Buy it or not buy it? (RV-6A)

Good morning,

Let me introduce myself, my name is Jordi, I'm from a small city in Catalonia and I love RV's !

I'm taking my PPL license ( I'm an ultralight pilot ) and I'm looking for an aircraft to buy. I've seen a lot of them here in the forum, but I prefer to buy one registered here in Spain, or at least in an European country.

My post here is to ask you about an aircraft i've seen. It's an RV6A built from 1992 to 1996, and flown only 25 hours by it's owner. He told me that he became ill ( that is true, he has an illness ) and this is why the aircraft was stopped. Other people told me that the aircaft is is not well built and this is why he didn't fly it...

What can I check to know if the aircraft is in good condition or not? What are the most important points? I want to make a good inspection to it, but before spending money I want to know what can I check for myself.

Thank you very much, and sorry for my english!

welcome home euroman. you will love the group here. we will find you an rv.

this one sounds like trouble. where is it?

take your time and the right one will come along.

I know I will feel like home here, I've been following the forum from some time ago and all the people here are great!!

The aircraft I'm talking about is in Spain, you can watch it in this webpage:

https://sites.google.com/site/ecyogrv6a/

Of course it's in spanish, but I think that google translate can help.

turbo said:

welcome home euroman. you will love the group here. we will find you an rv.

this one sounds like trouble. where is it?

take your time and the right one will come along.

Click to expand...

Welcome! Hop to Norway and take a look at this beauty for sale


http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=112291&highlight=Norway

Jordi,

Welcome to the forum.

During your inspection also review the applicable service bulletins, notices, and letters, published by Van's Aircraft Company that may apply to the aircraft.

http://vansaircraft.com/public/service-rv6.htm

I don't know if your Civil Aviation Authority treats services bulletins, etc., for experimental aircraft as mandatory compliance items or not. Some of these corrective actions can be complicated and time costuming. Evaluating this information should help you in your purchase decision.

Regards,

the ver fotos look nice. how much us$ is he asking?

From the website, part of the listing translates to "...It is on sale for ? 50,000.00, of which the current owner can take that apply to flight commissioning costs, which currently requires an overhaul, changing tires and tuning, as well as administrative procedures for renewal of Certificate of Airworthiness...."

I wonder what the remarks about the flight commissioning costs and overhaul means? Whether such costs would be added or included in the purchase price would make a lot of difference.

The price in US$ is about $67,700 and that seems high to me (but at all familiar with the market for light aircraft and pricing in Spain).

Dan

Hi Jordi, welcome to the forum. I am an US. A&P and EAA Tech and my wife and I will be traveling in Spain the month of September. I know it is months away, but I would be happy to inspect it for you and get all the service bulletin info for you if you need them. If nothing else, it would be fun to meet you and see where you fly out of. By the way, your english writing is much, much better than my spanish writing. Blue Skys Barry

Welcome!

Welcome to VAF Jordi!

It is hard to tell much about the quality of the build, condition of the engine, etc. from the pictures and website, language issues or not. Barry's offer to inspect it for you would be ideal.

One thing I did notice, assuming it is correct, is that this plane is heavy, at 1,220 lbs. At full fuel, this leaves only 200 lbs. for pilot, passenger and baggage to stay within Van's published gross weight for a 6-A of 1,650 lbs. (though it appears the gross for this plane was specified as 1,800 lbs).

Good luck with your search.

DanBaier said:

From the website, part of the listing translates to "...It is on sale for ? 50,000.00, of which the current owner can take that apply to flight commissioning costs, which currently requires an overhaul, changing tires and tuning, as well as administrative procedures for renewal of Certificate of Airworthiness...."

I wonder what the remarks about the flight commissioning costs and overhaul means? Whether such costs would be added or included in the purchase price would make a lot of difference.

The price in US$ is about $67,700 and that seems high to me (but at all familiar with the market for light aircraft and pricing in Spain).

Dan

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I'm guessing they are enforcing the Lycoming 12 year TBO number on an 18+ year old engine that has only flown 25 hours.

An aircraft mechanic

Jordi, I would go to a small airport and find an aviation mechanic. He can quickly see the workmanship (riveting, etc) even though it is an experimental....and ask him what he would charge to do so.

Best,

Good morning again!!

Sorry, I 've been out some days and couldn't check the forum before.

He's selling me the aircraft at a lower price than the one published on the ad, he's asking me 35K€. It's not a high price, but talking with some people at the airport they told that the aircraft is VERY tail heavy, and this can be a problem. The aircraft is very well painted, with all the rivets covered with lots of putty, and this, with other things, like the car seats, makes the aircraft heavy.

barryrv10 said:

Hi Jordi, welcome to the forum. I am an US. A&P and EAA Tech and my wife and I will be traveling in Spain the month of September. I know it is months away, but I would be happy to inspect it for you and get all the service bulletin info for you if you need them. If nothing else, it would be fun to meet you and see where you fly out of. By the way, your english writing is much, much better than my spanish writing. Blue Skys Barry

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Thanks for your offer!! Where will you land here in Spain??

java said:

Welcome to VAF Jordi!

It is hard to tell much about the quality of the build, condition of the engine, etc. from the pictures and website, language issues or not. Barry's offer to inspect it for you would be ideal.

One thing I did notice, assuming it is correct, is that this plane is heavy, at 1,220 lbs. At full fuel, this leaves only 200 lbs. for pilot, passenger and baggage to stay within Van's published gross weight for a 6-A of 1,650 lbs. (though it appears the gross for this plane was specified as 1,800 lbs).

Good luck with your search.

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Legally the aircraft is is specified to fly at a max gross of 1650lbs, so bad news here

az_gila said:

I'm guessing they are enforcing the Lycoming 12 year TBO number on an 18+ year old engine that has only flown 25 hours.

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I've asked on another thread about the engine, and there are a lot of different answers, but what I get from them is that I'll have to inspect the engine, and if it's in good condition I can fly it.

pierre smith said:

Jordi, I would go to a small airport and find an aviation mechanic. He can quickly see the workmanship (riveting, etc) even though it is an experimental....and ask him what he would charge to do so.

Best,

Click to expand...

I will try to go with a RV builder (he's built many RVs) and ask him to check the construction, but the problem is that the rivets are covered with a lot of putty and cannot be seen properly, you can only see them in the inner part of the fusselage.

#######

Thank you all for your answers, I think that I will look for another RV

dimoniet said:

Other people told me that the aircraft is is not well built and this is why he didn't fly it...

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If these folks have any credibility ... We'd

A) find another aircraft.
B) go over the entire aircraft with a very fine toothed comb and inspect EVERY square inch.
B.1) Some things are difficult if not impossible to inspect. See option A.

In the photos ... nothing seemed to jump out, but few critical points were shown.

Look elsewhere

As written in previous posts, a very heavy 6 and tail heavy on top of that. If true, a really, really bad combination.

In the engine pictures, I noticed nyloc nuts used firewall forward. Not a good idea. Also, the rubber baffling material is on the wrong side of the baffles, several gaps and not sealed. I bet this engine runs hot. I'd be asking myself what else is backwards...maybe there is a reason for all the filler over the rivets.

As others mentioned, get a good airframe mechanic to look at the basic workmanship.

I think I have enough information. I will discard this aircraft and I'll look for another one An RV, of course!!

Thank you all for all the information you have given to me! I'll stay here in VAF, you are all the best!!