I usually leave public commentary to others. But our recent experience as new CFO members was so extraordinary that I feel compelled to tell the story of our research, inspection and purchase of the '77 RG which we adopted and flew home last Friday. We could not have done it without you. We hope this letter and the information that comes with it will encourage new members and veterans alike to make use of the vast technical and human resources available through CFO.
Background
"So, when are you going to buy another airplane?" My wife grinned at me as she sang her familiar chorus. "When the little voice in my head whispers that the time is right," I answered, only half in jest.
Despite an ATP ticket and 6,300 hours I hadn't flown since we sold our last aircraft. To make matters worse, we'd taken the cash from our beloved taildragger and poured it into the downpayment for a new home, located abeam the departure end of runway 32 at our local airport. For 29 months we'd watched someone else fly our little yellow bird past the treetops in our backyard.
I'd had my eye on Cardinals since the summer day in 1978 when, as a student pilot, I saw my ex-Air Force flight instructor carve a beautiful overhead circling approach to land among the sunlit hills of western Massachusetts in that stunning airplane. He flew her regularly on 135 charters and loved the way she handled.
The Quest
Fast forward two decades. The later model RG specs fit our speed, range and payload requirements perfectly. Both our dads are ill, hers 600 miles away, mine now 150. A Cardinal RG would give us the flexibility to drive 3 minutes to our local airport and launch without having to deal with last minute airline bookings and the impossible schedules/fares they generate. I started shopping.
Through Trade-A-Plane's internet notification service, I found an airplane in the midwest that appeared to meet our needs.
I called immediately, but someone had already wired a deposit. The broker took my contact info in case the deal fell through -- it did. Arriving home from work a couple of days later I found a fax from the broker indicating the plane was available for $1,000 over their calculated wholesale price -- $2,000 less than the first buyer had offered.
I was the first caller from the initial 12 prospective buyers he'd faxed and we cut a deal over the phone (contingent upon the a/c passing inspection), sealing it with the requested deposit. Then came the rest of the story: the owner needed to sell immediately to finance a time-critical partnership deal in another plane. They needed more deposit $ to ensure I intended to go through with the transaction in timely fashion.
Competition
900 miles away, I had little leverage against the sharks who alternately enticed and badgered the owner with grand promises and threats.
When the hard copy of TAP hit the stands another 50 inquiries flooded the broker's office that very afternoon. I crossed my fingers, hoping that our agreement would hold.
To the owner's credit he turned out to be a man of integrity who kept his word--the deal was still on and moving forward.
Financing
Brian Bourett at Dorr Aviation in Marlboro, Mass. managed to slam paperwork through channels and produce an approval in less than an hour on our application for a 20-yr., fixed rate loan for 85% of the a/c value at 8% (as much as 2% less than we were quoted by several other brokers).
Brian was fabulous, meeting our compressed timetable and not letting go until the seller and his bank finally cleared corrected versions of FAA documents through Oklahoma City just 24 hours before we were scheduled to close escrow. A phenomenal level of support and excellent terms as well.
Evaluating the airplane
We'd lined up a mechanic/CFI friend (designated maintenance examiner for the FAA who owned three Cardinals and maintained a fourth for a flight school) to fly to the pre-purchase inspection and start my aircraft checkout/BFR/ICC on the ferry flight home. It was an excellent plan...in theory.
But when the required release of lien and current registration failed to meet the escrow company's standards the purchase date was pushed back until it conflicted with our mechanic's schedule. He expressed his regrets and bowed out, leaving us without a trusted expert to perform the critical inspection. Tension mounted as the owner's time pressure threatened to kill the deal. We needed a miracle, and fast.
That's when I found the CFO website, completely by accident. Impressed with the information I gleaned from the non-members section I joined immediately, and within minutes had opened a dialogue via e-mail and telephone with a CFO principle, Webmaster Keith.
