m seeking help for that. : ) 

That made me laugh.

[anthony.locurto]

5 hours ago, PeteMc said:

Just talked to Dave.  Said "it's spring, I'm swamped" but he did see your email.  Either keep trying to call or send him your number so he can call back.  He's often out on the ramp or doing a run-up in a plane where the remote phone he carries doesn't ring.

Other comment (which I believe having him work on my plane for 25 years or so) is that he'd like to help you out because he hates seeing people (seller/buyer) get screwed over with pre-buys.  Other comment was, obviously, can the plane get to him.

 

Oh this is great! Thanks so much for relaying this information along!

[Pinecone]

23 hours ago, Becca said:

lol, I love my undeserved reputation for power here :).  If only the reality matched!

In all seriousness, we advise many people not to get a pre buy from a mechanic on field with the airplane or a mechanic that regularly maintains the plane…. It seems reasonable to practice what you preach.  Also, there’s just a built in conflict here - is the mechanic supposed to betray a long time customer and blow up a deal by finding something bad they really should have found before? And what if the mechanic missed something then just keeps missing it on the pre buy?

Everyone is just more comfortable with the sale if there’s an independent assessment.

It’s crazy that even MSC’s won’t respond to a call about a pre buy - I know there’s some MSC shops regularly on MooneySpace, I wonder if they’d chime in about what’s going on? Seems like Mooney pre buys would be a required service for them to provide. Unfortunately, Mooney is not currently authorizing new MSC’s afaik.

I don't think it is undeserved.  And I understand where you are coming from.  

And I agree with who to use for a pre-buy, in general. But there are some mechanics that I would trust, even if they had a relationship with the plane and owner.  But those are ones who do a real annual and do not skimp.  So, in those cases, their word would be enough for me without a "formal pre-buy."

 

[anthony.locurto]

Just a quick update on this saga: Dave at Air-Mod reached out to me first this this morning. Sounds like I might be able to get squeezed in with his shop. 

Thank you all for your inputs and advice! Hopefully this lead works out. 

[PeteMc]

1 hour ago, anthony.locurto said:

Just a quick update on this saga: Dave at Air-Mod reached out to me first this this morning. Sounds like I might be able to get squeezed in with his shop. 

Excellent!   He's a good guy and I think you'll like him.  Really knows Mooneys and if he's not too far away from where you'll be based, I'd recommend him as your future mechanic. 

I know other Mooney owners that use him and we would work your rides with each other as needed.  One guy had his Annual in April and mine was in March, so it worked out perfectly for a swap planes.