The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

I need a mechanic to do a pre-buy inspection in the San Antonio/ Austin area. The A&P listed on the website as residing in Kerrville passed away two years ago, according to his wife. That was an awkward conversation.

In the event I cannot find a 120/140 guy, is there a printable version of 140-specific pre-buy template anywhere on the website? I’ve already compiled the applicable ADs and STCs for the logbook review.



Thanks for your time.

A 140 is a simple machine, not a whole lot to look at.
I would advise you to get an Annual inspection, a reason is there is no such thing as a pre-buy, it can be anything and if they miss a bunch of stuff you have no recourse.
However an Annual is legally defined, it has performance standards, and of course it’s a whole year before you need another one.

Any good IA can render a decent opinion of whether or not the aircraft is worth considering in an hour or two, if it passes the sniff test, then proceed with the annual, if not then pay them what you owe and keep looking.

Go to "MY ACCOUNT" then to members page then click to STATES page 28 or so is our TX members some have posted phone numbers all have e-mail just click there name and info will show. Some have city listed They will have a answer for you AP or IA if not message me and i'll get a contact for you. JEFF

Getting an annual is a great idea as opposed to a pre-buy. That being said, every airplane has its "areas" of special interest or concern.

We just had a Texas owner almost lose his elevators because an AD had been overlooked resulting with heavy spar cracks at the elevator hinges, one hinge broke right off! This AD, to install doublers at the elevator hinges, came out in 1947, the cracks on these elevators have been overlooked by probably decades of annuals(i.e. the cracks didn't develop in the last year) meaning not all "annuals are equal".

So...............Annuals are "subjective". You may want to contact David Lowe out of Kentucky and arrange to have him look at the airplane if you cant' find someone local. Then you would know exactly what you are getting.

Too many times I have airplanes in the shop that didn't get a pre-buy, or too superficial of a brief pre-buy, The items I've seen overlooked over the years, that could cause significant cost or.......... potential flight issues are something I could probably fill a book with.

One thing you could do is print off the Annual/100 hour inspection guide from the members section and take it with you. There are notes at the end covering some of the special interest areas of the aircraft.

6898 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:13 am Go to "MY ACCOUNT" then to members page then click to STATES page 28 or so is our TX members some have posted phone numbers all have e-mail just click there name and info will show. Some have city listed They will have a answer for you AP or IA if not message me and i'll get a contact for you. JEFF

Another avenue of attack is to log into the Main Cessna 120-140 page, then put your cursor over the "Resources". From the drop down menu click on Mechanics.

Then click on Mechanics list.

Rick

I would like to thank everyone for all the great suggestions. I now have someone that can accomplish what I need to have done.

Thanks again to all,

Philip