Rarely have I met an individual with his comprehensive knowledge of technical/legal facts and the resources to research the odd item he didn't have at his fingertips. Our initial inquiry mushroomed into many hours of communications at all times of the day and night over the course of the next two weeks. I swear he never sleeps!
Armed with CFO's resources, we devised a plan to prioritize and overcome the obstacles that stood in our path.
Facts Emerge
The few aircraft log pages we received by fax revealed that most of the advertising was just plain wrong. In all fairness I believe that the broker was misinformed by the owner, that the owner had left the research, documentation and maintenance of the aircraft to his former partner, and their mechanic, a man of good intention, had missed several major airworthiness items.
The plane was advertised as:
"1976 C-177RG, 3200TTAF, 450 SFREM, 450 SNEW 3-blade Hartzell Prop..." and so on.
No damage history was mentioned until I phoned. Then I learned of one gear up landing in 1998 and was assured that that was all. But it was only the start.
Our investigation showed that the aircraft is a 1977 RG. The total time was 4100. Not only was the engine not a factory reman (a term with specific legal/financial implications), the advertised 450 hours were flown since the engine was repaired, not rebuilt, after a prop strike/sudden engine stoppage at 230 hours since overhaul by a shop unknown to us.
Next, we discovered that the aircraft had suffered an earlier gear up landing in 1995, unknown to the current owner, broker and the mechanic who had signed off the current annual one week earlier.
The 3-blade prop was not new with 450 hours; it was an overhauled replacement for one destroyed in 1998. Keith raised a bright red flag here citing one Hartzell installation CFO had come across that had been deemed by a midwest FAA office to have no basis for approval and was consequently replaced by the owner to the tune of thousands of dollars. But CFO also supplied a clue, an entry in the STC listings that opened another door. I continued digging.
It also turned out that CFO knew Steve's Aircraft in California, the shop that repaired damage from the last gear up landing, and had a high opinion of them. Steve was able to supply the actual work orders for the west coast airframe repairs in 1998...he'd worked for Cessna and offered some suggestions regarding the RG's nose gear assembly. Fantastic guy, and he knew CFO too.
Next, I located Air West Aircraft Engines, an equally reputable engine shop (also in California) and received excellent documentation of their repair work as well.
Hartzell--new owner of the Top Prop Conversions--and the FAA's Oke City office filled in the missing STC and 337documentation via fax and microfiche.
Completing the mosaic, I traced the original owner from California to New Mexico. (The Internet is a powerful-scary place.) He graciously offered that there had been no mechanical failure of either the primary or emergency gear extension systems leading to either incident.
Time to take stock
Before we ever met the airplane, we knew we had the wrong model year, 900 hours more airframe hours than advertised, a non-factory-reman engine with total time unknown, 700 hours since field overhaul and 230 since repairs from sudden stoppage, an overhauled replacement prop instead of new, and missing paperwork for the prop STC, 337 and revised weight and balance, plus two gear up landings.
Rough estimates reduced the average retail market value of the airplane from the mid-70k's to the agreed asking price. We hadn't expected a bargain, but the distance amplified the hollow echo of the owner's assurances and time was definitely running out. His new partner had gone ahead and fronted the money for their Lance...he had to sell the Cardinal, pronto.
Back east, we still had no trusted mechanic to perform an adequate inspection. We were dizzy with that sick, Maalox Moment feeling that leads many people to walk away from aircraft ownership. But we'd come too far toward realizing this dream...
Hope springs
Keith Peterson must be a mind reader. At that very moment he was typing another massive missive under his Webmaster moniker. He'd already floated the question with one of the leading Cardinal mechanics in the country, Bob Russell in southern Wisconsin. His proposal was a godsend: together, they'd fly to the airplane and do a prepurchase inspection. I nearly fractured my violinist fingers accepting before they came to their senses!
The owner would be out of town but made plans to have the aircraft flown from its home field to its maintenance base. He dropped the ball and didn't follow up--the plane was never repositioned for the inspection.
