It was an interesting and enjoyable experiance to be part of the team that processed the 1st Light Sport Aircraft onto the VH register. As this was the first LSA to be C of A’d in Australia I needed to get the aircraft and my procedures reviewed by CASA. Rick Koch the senior Airworthiness manager for CASA in Perth did the deed on me. It was painless. Peter Snook was the LAME in charge of the aircraft, Basil Lenzo of Cloud Dancer Sport Aircraft was the WA agent and the importer was Peter Harlow of Silverwing Aviation. I must say this aircraft presents extremely well and is a credit to the manufactures Evektor Aerotechnik a.s. of the Czech Republic. CASA have soon after re-issued my instrument to include this catergory of aircraft.

This is one area of the aviation world I didn’t ever consider I would become involved with. Its normally the reserve of the salesman or insurance types. However as it has turned out, it is both interesting and very challenging. You may have heard of the “Aircraft Blue Book”. A great tool for this task, even if it does take some time to master how to drive it. But like all good tools it has a few missing features. ie: Not all aircraft types are covered therein. Needless to say my first adventure into this minefield was littered with non-blue book types. So I had to develop my own logical and transparent tools. So if you need an unbiased, logical and detailed aircraft valuation, I’m your man. 

Now not everyone can afford airfares etc to get their pride and joy valued so I have developed a nifty way to address these client needs. I give them a detailed checklist of required data and photos. They collect those and burn them onto a CD and post that to me. Within a few days and for a very low cost I will give a certified valuation based on the data supplied. Sort of like a “Desk top” valuation but with the log book data and aircraft photos next best thing to touching the metal.

Before you get the totally wrong impression I must admit to a life long admiration of the boys and girls that fly aircraft be they fixed or fling wing types. And yes it’s true I do not hold a pilots licence only those needed to maintain them. However I have over this same lifetime seen far too many instances where the selection of an aircraft has been left solely to the pilot fraternity with sometimes grave results.

To state the obvious there are several stages in this process:

• Determination of need/budget – regardless of whether this is for business or pleasure.

• Type/model selection – use a proven business tool.

• Individual aircraft selection – determine fair market value and always look at more than one aircraft IN DETAIL.

• Actual purchase – OK this one is more a legal/bank thing.

So why am I suggesting that this important task should have a high engineering focus? Well it must also have an extremely strong commercial aspect if it’s to be carried out correctly. Put plainly this is because I sincerely believe, when done correctly, the engineering/commercial aspects need to have the emotional bias taken out of them that all too often one sees pilots applying. 

If you are looking to purchase your first or another aircraft I would like to strongly suggest you consider the following.

If you have the time and enjoy the detail then by all means do these tasks yourself, but beware, without a strong aircraft maintenance background you may still miss some key and costly points.

Don’t just go to your local aircraft sales agency and get a biased opinion (Its normal surely – if I am selling product X then you wouldn’t expect me to tell you product Y is better), use the services of PlaneTorque Australia Pty Ltd. We will have no particular axe to grind and will work closely with you through each stage of this sometimes complex process.