Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Habu on September 06, 2003, 05:23:15 PM
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(http://www.aso.com/aircraft/75512/ext-3.jpg)
(http://www.aso.com/aircraft/75512/panel-1.jpg)
Real warbird. Lots of action in her history. Fully restored. The engines have over 1300 hours remaining on each of them before overhaul. The props are new and are good for 9 more years in Canada.
Nice plane with lots of the original equipment.
Anyone know if the asking price is resonable?
Cessna O2-A for sale. (http://www.aso.com/i.aso/AircraftView.jsp?aircraft_id=75512)
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I think it is a bit pricey. No mention on the fuel tank age, a major issue with O-2's. Also, how are the wing attach points and is there much corrosion? Those are things I would look into before I bought an 02. Also, are you gonna fly it in US or Canada? Make sure it can be US registered before you consider it as well.
My company does pre-buy inspections and if you like we can check it out for you. Give us a call M-F EST 336-625-4731.
Ask for Derek
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Gorgeous airplane.
Good luck.
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first plane i ever went up in and handled controls, skymaster i believe was the name of some such.
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Originally posted by Bodhi
I think it is a bit pricey. No mention on the fuel tank age, a major issue with O-2's. Also, how are the wing attach points and is there much corrosion? Those are things I would look into before I bought an 02. Also, are you gonna fly it in US or Canada? Make sure it can be US registered before you consider it as well.
Thanks Bodhi I will call you Monday or Tuesday. At this stage I want to present him with a list of questions about the aircraft to get a gerneral idea what to expect. It was "fully restored" less than 5 years back so it would be good to hear exactly what was done during the restoration. I will ask him about the fuel tank age. I have read that metal fatigue can be a concern also in an aircraft that age with that many hours on it. What is the proper way to check the wing for fatigue and to repair it?
I agree it is priced high but that is good as if he priced it low it would sell before I had a chance to fully check it out.
It has been flying in airshows for the past few years. He has stored it inside all the time and before that it was in Arizona so there has not been any chance for corrision since the restoration. However before the restoration it was stationed in tropical countries so internal corrosion could have been present. Again what did they do to it during the restoration is the question.
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awww habu! its so nice you are looking for a birthday present for me already! still a month to go yet!
:D
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Great looking bird Habu.. Good luck on buying her.
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Thanks.
The emotional side of me says buy it! The rational side says check it out carefully before you get stuck with a potential lemon.
It does appear to be in great shape though.
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Pretty plane but with 2 engine it will be costly no ?
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The asking price is a bit high if it were a Cessna 337 and not a warbird designated 02-A. (I'm assuming the value is elevated due to it's historical value).
BTW Habu, where is this bird located? If she's within a reasonable distance from me (Lexington, KY), I'd be happy to do a pre-buy inspection and take a look at her for ya.
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The plane is located about 30 minutes from my house but I live near Toronto in Canada.
The guy who owns it has owned a number of really interesting warbirds in the past. He sold a flying Storch about 6 years ago. He has a Piper J Cub and he also had a Sea Ray. He is a 747-400 pilot. He seems to be the type to really check out a plane before he buys it. I went over it from the outside and what I could see was all top notch. I did not pull any of the inspection hatchs so I could not see inside but he told me that they spray an anti corrosion oil in each year and it has no problems. He just put two new props on it as well.
I have always loved this plane since seeing one in the movie Appocolysp Now when I was a kid.
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Originally posted by straffo
Pretty plane but with 2 engine it will be costly no ?
Two engines are more expensive (by quite a bit actually) but you get a safety factor as well. An O-2A will fly on one engine quite happily which is worth quite a bit for piece of mind.
An inline design like that also means if you lose one the remaining engine does not pull to one side and put you in a spin.
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Originally posted by Habu
Two engines are more expensive (by quite a bit actually) but you get a safety factor as well. An O-2A will fly on one engine quite happily which is worth quite a bit for piece of mind.
An inline design like that also means if you lose one the remaining engine does not pull to one side and put you in a spin.
Which is why it is the preferred ride for Brothers To The Rescue, who do overflights of the refugee lanes off Cuba.
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Originally posted by Habu
Two engines are more expensive (by quite a bit actually) but you get a safety factor as well. An O-2A will fly on one engine quite happily which is worth quite a bit for piece of mind.
