When an airplane engine is making a small amount of ferrous metal, but the evidence is not totally conclusive, the decision to tear it apart, or not, can be gut-wrenching.
Such was the case for the O-540 engine in a turbo Cessna 182RG I’ve been working on at Classic Aviation LLC.
But after the owners decided to have it torn apart, and I got to see the evidence, I’m convinced they made the right decision.
Take a look at the two worst lifters:
And the corresponding cam lobe for those two lifters:
Here’s a side view of the worn cam lobe:
Now compare to one of the other cam lobes that was NOT worn down:
After seeing the condition of the camshaft and the lifters, I was very pleased with the decision of the airplane’s owners to have the engine torn down and repaired.
This engine was mid-time, and all the cylinders were running fine with good compressions, so it made sense to do this repair as opposed to a full overhaul.
In this episode, we also discussed some squawks from a Cirrus SR22T. I’ve got some photos and even a video for some of these.
Alternator #1 needed to be removed due to brush wear, and the oil seal was leaking… check out the brushes that came out in pieces:
We also had to send the engine driven fuel pump for overhaul… watch a startling video of a BAD fuel leak:
We sent the fuel pump to Mike’s Aircraft Fuel Metering in Tulsa, Oklahoma for overhaul… they do excellent work on fuel system components.
Happy New Year everyone! May God bless you in 2022!
If you’re thinking about buying an airplane, stop right now and listen to this episode, because Adam Sipe can absolutely save you lots of time, money and needless frustration in the process of buying an airplane.
He shared so much valuable wisdom in this episode, and I can’t wait to listen to the whole thing again myself.
… and don’t be fooled by the fact that Adam is only 33 years old… if you listen to the whole episode, you’ll discover his secret (and it’s a secret that applies to all areas of life,) for how he acquired a lifetime of aviation wisdom in such a short time and at such a young age.
Before we go any further, let me tell you a little bit about Adam.
Adam Sipe is the President of Airplane Intel, Inc., a company that helps people buy, maintain, and manage airplanes. He’s an aircraft mechanic with inspection authorization (A&P-IA), commercial pilot, flight instructor, and Embry Riddle graduate. Adam is also a Marine Corps veteran and host of the Airplane Intel Podcast.
Click the following link to read even more about Adam’s aviation journey:
Here are some examples of the “Prebuy Gold” or “Prebuy Wisdom” Adam shared with us in this podcast episode:
“I call a prebuy more of an investigation than an inspection because you’re trying to uncover things that would be outside the normal thinking of an annual or some other scheduled inspection.”
“Missing records can affect the value of the airplane as much as 30%!”
“Sometimes it’s not what the logbooks say, it’s what they don’t say that’s important.”
“Maintenance affects value.”
“In a prebuy scenario, we don’t need to know all the squawks; we need to know the ones that are most important and the most pressing and the most urgent… and the ones that affect value.”
“You’re not replacing a scheduled inspection with the prebuy, and the prebuy is not going to uncover every defect, because it’s just not possible.”
“This is kind of general to the market… the asking prices are extraordinarily too high… in other words, they’re asking far more for the airplane than what it’s worth, and that’s a huge mistake that people go in and offer full price on these airplanes.”
“There’s two points in a transaction on an airplane where you can negotiate (and I encourage folks to negotiate.) One is when you’re making your initial offer. The second time is after the prebuy.”
“Asking prices are too high, and people are over-paying.”
“If there’s a lien on the airplane, that could stop the transaction from happening, and on that note, I recommend people go through an escrow service… a title company that specializes in aircraft transactions, because the reason why that lien didn’t get caught previously is because they didn’t go through escrow.”
“I’ve seen an airplane that was worth maybe $150,000 have a lien on it for $400,000 because someone used it as collateral for something else.”
“I’ve definitely come across missing AD’s and/or overdue AD’s.”
“I highly recommend taking a test flight in the airplane… now, this is where it’s very critical that you’re clearly not the pilot in command; you’re an observer or passenger in the right seat; you let the owner fly the airplane; or someone that’s on the owner’s insurance.”
“The flight test is in my opinion the most important part of the prebuy because that’s where you’re going to learn the most.”
“Hail damage is repairable, but it’s not worth repairing most of the time because it’s just too expensive.”
Wow! Just this list right here has the potential to save you thousands of dollars in your airplane buying process if you put the principles into action.
I highly recommend hiring Adam and his team at Airplane Intel for your next airplane purchase. I’m confident you’ll be glad you did!
Thanks Adam, for joining us for this episode! And thank you for your service in the United States Marine Corps. We appreciate you!
Adam shown next to his F/A-18C Hornet in Beaufort, SC
To learn more about Adam and Airplane Intel, be sure to check out these links:
If you want to read some fun stuff about Adam personally, he was featured earlier this year in the Ocala Magazine, in the series of articles “40 Under 40.” Well done Adam!
And congratulations to Adam and his wife Sarah with the imminent arrival of their first baby, a daughter! Congratulations Adam and Sarah!
That’s a good question, and although I don’t have the full story, we will toss around some possibilities in this episode. Thanks to all of you who responded with some really good guesses about the cause.
I received responses from 33 people after I sent out that email recently! The prevailing guess about the cause had to do with improper magneto timing which then caused the engine to kick back in the reverse direction and break the starter housing. That was my guess as well.
Be sure to listen to the audio to hear about all the responses and ideas.
In a future episode real soon, I’ll be releasing an interview with Adam Sipe from the Airplane Intel Podcast and AirplanePrebuy.com
Adam has a wealth of money-saving, stress-reducing wisdom and knowledge about buying an airplane and conducting prebuy investigations. Be sure to look for this episode real soon.
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