Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

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Aero-Tips 09.05.06

Buying an airplane? Take a real close look.

Many airplanes are advertised as "NDH", for "no damage history". Obviously, a record of damage will have some effect on the quality and sale price of an airplane. Factors include the severity of the damage, the quality of repairs and the amount of time that has elapsed since repairs were made.

Undocumented damage

In the last couple of years I've attended a number of FAA aircraft longevity investigation meetings, all aimed at the so-called "aging aircraft problem" -- which is far more a matter of use patterns, and the resulting fatigue exposure, than anything to do with calendar age. But I digress…

One constant in these discussions is the difficulty of determining the precise maintenance state of privately operated airplanes. One big component of this uncertainty is that FAA rules require mechanics to log all work performed on aircraft-but not the reason for the work. For instance, it's very common to see logbook entries for seemingly minor items such as "repaired and repainted lower cowling" and "replaced transponder antenna" and the like. What you won't see in the logbooks is "gear up landing -- repaired and repainted lower cowling, replaced transponder antenna, etc..."

Bringing us back around to today's discussion, it takes a very thorough review of the airplane's logbook and an even more stringent prepurchase inspection by a mechanic knowledgeable about the airplane type to detect these entirely legal, in no way evasive yet cryptic clues to the airplane's true history.

Sometimes the fraud (and that's what it is) is intentional. In discussions with numerous people buying airplanes it's amazing how many times airplanes that have gear-up landings or runway overruns or hangar-collision or even up-to-the-window-frames flooding revealed in their past-when the airplane was advertised and purchased as having "no damage history".

Undocumented repairs

Even worse, in my opinion, is an airplane that has improperly or completely undocumented repairs. A mechanic opens it up for a prepurchase inspection (or more commonly, the new owner's first annual) and finds repairs that don't appear in the logbook, or using methods and materials that aren't called out for by the manufacturer, and Airworthiness Directives, or standard industry practice. Recovery from undocumented or improper repairs may be extremely costly, and the mechanic or inspector that finds has no legal or ethical choice but to decline to sign off the airplane as airworthy until it is re-repaired.

Damage history

All that in mind, and given the average age of airplanes today (well over 30 years), I personally would feel more comfortable with an airplane with known, documented damage, with properly performed and approved repairs and a Return to Service statement in the logbooks. The longer it has flown after repairs (the more time on the repair itself), the better validation you have that the repair was done correctly.

Aero-tip of the day: Look closely and skeptically at aircraft and their logbooks when evaluating an aircraft to buy. There are a lot of airplanes on the market right now -- find yourself a good one!

FMI: Aero-Tips