Buying a Used Astore:Should I ?

[piedmontpilotjohn]

Help & Advice : PLEASE •

   Hello Tecnam Aircraft owners !

    Finally,  I think I've found the Perfect website I Hope can help me in my Quest to purchase a Tecnam Astore !  Possibly a used one.

      Despite over 4 hours searching the internet,  it seams all but impossible of finding unbiased information on the Tecnam Astore !
     Until I was told about this website I couldn't find any Real Information on the Astore's reliability & safety record.
  I couldn't find any useful tips or advice,  or any Do's & Don'ts of buying a Tecnam Astore.   New or Used !
    Tecnam Airplanes are built in one year.  
   Then,  by the time it's shipped to the U.S.,  & they finish putting it together,  the date the FAA "Air-Worthiness-Certificate" is issued is also posted & sold as the year the plane was built.  (WHAT!!)

 Example  :
     A Tecnam Aircraft is Built in Italy in 2016.
    By the time it's Shipped to the US,  wings put on & plane brought up to FAA Standards, the FAA Air Worthiness Certificate shows issued in 2017.
The Tecnam Aircraft is advertised as Built in 2017.

   Usually Airplane Prices in the US start with the year it was actually built versus the date the Air Worthiness Certificate was issued.
    Does Anyone have an explication & if the date the plane is Built versus the date the  planes Air Worthiness Certificate was issued does or should affect the price.

    After spending years looking at LSA's for the right plane,   I've always Really Liked the Astore.
   Should I get one, new or used ?
   For those that respond,
    Thank You,
PiedmontPilotJohn
    «=:((•)):=»



[Flocker]

Feb 15, 2017 19:32:44 GMT piedmontpilotjohn said:


     Tecnam Airplanes are built in one year.  
   Then,  by the time it's shipped to the U.S.,  & they finish putting it together,  the date the FAA "Air-Worthiness-Certificate" is issued is also posted & sold as the year the plane was built.  (WHAT!!)

 Example  :
     A Tecnam Aircraft is Built in Italy in 2016.
    By the time it's Shipped to the US,  wings put on & plane brought up to FAA Standards, the FAA Air Worthiness Certificate shows issued in 2017.
The Tecnam Aircraft is advertised as Built in 2017.


Welcome to our Site!   Where did you get the information above?  

I custom ordered my P2008 in Jan. 2016.  It shipped in March, arrived in the USA in May, and I took delivery in June.  I would have taken delivery sooner, but the Stator SB came out in May and I had them perform the replacement in Sebring.  The purchase agreement states you can terminate if you haven't taken delivery within 180 days.

[mackattack]

Hey I bought my Astore last July from Tecnam in Sebring. About the same vintage as yours. Slightly used - about 55 engine hours - as a demonstrator. I'm a big fan of the plane and love it. Send me a pm and I would be happy to chat.  And I would note, that the price of LSA and other aircraft are far more dependent on the engine/Hobbs time than the "year" in which they received an airworthiness certificate.  I think the shipping/airworthiness timing item you mentioned pertains to any aircraft that is assembled in one country and delivered to another (e.g., Diamond aircraft in the US, a Cessna or Cirrus delivered to the UK or Australia).... if you look at used aircraft prices, the "year" generally is relevant in an airplane like a Cirrus where they make incremental changes to the aircraft each year, but not to prices which seem (to me at least) to be largely based on hours (at least within reasonable limits of time passage).

I love my Astore and have had very few issues with it since I purchased it; it's going through my first annual right now.  Very few squawks.  Easy to fly, stable, fun and very cost-effective from a fuel and out of pocket expense perspective (I have a 914 engine in mine).  

Feel free to message any of us with contact details or just post specific questions and we will try to answer them.  We are a pretty enthusiastic bunch of owners; most of us took hard looks at other LSA models before buying our Tecnams and are happy to share our thought processes and experiences.  

Welcome to the forum!

[Cluemeister]

Hey John, welcome. As to date of manufacture, is there a plate on the side of the plane that shows its serial number and date of manufacture? I guess I wouldn't worry too much if it's a 2015 or 2016. I would be more concerned with what the plane has for avionics, and whether or not Tecnam has made any upgrades since the manufacture of the plane you are looking at. If it's the 912is, I would want the Rotax stator replacement done before I took possession of the aircraft. If it's the turbo or ULS, I would want the carbs serviced per the Rotax bulletin prior to taking ownership.

Otherwise, I don't think you can go wrong with an Astore, beautiful plane. I'm a high wing guy, so the P2008 is what I chose. Love the performance of the Tecnam aircraft, and the way it handles compared to the other aircraft I flew earlier during my training.

Not sure who you are dealing with for new, but I bought from Mark Gregor, and he has been top notch both in responsiveness to my questions and support for squawks.

[piedmontpilotjohn]

A Big Thank You goes out to those that replied. The "Special Air Worthyness Certificate" was issued in Feb 2015 with the serial number of 033.

Since It's been such a long time since the last time I bought an airplane, with so many changes within Aviation & Aircraft Industry, I wanted to make sure I understood everything I needed to & as much as I could. Appearantly it's easier said than done.

I'm just not sure the difference between the year it was built & the fallowing year the "Special Air Worthyness Certificate" was issued, "if" or "how" & in all the ways it would or could affect anything. For Now, in the near future, or years from now like when selling the Aircraft. Do I advertise it "Built" in 2014 or 2015 when the Certificate was issued?
Consider the sophistication of a new production Airplane, the Avionics, autopilot & other systems & parts.!. Like so many products, the first year of production usually has some bugs & problems that are fixed in the fallowing years of productions. the Tecnam Astore came out in 2014, built in 2013.!.

Hoping to miss those problems is why I was concerned if the plane was the First or the Second Year of the Tecnam Astore Production line.

Anyone out with a First Year Built Astore ? Did you have any problems or glitches I should consider if it's a first year built plane ?

I guess I could be just getting an early bit of Pre-Buyers Jitters __«/=(o)):=\»__

[indypilot1984]

Good Afternoon John, I am glad you took my recommendations and found the Tecnam Talk forums. Equally, it was a pleasure talking to you yesterday about the Tecnam company and the Tecnam Astore. I hope the forums help answer some questions and shed some light on personal ownership and what these guys think of their airplanes!.

Feel free to call me anytime if you have anymore questions,

Jason Newbold
Aircraft Sales Director
Eagle Creek Aviation
317-997-8646

[geobuff]

Piedmonpilotjohn:

I have an Astore serial 27, the first one in the USA outside of the one demo model at Sebring. I have the 912IS engine. I have 400 hours on the engine, with only a few minor issues the first few months. I use if for playing around and for business, doing a lot of cross countries to Houston and Minneapolis. I find it reliable and with the 912IS engine it burns less than 5 gph and cruises at 118 TAS at altitudes up to 10,000 feet. Best wishes. New or used you cannot go wrong.

The Astore has only been around the USA since 2015, so even the 'old' ones are relatively new. Your information about Tecnam taking 1 year to build, ship and deliver an Astore is simply 'fake news'. A lot of non-Tecnam folks simply don't know what they are talking about OR they are just trying to get you discouraged on a Tecnam so you will buy their brand. Best Wishes.

Roger

[mackattack]

The fact of the matter, as Roger notes, is that it's a 4-month process (approximately) from ordering a new Tecnam LSA to taking delivery ... others can be much longer. The Bristell, for example, is a six-month wait.

Cheers!