Relax, once you get used to the crude "logics" of our beloved elected leftovers, you will feel much better about your own capabilities.
Just a hint - take a small booklet. You remember the old analog iPads made from paper with existing pages and served with a pen, do you? That's the one to get. Let 10 pages in the front blank - there you will have your contents register and it is not filled automatically, but from what you believe is important. Start on page 11 on the top and write down one simple question. If you have another question, write it on another page on top. If you get answers, write them to the question. If answers refer to other questions, refer to it. If answers raise new questions, refer to it and write the question on another pages on the top. Got it? By real writing, instead of typing in the computer, the spiderweb of dependencies forms and begins to map into your head for a better understanding. This enables your brain to guide you and that is much more satisfying then short term memorized chatting on the internet. Once you get old, pass that booklet to your great grandkids and see their wide open eyes for such a relict.
Now back to the chatting.
Grandfathering means that rights once collected are granted still if the underlying regulation changes. You get a lifelong permit to fly, under grandfathering nobody will question that again. You got a STC allowing you to fly MOGAS in a C172, under grandfathering this will stay with you, even if new environmental ideologies won't allow to issue it currently. Grandfathering was one of the basic concepts i.e. in former Germany and some of it leaked into our EU(dSSR) world. In some cases grandfathering in aviation is conditional, meaning it may be connected to the legal status of a plane. If you keep the machine, the rights stay with you. If you change owner, some grandfathering rights may not be transferred to the new owner.
The above is quite a tricky part and leads to the suggestion to talk to your local shop, before you lay an eye on buying a plane. Get acquainted to Part M and Part 145, shops are quite different and later you will rely on them to some extend. Some shops are more relaxed on checking machines, some are pennypicker. Find out what your local one is.
Prepare to learn the basics of regulation. Very quickly you will find out that your shop knows almost nothing about your special machine. You have to research the regulations with an exclusive view on your machine. If you don't want to do that, get a very basic standard C172 and let the sale be arranged from your shop. In that case buy a plane which the shop knows for years. In that case the former owner most likely tought the shop what to do and think.
IFR on a permit to fly is a very bad idea in EASAland. As there is no country EASAland, you have to check for each country what you are allowed with your special permit to fly and what not. For some countries a simple question for "am I allowed to fly the route from A to B in your country" can take weeks to find out where to send it to, month to get a reply, quarters to understand whether the reply is an answer and a year in advance to be on the safe side. There are certain ways to get a permit to fly plane allowed (not certified!) to fly IFR, but you don't want to dig through the individual stories of hundreds of pages written from people who had success. Yes, if you own an Airbus A380 fully equipped and it is on a permit to fly, you might be unable to fly IFR legally, but the old C182 right next to it can. For a first plane, go CofA.
Re-registering of a CofA plane is usually not a big deal, as long as it has a valid airworthiness certificate ARC. But, local regulations may press you for modifications, so get prepared to have the plane grounded for about three month after purchase until all changes applied. Take for example a D-reg plane, which is allowed by German regulation to run certain instruments and parts "on condition" for private use, meaning to overrule the lifetime settings of the manufacturer. Parts may be things like the engine operating "on condition" after the TBO time, operating hours and/or running hours. These "on condition" rules are local extensions of regulations and they may be different. I guess to remember G-reg is more strict on running "on condition" then D-reg is. So, you might see a C172 with an old O-300, which has TBO 12 years and 1,800 hours, running at 2.000 hours after 20 years TimeSinceOverHaul under D-reg. If I remember correctly the UK will not accept "on condition" parts when entering G-reg, so the old owner could continue running "on condition" and if you let it under D-reg, you as well, but if you change to G-reg you have to OverHaul all the whatshallwecallit parts.
In detail, these surprises will be different for almost every single plane. So, be prepared to spend some time for the history of a plane to purchase and to dig into the specialities of it.
There are two things to really keep a sharp eye on it right up front when buying.
One is, the aviation and maintenance history file has to be absolutely complete - no part in the machine not documented, when was it built in, where did it come from, are all Form One certificates basted as originals (do not, never ever, accept photocopies), etceteras. You must be able to look in the aircraft file and reconstruct the complete flying and maintenance history of the plane. If you can't, don't buy - even if you find a clerk letting you pass registration, you will find bad surprises later.
Second, check for a VAT receipt. If you buy from private no VAT applies, BUT big BUT, you have to document that EU VAT was paid once in the lifetime of the plane. If you buy from a dealer, you have to pay local VAT and everything is fine (I haven't heard of used aircraft dealer, but there may be some). There are some exemption regulations for elder planes, but they are diluted by country specific rules. Some will tell you that you don't need VAT documentation for a plane older then X, but most of these urban legends are grandfathering and not necessarily transferable. Most diligent aircraft owner do have a receipt in history register, so in many cases it is not that complicated, but some aircraft files are ready to get burned together with the plane ... There is an old deadline date, of which goods manufactured before are tax exempt, but the crux is to document unambiguously that the aircraft was stationed in the EU without leaving longer then 180 days in a piece. If you have all hangar receipts from the very beginning, that's easy, but who has for a 50 year old plane?
Depending on the country the plane of dreams is registered, make also sure there are no third party rights on the plane. In Germany it is uncommon to finance a private plane (most banks won't do that anyways), but the Netherlands or UK might have a loan in the back of the machine.
Only buy from a seller you trust, or at least with a pre-buy inspection by a person you trust.
It is not complicated, it is just a huge pile of paper to understand ;-).
Go on.
(Missing comma and misspellings are meant to entertain the reader as a feature)
Last edited by ChickenHouse; 9th September 2014 at 08:07.