Amateur-built and experimental aircraft - Australian Transport Safety ...

Second-hand documents
In total, there were 392 responses by the 77 respondents who obtained at least one
purchase document. They obtained between one and eight documents, with six
being the most frequently occurring (modal) number of documents. One respondent
obtained an aircraft flight manual alone, and another respondent bought the aircraft
without an aircraft log, but with an engine log and construction manual and plans.
Most respondents obtained an aircraft and engine log (about 93 per cent). About 80
per cent of respondents obtained an aircraft flight manual, aircraft log, and engine
log. Where respondents did not obtain a flight manual (8 of 77), two had flight test
documents.
These data show that people tend to obtain packages of documents, rather than one
document alone. For example, no respondent purchased a second-hand aircraft
obtaining a builder’s log alone. Similarly, of the 22 respondents who obtained
pictures with their aircraft, only two respondents did not also obtain construction
manuals and plans. Nineteen of 22 respondents obtaining pictures of the aircraft
during construction, had between 6 and 8 documents in total. This most often
included at least an aircraft log, engine log and builder log. Where a builder’s log
was not obtained (36 respondents), about 60 per cent obtained a construction
manual and plans.
Documents were divided into two different categories; important, and nice-to-have.
Important documents included the builder’s log, aircraft log, engine log, and aircraft
flight manual and these are found in Figure 86. There were 257 responses to these
four documents. Second-hand owner-respondents most frequently obtained aircraft
logs, engine logs and an aircraft flight manual. Builder’s logs were obtained less
frequently.
Figure 86: Important documents obtained by second-hand owners
Nice-to-have documents included pictures during construction, flight test
documents, and construction manuals. Of the nice-to-have documents, construction
manuals and plans, along with flight test documents were most frequently obtained.
Pictures during construction were less frequently obtained. The other category
included instrument manuals and parts lists. One person wrote that they viewed
other aircraft built by the seller, being satisfied with the construction technique.
- 89 -