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Martin:

This link will take you to a '76M 150 for sale in the El Paso, Texas, area. Looks like a nice one, reasonably priced. Avionics seems the weakest area to me.

http://tappix.com/756529

Does this plane have an oil temperature and oil pressure guage?? From the picture, I couldn't seem to find it.

Blocked by the LH yoke but partly visible, You can see the green on oil pressure gauge by horn.

You would be totally wrong in your assumption in one case, and partially so in the other. The Cherokee was MY A/P, however checking mag timing on a pre-buy is not normal. The Cardinal was inspected by a guy revered as a "Cardinal Expert" by several Card owners, and despite my asking specifically 3 times, DID NOT fully inspect the Spar carrythrough, nor knew how to properly service a Cardinal nose strut (different than other 100 series Cessna's).

Oh...and on AP and IA owners....baloney. As Bill says, find a concerned owner who takes the time to know his plane and can answer the tough questions himself. My Cherokee was AP owned and he and his AI had to sign off on the improper mag timing to mask the RPM problem. Additionally, on my 150/150, on the day before launching to Clinton I ask the blowhard IA ("I used to restore and maintain P-51 mustangs...but more money in building houses") who serviced the airplane to show me how to change the oil. We get to the screen and he is giving me instructions that I think are wrong. When I question him he says....opps, I don't have the right gasket for the screen, but hey just did it at the annual, so you are good to go.

After flying all those hours to Clinton and back I go in for the next annual and pick another AP/IA. We find the screen completely collapsed from excess carbon and gunk. It probably had never been changed out.

Now...I am not down on these folks. Just saying that there is good and bad just like there is with bankers, used car salesmen and attorneys. It is just that on our humble aircraft, a knowledgable owner is just a good of a prebuy tool as an "AP/IA" even when you do know the guy.

Of course this goes back to a post a year ago. A prebuy is pretty worthless where someone is not putting their signature on the line. Go with an annual if you can swing it.

Right on Jeff and Dale!

too many birds have a prebuy or annual and there is still a lot of stuff that gets by (especially when it's being sold0, but after the sale is final.... amazing how these little gremlins show their heads.

Uh huh.

I too always went by a man's word - I always believe someone is telling the vtruth until I catch them lying. then all bets are off. Being not 100% forthcoming is included in this. Boy, have I got names and info I could pass on, but only if asked about my own experience. No lies, no embellishment, no slander - just facts backed up with work orders (paid in full, I might add) and the workmanship which in some caes needs to be redone.

Yeah.... buyer beware.

To be sure, airplane ownership is not for everyone. Unless you have some kind of unexplainable love and affinity for your airplane, sometimes ownership can be compared to having a house full of teenagers 24/7.

It'll drive ya nuts if ya let it.

Buyer beware, disinterested AP/IA, don't be afraid to spend the bucks BEFORE the sale. Don't get emotionally involved until AFTER the marriage to the airplane.

Live 'n' learn.

I STILL love my Mary Lou, though. Like Dale, I may be homeless someday, but hey - I'll sleep under the wing or take out the pax seat and stretch out inside.

Sleepin' with my lady.

Gettin' a bit warm in here, ya think???

Oh my...

I went and looked at the 152 for Martan, I thought it looked pretty good. What do you all think?

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Nice, clear front glass...

Clear back glass...

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