An inline design like that also means if you lose one the remaining engine does not pull to one side and put you in a spin.
Sure, plus it has less drag than a twin engine with engine placed on the side of the fuselage.
But I was more asking about the operating cost I remember an old mecanic saying : 2 engine ,3 time more time ...
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have always wondered why there were not more push pull configured ww2 aircraft only one comes to mind and it was late late war. were there more ?
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Originally posted by Bodhi
I think it is a bit pricey. No mention on the fuel tank age, a major issue with O-2's. Also, how are the wing attach points and is there much corrosion? Those are things I would look into before I bought an 02. Also, are you gonna fly it in US or Canada? Make sure it can be US registered before you consider it as well.
Bohdi according to the vendor:
With reference to your questions. The fuel tanks are the original ones that came with the aircraft. All O2 fuel tanks were filled with a foam material that was for bullet proofing them. For civilian registration it was mandatory that the foam be removed and at that time the tanks were inspected and re-installed. The wing and spar on the aircraft were x-rayed and inspected as per the USAF maintenance manual and to meet with the required inspection stated by Cessna. The spar and wing skins are overbuilt and heavier then a standard civilian 337 to meet with the USAF requirements for wing mounted armament. The restoration was very simple for this aircraft since it was essentially under US government control since leaving Viet Nam. The aircraft was imported into the US from Honduras and all restoration records are available from the former owners. All maintenance and logbook records are here for inspection but please understand that there is a lot of stuff. Volumes and volumes. My suggestion is that you come and visit with me and we can sit down with a beverage and go through the aircrafts history. There is just too much material to e-mail.
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Fly easily on 1 engine? I have a little voice in the back of my head that tells me it will "not fly" if the front engine quits. You will be fine if it's the rear engine that quits. But it's just a voice in my head, I have no clue how it went there.
you know the saying for the Skymaster: "If you can load it, you can fly it".:D
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Habu,
I suggest you have a complete pre-buy inspection done by a shop and or a mechanic who is experienced with the aircraft type.
Every aircraft has areas and issues that might not be apparent to someone who hasn't had experience with it. Get a written evaluation from them at the completion of the inspection.
Have a title search done by a professional search firm.
Consider a brief chat with a representative of the Canadien equivalent of the US FAA to make sure all registration and certification issues are clear to you and you can verify it is legal to operate.
Learn about any recent or reoccuring AD notes to the airframe, engines, props and accessories. Your shop should be able to help you with that. These can make very expensive surprises if you dont do your homework.
Corrosion is always a concern, and an aircraft can become economically unrepairable faster than you can believe if corrosion is not detected early and properly removed/treated.
Check on hangar, insurance and projected maintenance costs prior to purchase to know what you can expect the annual expenditure to be.
If you are purchasing with the thought of taking it to airshows, I might recommend checking with a few airshow organizers to verify that they would be interested in having your aircraft appear enough to cover costs. Many may just offer you fuel.
Good luck if you choose to buy it, I think it would be a blast to fly, and you could have many good times with it. Just do your homework well first to avoid any surprises. Many have learned that lesson the very hard way.
BTW, never trust an airline pilot. There are good ones, but there are those who's ego is only surpassed by their greed. :)
dago
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I visited a shop today that has experience on Skymasters. They said a pre buy inspection would cost about 1,500 dollars and take about 2 days.
An annual will cost about 5,000 per year. With insurance and hanger fees and with a reserve for engines and props I am getting a pretty good idea what it will cost each year to have such plane. So far nothing is out of my budget.
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That's a real nice looking A/C. You only have one life and you can't live it twice. If no one's going to be eating beans I say get it inspected and bargin for the best price you can . Good luck....
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The price is a high but the main problem is he has sold the radios in the back. If you are going to buy a warbird you want it as authentic as possible for the future value.
There is a very complete one for sale at http://www.courtesyaircraft.com that is much less but needs an engine overhauled, new paint, and an annual at least and is only $65,000. But it is very complete. Even the gunsite is still in it.
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Mark "Mark'em'up" Clark at Courtesy can find you a good plane, but his prices are always way too high.
dago
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Wow!! I'm in love with that FM-2!!!