CFO to the rescue again. Keith and Bob flew to the plane and brought it to the inspection shop via formation flight, showing an absolutely fantastic flexibility and resolve to make things work, above and beyond the call of duty.
They accomplished an extremely thorough, type-specific inspection. Later, I heard from the owner's mechanic and broker that they had never seen two people zero in on so many discrepancies on a freshly annualed airplane. Their credibility and the respect they earned were immediate...and the broker is still talking about seeing another Cardinal in close formation.
Within a few hours a written description was sent to me, along with an air-to-air photo of the airplane and a short on-line video of the aircraft in flight... my first real look at the airplane.Just one day later, Keith produced 65 digital photos with detailed comments that I could access on the web. This in-depth documentation allowed me and my home mechanic to devise a triage-type priority list of items to accomplish mechanically and cosmetically. These reports can be seen on the CFO site... a must read for anyone unfamiliar with this process and the responsibilities of ownership.
We felt a whole lot better. Their report indicated we had a sound airframe, well suited to our needs and a good base from which to build. After all we had gone through, it was a keeper!
Among the items they noted were several details that seemed appropriate to address as part of the annual inspection signed off one week earlier. A gentle suggestion to that effect was made to the owner's mechanic, who had signed that inspection, and these items were rectified prior to taking possession. Another man of integrity.
A question of value
Sometime during the inspection it occurred to me that we'd never actually settled on a price that would reflect the value of the service these gentlemen were performing. I forgot to ask.
I was devastated when the bill arrived via e-mail the next day. It was far too low to compensate these men for their five hours of flying, tremendous expertise, the invaluable report they generated, plus the many hours of calls and e-mails that it took to see us through this labyrinth.
We added a couple hundred dollars to the invoice amount as a thank you to these individuals and to CFO for the technical and moral support afforded us, all stemming from a single e-mail from a brand new member family. We're delighted to hear the $$ is earmarked for much needed CFO office equipment!
Realization
At last it was time to journey to Illinois, complete the deal and fly the new bird home. What did we think of our new Cardinal, the reason we moved heaven and earth?
The inspection report was exactly right. Her exterior's in pretty good shape, interior needs more TLC. The smaller maintenance discrepancies were noted for corrective action. But her heart and soul, which were the focus of so much exploratory surgery and documentation, are healthy and strong.
As if testing our resolve, a major low-pressure system stood directly in our path toward home. She flew straight and true--delightfully responsive as advertised, making light work of occasional moderate rain, brief encounters with light rime ice (our thanks to the Cincinnati controllers for their altitude flexibility), and rewarding our perseverance with a variety of full-glory and double rainbows between glimpses of the glorious midwestern farmland.
The solid WX-900 with ATC backup let us pick our way around isolated active thunderstorm cells for a safe, smooth ride; the King Silver Crown package brought us dead-center on the offset ILS localizer to Binghamton, NY at night; glowing LED's lighted the way northeast to a smooth, overhead 270 approach in the clear New England skies over her new home, reminiscent of that summer day back in 1978.
I had come full circle, and she'd traveled through the years and across the miles from Wichita via California and America's heartland to her new home in New England.
My first logbook entry in 2 1/2 years: 6.1 hours flight, 6.1 dual, 4.2 instrument, 2.8 night, one night ILS to 800 AGL, two night crosswind landings. Kudos to CFO members for all the tips on technique--came in handy on approach and in the flare. (I still wonder what it's like to land a Cardinal in daylight!) All in all, a great start on a beautiful, long-term relationship.
Home safe and sound after a 22-hour odyssey filled with new memories, I slipped into bed beside my wife. She turned to me and smiled that delicious, familiar smile...I smiled back.
It's great to be the newest members of your extended family. Thanks, CFO, for being there when we really needed you. Hope we can somehow return the favor. Until then, pay close attention to that little voice in your head--it speaks for your heart.
Wishing you all blue skies and safe flying,
Jim and Cathy from Up North