Ground school
Reading a listing and a logbook
What airframe hours, time since overhaul, airworthiness directives and liens actually mean when you are looking at an aircraft to buy.
Not flight instruction and not an approved course. An instructor rated for gyroplanes on your type is where training happens. Find one near you.
The two numbers that are not the same
Airframe hours and engine hours diverge, usually because the engine was overhauled or replaced. Read both against the logbooks before you rely on either, and treat a gap in the record as a negotiating point at best.
What can ground the aircraft after you buy it
An airworthiness directive is mandatory. Ask which ones apply to the type and whether they have been complied with. A service bulletin may or may not be, depending on the authority and the category the aircraft sits in.
Separately, search for a lien. In several jurisdictions a registered claim follows the airframe rather than the seller, which makes it your problem after the money moves.
Costs that are not the price
Hangarage, insurance, the annual, overhaul reserves per hour flown, and training or a type conversion. Our financing page covers how lenders look at all of this, and has a calculator that runs on your own figures.
