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In defense of the 150 Cessna and corrosion there are many out there that have been pampered for many years from the elements. My C150 has spent 25 years inside an enclosed hangar and the person before had done the same. Never treated with Corrosion-X because it never needed it.

I have seen some that were not pampered and that is sad.

Bruce

Welcome to the club!


As someone who fell into this trap 7 1/2 years ago, I can't stress enough how glad I am, and how important it is, that you're looking for an objective set of eyes to take a look at this plane. Even if you don't end up buying this particular plane, it can yield a lot of information that you can take into the next prospective purchase by knowing certain questions to ask ahead of scheduling another prebuy on another aircraft.

Lots of wiser ones than me have already shared the best advice, so I'll just wish you luck on the purchase and on the PPL journey.

Fly safely,
Brian

Welcome to the Club and forum, Flygirl!

I am on the other end of. Airplane ownership from you. We sold our 150H in June of 2022. The current owner tried to find someone to do a prebuy inspection (which was okay with us), but with how busy most A&P’s are these days, he was unsuccessful. His route wound up being talking to the A&P/IA we had been using for 16 years, then having his planned mechanic review portions of the logs. I also sent pictures inside the wings and fuselage I had taken with my phone. He decided to buy Molly and has been flying her a lot over the past year and obtained his CFI using her. I stay in touch with him, and he still says he is “over the moon” owning Molly.

He has had things to fix I was not aware of, and said his CFI’s broke the seat back on the right seat. He sent the annual discrepancy list to me, which was minimal. As Molly’s former caretaker, I am very happy she is performing well for him.

Good luck with your journey!

By the way, I am also in Arkansas on the east side, but do not know any mechanics at Holly Mountain. Dawson Aicraft at Clinton, AR, is very close though. It might be worthwhile for you to call them and see if the could run over and do a prebuy for you. 501.745.6550.

Yeah, I was wondering about corrosion.. The plane has been hangered for the past 8+ years in AR, but it has been flown sparingly this past year (~11hrs or so). Is a corrosion check part of a standard annual? If not, I was debating asking for a borescope inspection during pre-buy. Any advice would be appreciated.. Thanks in advance!

Very good to hear that hangering helps, Bruce. Is there a rule of thumb on the minimum number of hours to fly to avoid corrosion? Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome, Brian! Glad to hear that my approach is a sound one. Appreciate the good wishes..

Thanks for your welcome, Stacey. Though you are at the other end of your journey, glad to hear you're still encouraging someone embarking on a similar journey!

I did call up Dawson aircraft awhile back, unfortunately, they don't do pre-buys any more. But, they were nice enough to give me the names of a few A&P's in the area that they've used - Emerson Air Service was one of them. Interestingly, 3 separate people recommended McLung Aviation at Heber Springs - thing is, that's the place that did the annual in the first place, so I have to look eslewhere. Though, it's good to know that the A&P who did the annual comes highly recommended by many people, it increases my confidence in the condition of the plane..

To clear up things, there are two types of corrosion: airframe corrosion and engine internal corrosion.

* Airframe corrosion: This is what Jim Hillabrand was talking about. Water/moisture got trapped in the nooks and crannies of the airframe, interacted with the untreated alumininum and developed corrosion, eating away at the airframe. Jim had a 152 that he bought and it had REALLY BAD corrosion inside the wings (see attached picture). A plane that's hangared, out of rain/snow, will likely have less of a corrosion problem than one that's tied down outside.

* Engine internal corrosion: This is when a plane that doesn't get flown long enough ON EACH FLIGHT for the engine internal to get hot enough to burn off/evaporate the water that's created as a by product of the combustion process. That water will cause corrosion on engine parts (cylinders, pistons, cams, etc). The prevention is to fly the plane at least 30 minutes on each flight for the engine/oil to get hot enoug. DON'T crank up the engine in the winter and run it for just a short time then put the plane away. Hangaring doesn't really help preventing engine internal corrosion. Also, flying the plane frequently will keep the engine internal coated with engine oil and prevent engine corrosion. If you can't fly at least once a week, add CamGuard to the oil to keep oil/lubrication on the cam surfaces longer to prevent corrosion of the cams.

Finding someone to do a pre-buy is getting harder and harder, but be patient and find someone. You might have better luck with an independent mechanic than a shop, but I've had success with both. It just takes a lot of phone calls. Knowing that the current A&P has a good reputation is great, and that you're buying a plane from a friend is also good, but nonetheless trust AND verify. There are also some guys who specialize in traveling anywhere needed to do a pre-buy. You'll obviously spend a lot more than if you can find someone local. One that seems to have a good reputation and I haven't heard anything bad about is Owen Poirier.

If you end up needing a ferry pilot reach out, I've bought and ferried 2 152s cross-country this year.