We were real busy this week with 5 prebuys on top of the usual maintenance and CI's. Only 2 of the 5 prebuys ended up with commenced sales, so I thought I would take the time to share a few things with everyone, as no-body wins when the sale doesn't happen.
Most of the items are things that would be found with just a little extra TLC, or just having someone else take a look at your airplane once in a while. It's easy for any of us to miss something.
Clean the airplane, inside and out. First impressions do make a difference. The mahjority of buyers out there today are non-builders who don't want a project. They want to be able to turn the key and go fly.
These are just of the few common offenders. I promise I will have lots of pictures for the CI inspection webinar in May, but I hate to see any more lost sales between now and then.
Most of the items are things that would be found with just a little extra TLC, or just having someone else take a look at your airplane once in a while. It's easy for any of us to miss something.
- make sure the operating limitations and airworhtiness certificates are in the airplane. The A/W certificate is supposed to be displayed. Mostly the Operating Limitations are missing when the aircraft is owned by a non-builder, because no-one explained it to them
- check nav lights and strobes for proper operation
- consider watching some of my EAA webinars as there are lots of hints on there for things you might look at, such as JAMNUTS. Yep, still finding loose and/or missing jamnuts every day this week. You should know if Vic is coming he is going to find them.
- take thet ime to clean the engine compartments and check air filters
- check to see that the SB's are complied with
- check ELT's for the annual logbook entry and the battery experitation dates
- check the baffling for cracks
- check the oil cooler mounting for cracks
- check the date codes on hoses. twenty year old engine compartment hoses should probably be replaced
make sure the logbooks have the proper Phase I signoff and the aerobatic signoff if appropriate
Clean the airplane, inside and out. First impressions do make a difference. The mahjority of buyers out there today are non-builders who don't want a project. They want to be able to turn the key and go fly.
These are just of the few common offenders. I promise I will have lots of pictures for the CI inspection webinar in May, but I hate to see any more lost sales between now and then.