Kyle Boatright wrote:
The idea of
*buying* an aircraft at the show seems a bit of a stretch, because you
really want to have someone conduct a pre-purchase inspection and have
someone else search the title. I'm not sure you'll find those services
there.

Actually, A&P's are thick on the ground at Oshkosh - not too many
'professional' A&P's, but lots of long-time owners who got the ticket.
If ever there was a place to find an A&P who has actually owned and
worked on (for years) the same make&model airplane you are looking to
examine, Oshkosh is the place.

What's more, an experienced and mechanically inclined owner can tell
you in about an hour (and with no more tools than a flashlight and
whatever it takes to open the cowling) whether the plane is a dog and
not worth your attention. Most planes for sale are dogs. The ones at
Oshkosh will be no different, but there you can go from one to the
other, eliminate the dogs, and maybe even do a full-bore prepurchase
inspection right on the field.

Usually, however, people who buy at Oshkosh do their own prepurchase.
A few of them are actually qualified to do so. Most are not. The
outcome is predictable.

Michael