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New Member and New to Commander

D

dmanzari

New member
Umatilla, FL
Aircraft Year
1976
Aircraft Type
112TC
Reg Number
N4536W
Hello,

My name is Darren Manzari and I'm in the process of purchasing a 112TC. I am in the Central FL area and have already learned a great deal from your site, thank you.

The Commander I'm purchasing is going in for its annual over the next two weeks and I'll be picking it up shortly thereafter. I was wondering if anyone had a good A&P, familiar with Commander, that they could recommend in the South FL area that I could use to conduct a pre-buy, hopefully while it's apart during the annual. I was also wondering if there are any common items that I should be looking closely at prior to purchase. I have owned Piper Warriors and Arrows in the past, as well as my last plane which was a Bellanca Super Viking. I am completely new to Commander and I'm really looking forward to flying it with years of enjoyment.

One last question I have is this. Not being familiar with the plane, I have a hangar at a local airport that has a 2500 ft runway with very clean approaches on each end. According to the book numbers this should be no problem for the Commander but wanted to ask people with experience if 2500 ft is adequate for normal usage with this plane.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated and I'm looking forward to meeting some of you once I take delivery and begin enjoying the plane.

Darren
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Darren,

I used to own a 112TCA. They're a great bird. You might PM Judi. She should know of a mechanic in South Florida who can help you with the pre purchase.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

2500 feet is no problem, hot or cold, heavy or light. Have the annual done at the Factory or at Aerodyme. Both are very familiar and both will do a great job.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

atjudge said:
2500 feet is no problem, hot or cold, heavy or light. Have the annual done at the Factory or at Aerodyme. Both are very familiar and both will do a great job.
Click to expand...


The plane is out of annual by a month so it cannot be flown. It is at the facility that has been servicing it for the past 4 years and past 4 annuals so the owner is paying for the annual before I take delivery so I don't really have the option to move it but thank you for the reply.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

As you've owned other birds in the past, i'm sure it goes without saying that it's not ideal to have the owner's mechanics do the pre purchase.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

You could request a ferry permit if you wanted to have the CPAC conduct the annual. Just wanted to point that out in case you didn't know.

Congrats on the purchase - you'll love the Commander!
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

ShaneG said:
You could request a ferry permit if you wanted to have the CPAC conduct the annual. Just wanted to point that out in case you didn't know.

Congrats on the purchase - you'll love the Commander!
Click to expand...

That's great advice, Shane. No one knows Commanders better than CPAC!
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

And they have parts.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

CPAC only does a full annual as their prebuy. not likely Seller will allow the plane to fly all the way to MO for yet another annual after just getting out of one @ FPR. w/the Buyer in FL and plane in FL, we'll get someone down there to look in after him. since an annual does go much deeper, Darren can combine his prebuy w/that. we'll get him our factory guidelines for the shop to go by.

Judi
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Morning Darren and welcome to the group.
You are going to find a wealth of information within the group and site.
I can follow where you are in the acquisition process and think you have the right plan per your situation. You just need that ‘Commander Smart’ A & P to complete the pre-buy while the plane is open for the annual.
I just acquired my 114 in Feb and with 3 ½ months and 15 hrs since the last annual, Judi’s recommended team found a major safety of flt and numerous other mid-level gigs that the previous owner agreed to correct. The piece of mind of having the unbiased look was money well spent. I would like to have CPAC do the next annual to confirm the rigging setup if nothing else.
Obviously you are aware and will have the latest elevator spar A D inspected prior to delivery??
Judi’s advice on insurance and title / registration prep saved a lot of time and research as well.
You are going to love this aircraft series!!
Best - John
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Darren,

My old 112TCA and new 114 are "dream birds". Way better than the average bird, i.e. cessna, cherokee, etc. I get a lot of folks looking at my bird on the ramp. In terms of cross country, I have found them to be exceptionally comfortable. Hope that your pre-buy goes well. You might also consider a couple of test flights to ensure that it flies well. I took an instructor with me on my test flight who tested the avionics platform and provided another un-biased opinion.

Best of luck.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Hello Darren

Welcome!

As one who is waiting for the vaunted "terminating fix" for my 114 with cracked elevator spar, I will offer that I'm dying to get my bird back.

I've been renting a Piper Arrow and while it is almost as fast as my old 114, it is a very inferior machine in so many ways, not the least of which is the pilot's seat!

I spent nine hours hunched-over in the thing over the past couple of days and it makes me wax poetic about my Commander.

You'll be happy with your choice, me thinks.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Thank you all for your advice. Judi has already provided me invaluable council and other members here were quick to offer their time to go and look at the plane for me.

Unfortunately there were some items that turned up in the Title search and FAA 337 forms that did not look good and I have just cancelled the sale.

I'm sure that I'll get to meet all of you at some point as I'm still in the market and will hopefully find a good solid bird soon.

I'm going to heed all of your advice and will be diligent in Pre-buys, unbiased opinions and any other inspection items I can uncover.

I'll keep everyone updated on my progress and will look forward to meeting everyone in the community.

Thank you all for your replies!!!

Darren
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

Darren: I found my 112TC in Utah. It had already had a fresh annual, but that didn't matter to me, I had to have an annual/prebuy by the factory. I offered to pay all expenses to get the airplane to the factory, and the price of the annual. If the factory found something un-airworthy, then the owner would fix it. I then had the option to fix the nice to have things.(unless I could get the owner to pay for it) If I didn't want it, then I would pay for all the expenses to get the airplane back to Utah, and the owner could then advertise that the aircraft had just been through a factory overhaul. It's a win for both sides.
 
Re: New Member and New to Commander

jim whitty at 94fl(pine shadows airpark) has been doing commander annuals for years. the problem is he flys up to his own prince edward island landing strip for the summer. so...if your annual falls from oct to may, contact him at 239 731 2154
 
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