On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:18:24 -0700, wrote:


Am I just having a run of bad luck, or is this normal for older (mid
70's well used airplanes. All of this really makes me want to buy my
own plane,

Ha!

I fear that I will be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

Yep.
How long does take to get the bugs and issues worked out of an
older plane once purchased...
a)Never,
b)Its always perfect
c)Somewhere in between?

I was talking to the guy we sold our club '61 172 to about a month
ago. There'd been an issue of a tiny oil leak around the accessory
case when he bought it. He said something along the lines of, "I
finally took everything off to get at that drip. Now the tube that
lubricates the top end of cylinder so-and-so is gushing oil."
Something had got loose and floated downstream, I guess.

Us old silverbacks, we look for a medical doctor around our own age.
The new guys/gals may be more current on the latest procedures, but
sometimes you have to factor in the age of the patient.

So, is a new plane better? Let's talk about "infant mortaility" as it
relates to failure rates.

It's a crapshoot, but one thing is certain. If a 172 gets used almost
exclusively for primary training, it'll need a lot of maintenance.

Don (Nobody in our club has done primary training for 20 years. That
was an extremely well caref-for 172, a lovingly maintained plane, but
it is defnitely a mature bird.)