My advice, not being an expert in the field, is probably worth even less than Rob's, but I agree with him.  I have the original instruction manual with various check marks and notes from when I built mine, but I don't know what the next owner could get out of that.  I have a list of parts that was put into the engine by Lycon, but nothing on the engine before that.  I'm sure a complete set of documentation is worth something, but how much?  The most useful thing I've put together is a semi-complete parts list of the common parts that went into mine.  The airplane is an inanimate object and knows nothing of its history - it works or it doesn't.  I'll bet that almost all 40-year-old production plane has lots of things that don't show up in the logbooks, and we fly them without worry.  I'd get a good inspection from a Lancair expert and go from there.  Maybe only one cent's worth of opinion.

Gary

ES157

I have to disagree with Colyn on this one.  The aircraft was obviously sound in initial workmanship as evidenced by the fact that it has flown for 15 years.  You do not mention the total hours but I assume it's in the hundreds or maybe approaching a thousand.  What you need to be concerned about is, for lack of a better phrase, wear and tear.  This should be apparent to a qualified inspector.

 

I'd recommend having someone familiar with the Lancair, but that's probably not essential.  You might have a local A&P doing a pre-buy inspection call the factory, or one of the guys at RDD or Aircrafters, or someone like that, for advice on what to look for.  In your shoes I would be willing to pay a fee for the half-hour of their time to share this expertise with your local A&P.

 

There may be some unique features where the Lancair ages less gracefully than other airplanes, such as the attachment of the nose gear drag link to the strut, are the factory service bulletins complied with (available on line), and so forth.  There are other issues, such as was the self-centering mod done to the nose strut, which came around after the aircraft was built.  On these matters it would help to have a Lanair-familiar dude look at it.  But I would not shy away from this airplane simply because there is no photo album of the build in progress.

 

That's my two cents, which is probably all my advice is worth anyway...

 

For what it's worth, I have very detailed records of how I have spent my time and money on the airplane, but very few pictures.

 

- Rob Wolf