Aircraft history
 

Can anyone tell me how to track down an aircraft history. It is off the register and has been for a while. Do I have to pay CASA some money or is there another way?

Aircraft history
 

Chasco175. The first place I would begin would be the Log Books and any old Maintenance Releases for the aircraft you may be able to get.

Pity we cant register our aircraft in the US and use them here.:E

In the past, I've used a a simple Google search on the airframe serial number. Sometimes interesting what pops-up.

A good start would be to publish the details you do have on this thread and see if anyone can help.

Situation is this. Aircraft has been abandoned and left for more than 20 years. I have saved this airframe from vandals and bushfire . Planning to make this a retirement project. No logs or any paperwork is available. I am trying to find any history of previous owners. I don't want to spend time or money on this until I can claim ownership. Any ideas gratefully considered. This is a just because I can project. Common sense tells me this not a cheap fixer upper but it is worth saving. Thanks.

What type? (Could be interesting..)

Is it pre 1970? If so there may be something on Ed Coates website.

Chasco,

PM sent.

Even though the aircraft appears to be abandoned, I would start with the legal aspects before sinking any $$$.
Local governments may have the right to dispose of dumped vehicles but, you may or may not have the right to acquire. A lawyer would know and perhaps an Aviation Lawyer might be a safer bet due to the Federal aspects of aviation.
Check if there is a data plate on the fuse and go from there .
If the original C of A document is missing, that may also cause problems.
You could probably go under experiment class if a problem arises but, I am out of my depth in that area. Ask a certifying authority ( engineer).
It is amazing how people claiming to be owners pop up once you start spending dough that you would not be able to recover if their claim is correct.
Unless it has historical value or some rarity ,it might be better to walk away , let it rot and find a safer bet.
A shame, I know.
Good luck

Starting pioint would be the local maintenance organisations to look for the log books. The CASA website may still list the old owner if the VH mark has not been re-assigned.

Unless is a rare aircraft, there might be more fruitful things to do with your retirement time.

Well OK Chasco, fess up. What is it?

Nothing special. C172N. Very low time. Minimal corrosion.H2AD motor is junk. I think new Titan 340/180hp engine is drop in fit. Like I said ,the economics don't add up but ???, it is because I can. A retirement project.

Enter the rego in the search window of Tony Arbon's wonderful Historical Aircraft Register:

www.austairdata.com.au

Yep. The lay term 'theft by finding' springs to mind.


I note the OP called it 'abandoned' and I suppose it's hard to lose or misplace an airframe, but at what stage does it get to the stage that someone else can claim ownership? If not the original owner, does an insurance company have some interest in it?


The late Tom Kruse OBE (the Birdsville mailman) got mightily aggrieved when he found out that the Copley Crew had retrieved his Leyland Badger truck out of the desert (albeit with the intention of restoring the historic truck.) Tom had 'parked' it there (on someone else's land) some 20 years before and it was subsequently deteriorated but he still considered it 'his!'

Good luck trying to certify any aircraft without log books.:hmm:

There are no problems, only solutions. I just haven't found them yet. Time is on my side. It may end up as garden sculpture.I have tried all suggested solutions to no avail. Thank you for your ideas.Chasco.

Salvage...and circuses.
 

Collected an abandoned, deteriorating engine-less 172 some years ago. Cowls etc had been blowing around the field...collected up a couple of times and strapped on. . Doors flapping in the wind, ...tied up, to keep the wx out..as you do. Been there for 8 years.

Following the rego search, wrote twice to the ex chtr co, that had owned it.
Nil response.
Thru ASIC found that the Chtr co. had been involuntary wound up and that asset, C 172 was now the property of ASIC.

Followed up with the local council to see if any outstanding parking fees due. None. Since Council take away abandoned old cars what are your intentions with this abandoned aircraft carcass? NFI.
Placed a notice of intention to salvage in the cockpit readable from the outside.

Come the day of dismantle, ably assisted by many "accessories to the act" from a local open day, fuse was towed to a mates shed,having replaced the tyres, and trucked in the wings later. Now all dry and under cover. We laid no claim to it. It had corrosion issues,been robbed a bit, some seats missing etc and might have been savable or might well have been painted bright yellow and given to the local kindy.

Now comes the exciting bit. Cops, all a quiver with hands on shooters just in case..arrive at my mates place and want to see the stolen aircraft, just flown in from xxxxx. !!! Keystone here we come !
We are accused of 'stealing an aeroplane'... that sounds more glamorous than ' removing a wreck''
Following arrests and a couple of court hearings, the accuser is unable to prove that it was actually his ( it wasn't) and altho ASIC told the polis.'do not hand over that airframe to the claimant until that case is heard'. But they did.

At the 2nd hearing, awaiting the plods production of the 'owners' evidence that was not forthcoming because there wasnt any, the magistrate posed the question....'why are these people at large' ?? Que?? No bail ?? Free!!
Since this is the age of terrorism, you mustnt "steal an aeroplane" !!

SO...it was back on the tarmac for the 172, out in the wx and there it remains today, broken windscreen and totally buggered now.:mad:

There was a bit of kharma out of this little frolic.. the cop who allowed the 172 to go to him that didnt own it, a few months later got busted for blackmail and got 3 years or so in the calaboose. Nice one.!:ok:
For the 'owner' many years later there was some very big kharma...:ok::ok:but thats another story.

ps,,our initial investigations into the laws of salvage found that the marine environment is the problem. so to speak. Come across an abandoned vessel and she's yours. Pick up an abandoned airframe,... and it might have been,

We had pulled all the right stings to begin with, but the laws just dont seem to have got the aeroplane salvage thing the same way.

Anyway the other resto projects have been very satisfying and its good to think you have saved something from the dump, to fly again.
Good luck, Chasco
Gofer :ok: