Not totally relevent but worth the re-telling. Twenty years ago (at least) when I was first based at Nuthampstead, there was an N reg Piper Comanche/180 parked outside our hangar, in all weathers. It had been there for some years. It was tatty to say the least. After I had been resident for five years, it one day dissapeared. The scuttlebut said that two American pilots had bought the plane and flown it away!
alioth wrote:
There’s a good chance that he won’t get many hours out of the engine it’s got on, but he has at least got some hours out of it so far.
So the idea is to squeeze every last drop of “flying liquid” out of that dead horse? 
Am I the only one who see that this is a ridiculous idea? Nothing wrong with old planes. I regularly fly vintage aircraft (70 years old). The difference is they are well maintained, and have been for all their lives.
I’ve owned and flown lots of Lycomings that have had large periods of inactivity, which occurred in prior ownership. In three instances I have had the cylinders removed to check the cam, followers and bores. The three times we did it we found nothing to worry about. I’ve flown with Lycoming engines that were not rebuilt since the late 60’s and well over TBO. What most people won’t tell you is you can measure the wear on cam lobes without removing the cylinders. In the H2AD you can even look at the followers, as in some TCM engines. One instance was a Lake I took out a hangar where it sat for unpreserved 7 years at the coast and flew it to Romania, pulling the pots off that was a complete waste of time. The engine was perfect and never skipped a beat, only after we gave it a thorough shakedown over a few weeks completing many airframe tasks. Everyone has their own checklist of things to do when flying an aeroplane that has been dormant for a long period.
I’d be more worried about the aft spar, or what’s behind the fuel tanks on the spar.
Little update as far as I got it.
In order to assess the engine condition I contacted a renowned engine shop in Switzerland who pointed me to a maintenance organisation near the location of the airplane, a guy they work with and trust. The engine shop owner told me on the phone that given the time involved damage was likely but not inevitable and what steps would have to be taken to verify it. The mechanic owning that organisation was recommended by them as very capable of assessing the state of the engine and deciding whether a revival should be attempted or not.
In the mean time the airplane has been checked on the spot by the recommended mechanic and pronounced to be in excellent condition. The engine was inspected and appears to have no corrosion whatsoever, neither in the cylinders nor elsewhere. It appears to contrary what the owner knew it WAS actually preserved after the last maintenance action, possibly with more foresight than the owner had. The mechanic, who at first was very cautious, now is positive that it can be revived without too much hassle and ferried to his workshop under permit to fly where a comprehensive annual would follow as well as 8.33 COM installed. It alrady has mode S. Looking at the preliminary offer, the total investment looks very realistic, given the fact that he can take over a much sought after hangar space at his home airport and the airplane being under Swiss register already.
I have been away so did not have a chance to see the plane, but it appears that the guy will have another talk with the owner to adjust the purchase price a bit and then go for it. I will follow his progress and report once I know more.
A final update on this project which now has been concluded successfully.
The airplane was ferried early in 2019 after weather concerns delayed the ferry and has been put through an extensive annual combined with the installation of a 8.33 radio and overhaul of the magnetoes which was decided to be a prudent action. The new owner has taken the airplane for it’s first flight post maintenance a few days ago and is very happy with the value he has received. The airplane is in excellent shape and has been taken well care of over this winter to bring it back to flight.
I am very glad to have been involved on the sidelines.
The story shows that the normal gut feel about airplanes which have been standing for a while can have notable exceptions. And that it may well be worth a closer look before doing the usual running job recommended by a lot of forum experts.
Incidently, in the mean time I was involved in the purchase of another PA28 which had not been standing that long but faced similar issues in terms of avionics and upgrades. So that is two new owners in the last 5 months or so whom I had the pleasure of helping along a little. Good feeling I have to say.
