j 3 cub

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:55 am

i have found a wrecked L-4!
it does have a lean on it at the seller's local bank.
he says that i can call his bank and they will clear it
and it will be okay.
is it this simple?
what does the bank have that would
give them legal rights to this plane?
there is no titles in the plane world.
what would be your advice before i
think about buying this 1942 L-4B?
thanks
dave

thammer · Post by **thammer** » Mon May 07, 2007 12:02 pm

Most likely some kind of loan on the airplane or possibly a mechanic or shop looking to recover money owed, or due to other circumstances a lien may have been put on all the owners assets. I'd have AOPA do a complete records search on it. That should uncover all liens and help make sure the title (translate title to: history of ownership) is clear. The bank might tell you why it has a lien on it if you ask them. Some of those activities have to be made public usually in a local newspaper so it might be considered public information.

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Mon May 07, 2007 1:23 pm

Dave

There can be a Mechanics Lean placed against the plane and filed with the FAA at Oklahoma City. That is why a prudent buyer would pay a service to do a title research and report back.

Some other thoughts.

First is it really a L-4. It is real easy to make or say a J-3 is an L-4 but the only way to verify that is to cheap the serial number of the plane against known production records.

That leads us to the data plate. Data plates on J-3/L-4s are not as security attached to the airframe as a Cessna and many times they are lost. Does this airframe have one? Does it look authentic? There are reproductions.

Does this airframe have and airworthiness certificate? Sounds silly but L-4s weren't issued airworthiness certificates till after the war and it wouldn't be unusual to find one without one. I knew of one just 8 years ago that was never certificated. This can be done but requires a conformity inspection by the FAA which is a super detailed annual inspection with the FAA present.

The title search you should have don't will answer some of these questions.

Get me the serial number and I can check to see if it is in fact an L-4.

We can then start the fun stuff discussing the current damage and estimate repair cost.

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon May 07, 2007 1:31 pm

i guess my Q is:
i buy this plane,
then i find out it had a lien
and the bank wants the plane.
what do they have that i need
to have that can legally entitle them
to come get my plane?
dave

jrenwick · Post by **jrenwick** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:16 pm

Dave,

Liens on aircraft must be registered with the FAA. If you call AOPA, they have a service that will tell you, within 24 hours, whether the FAA has any record of encumberances.

You can also get all the FAA's information about the aircraft, if it's registered in the US, for about $5.00 through the FAA itself. They'll mail you a CD with copies of all their documents on it. This will include all the 337s they have, as well as all the ownership information they've filed. It will take a few days to get the CD, and you'll have to interpret this information yourself.

If you ask the AOPA for a title check, they'll give you all the contents of the CD that the FAA would mail to you. They'll also read the documents and give you their opinion on whether or not the title is encumbered, and with whom. Then you can call the lienholder and ask them what they require to release the title.

AOPA has gobs of good information on aircraft ownership and purchasing, here: http://www.aopa.org/members/pic/ac/.

But the easiest thing to do is probably to call AOPA and ask them your questions. They're always very helpful, to their members. One of the best resources we've got, maybe the best.

Good Luck!

John

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:59 pm

i talked to the banker who has the lien.
he said that all i have to do is make
the check out to the owner and the bank.
then they have to tell FAA that lien is clear.
he will give owner registration
so he can sign it and give it to me to send in to FAA
looks like it will all work out
dave

jrenwick · Post by **jrenwick** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:03 pm

I would ask the AOPA for a title check anyway, because there may be other problems the bank doesn't know about. Sometimes even the owner doesn't know of an encumbrance. At a minimum, order the CD from the FAA so you know what they have on this aircraft.

Best Regards,

John

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:48 pm

i'll do it john
dave

dacker · Post by **dacker** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:48 am

I met a guy with a Legend Cub at the airport today... nice little airplane, quiet a bit wider than the original. Legend has done a nice job building a slightly more modern fun machine! I am going to try to fly with him next Monday. I will give a review if I do.
David

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Tue May 08, 2007 2:18 am

john
i did use the service that checks out everything.
liens, damage etc.
will be emailed wed with the results
thanks for all your help
dave

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Thu May 10, 2007 5:44 pm

for better or worse,
i bought L-4 N2764
s/n 9433
yesterday
here it is in my garage
i'll update from time to time
dave

Dward · Post by **Dward** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:12 pm

Congrats Dave

There is nothing more cool that a pile of old plane parts waiting to return to the sky. I would love to have a pile like that in my garage, only a J3 with clipped wings. Do you thing Bruce would take me for a ride someday?

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:21 pm

Oh boy Dave. Now you need to join the Cub Club an buy all their back issues and start reading.

They don't have a forum like ours but there is one hosted by another fellow but it's not as active as ours.

The good news about Cubs is there is on guy who now just about everything about them. His name is Clyde Smith and he calls himself "the Cub Doctor". If you could attend one of his weekend seminars it would be invaluable to you. I know, I went just for the experience even though I've been listening to Clyde for years.

Clyde writes a column for the Cub Club news letter which is why you want to join that organization and buy the back issues of the news letter.
Here is the Cub Club site: http://www.cubclub.org/

Here is Clyde's site: http://cubdoctor.com/

Here is the Cub forum I frequent occasionally: http://www.j3-cub.com/

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:25 pm

Dward wrote:..... Do you thing Bruce would take me for a ride someday?

Any time your in my area. Chances are YOU can take the Cub around the patch.

Bruce

cessna170bdriver · Post by **cessna170bdriver** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:41 pm

iowa wrote:

Was it disassembled?... or did it explode?!

I'm looking forward to periodic updates on your getting it back together.

Miles