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Process of purchasing an aircraft located in another EU country

ivark wrote:

I also choose to keep the previous CAMO, which has worked out reasonably well for 3 years already.

Can you describe what you mean by “keep the previous CAMO”? The plane I’m buying is also under CAMO, and I assumed I would need to transfer it somehow to my local mechanic. I’d love to hear what you did.

Also, I’m still unclear about the legality of flying during the time between deregistration in Romania and registration with the Dutch CAA. Clearly it will take some time from the moment I send off to deregister before I get the new reg.

EHRD, Netherlands

You can’t fly an aircraft once it’s de registered. You have to await the new docs applicable to the new registration. My advice remains:

- Change the ownership on the Romanian register into your name

- Only cancel it from the Romanian register once the aircraft is in a safe space at home, in a hangar where it wont need to be moved and in the care of an engineer that you trust

This way you can’t go wrong.

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

WilliamF, this sounds like the most sensible advice to me. I’m not one to take unnecessary risks in these sorts of matters.

EHRD, Netherlands

dutch_flyer wrote:

Can you describe what you mean by “keep the previous CAMO”? The plane I’m buying is also under CAMO, and I assumed I would need to transfer it somehow to my local mechanic. I’d love to hear what you did.

There is no problem (well, at least not regulatory) with a PH-reg aircraft having a CAMO in Romania. There are always some hassles involved in changing CAMO so if the Romanian CAMO is good and you don’t absolutely want to have to a Dutch CAMO, you could just as well keep the one in Romania.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Airborne_Again wrote:

you could just as well keep the one in Romania.

What does that mean in practice? I presume it doesn’t mean I need to fly it to Romania for maintenance, which would not be practical.

EHRD, Netherlands

dutch_flyer wrote:

What does that mean in practice? I presume it doesn’t mean I need to fly it to Romania for maintenance, which would not be practical.

Not at all. The CAMO doesn’t do any maintenance. The CAMO administers the maintenance. In practise your Dutch shop would get their work orders from the CAMO in Romaina.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

The CAMO issues the ARC (paper exercise) but you need a physical review of the plane at the CAMO every 3 years.

A quick excerpt:
You can either
A) be responsible for the airworthiness yourself or
B) contract a CAMO or CAO for that.

In practice, you still choose the maintenance facility yourself.

The difference is that, if the CAMO is responsible, they have a say in which mx schedule you follow. They might not be comfortable deviating from the maintenance schedule of the plane’s manufacturer the same way you as owner would.

I’ll pm you a summary I wrote about it.

always learning
LO__, Austria

The only issue I see with flying the AC home while still registered to the previous owners name is with insurance- the beneficiary is the previous owner, but unless the insurance is for a named pilot only you are legal to fly. The plane still has liability cover, I guess the hull cover can be regulated in the sales contract. Otherwise its no different than flying a friends plane.. Changing the registration seems always take weeks,so I would feel better if I already have the plane at home. Of course, if you a fine with the plane sitting in Romania while the CAA does its bureaucracy, then changing the ownership in Romanian registry is a solid plan. Also, its much much easier if the plane has valid ARC while changing ownership or registration.
CAMO indeed only gives work orders and issues ARC exrension + deals with national CAA. In my case I’m fine having to visit Denmark once in 3 years.
My reasons for keeping it OY register and not changing CAMO : the OY national regulations for TBO and calendar extension suited me better- OY had unlimited engine calendar with 5 year corrosion check, Estonia at the time thought that 24 years is maximum. OK, nowadays you can declare a SDMP ,but you still need somebody who would issue an ARC based on your program. Also a bit less bureaucracy – for example the radio permit needs to be extended each year in Estonia and is eternal in DK. CAMO- indeed, you need to visit the CAMO every 3rd year, which is OK for me. The 1 and 2nd ARC extensions and work orders can be done remotely.

EETU, Estonia

Much of this really applies to purchase an aircraft from any country to any other country.

Indeed, once deregistered, it cannot be flown, and you are bent over the barrel of whoever owns the hangar in which it is sitting. This applies to any plane which has become unairworthy – as a number of owners have found out to their huge cost. Even an ARC expiry can result in this, if the hangar owner blocks access or operations.

Normally a buyer either buys the plane as-is, and has carefully checked it will be accepted on the new registry, or does a deal with the seller to underwrite the whole registry transfer.

Beware, even on an EU-EU transfer. It is not just a “paperwork exercise” as many people like to say The accepting CAA is entitled to look at the equipment fitted, any mods, etc. The worst recent case I know is one where the accepting CAA discovered a certain high value item was fitted under an unapplicable STC. The company which made the mistake offered to keep quiet and sign the plane off annually so long as the buyer uses them for all the annuals The plane was rapidly sold, but a discovery and rectification would have cost at least 50% of the value of the plane. And it wasn’t a cheap plane. So your prebuy needs to be expertly done, especially as a lot of people do think an EU-EU transfer is just some paper shifting. A few CAAs in the EU, or the former EU, are quite competent, and find stuff…

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Couldn’t you just keep it on the Romanian register? Both Romania and NL are EU and EASA, as – presumably – is your license. Seems to me a way to avoid any pitfalls.

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