When I first started the process of purchasing an Extra, I considered more than just the price tag. I tried to think of future maintenance costs, such as time before major engine overhaul. I didn’t even know a 1000-hour inspection was a thing. I purchased the plane out of Miami, with Chris Rudd and his crew doing the pre-buy. FYI, if you need a great mechanic for aerobatics planes, Chris is your guy. He is Georgia based but will travel to you.
During the pre-buy inspection, several issues were noted. Some were good and some were bad. Good news was that the engine was a brand-new Lycoming 540 IO with a sticker price of about $80K. This was attractive because there would be no major overhaul for the foreseeable future. The plane had been lovingly maintained by its original owner for decades before he sold it to the individual I bought it from, and all records were complete. (Very important!)
Some of the negatives noted in the pre-buy were that the landing gear was loose.
The brackets that hold the gear in place were cracked from wear and tear. This caused the rotational forces you see in the video. The gear is carbon fiber and so it could not be bent back into place. New brackets and gear would have to be purchased. ($10K) The bent gear meant that tires wore out on the insides only and needed more frequent replacement. Beyond that inconvenience, the gear would eventually fail if not replaced. The inspection also noted that the plane was coming due for its 1000-hour inspection and the subsequent $15-20K price tag. This information was used in the price negotiation, and I was the proud owner of a 1995 Extra 300L.
The plane was purchased in August 2023 and had an annual done the following summer. I was trying to plan for the plane to have its 1000 hour done during the winter so I could be ready to go in the spring. Due to an unreliable mechanic who told me he would take the month of February to complete the 1000 hour and then ghosted me, I was scrambling to find a local mechanic to do the work. I posted an inquiry on FATPNW which is a Northwest based pilot forum asking if anyone knew of a mechanic who could do this. The closest Extra certified shop was in Chico California. (I’m in the Seattle area) I found a guy who was local and had worked on Extras for a friend of mine. He assured me that he was the man for the job. I dropped off the plane on April 9th 2025 with assurances that this would take 2–3 weeks to finish. (Famous last words.)
The plane ended up taking over 90 days to complete. Some issues were parts related and some were mechanic related. The purpose of the blog is not to complain about mechanics and broken timelines, but to educate you about how involved these inspections can get. My inspection was admittedly more involved than most, since I wanted everything to be fixed while it was torn apart. Even Chris (Rudd) said he had never seen an airplane torn down that much for a 1000 hour.
- New double ratcheting Hooker harnesses front and back. The old ones were original and thirty years old.
- New landing gear. The cracked brackets had already been replaced at the annual. Extra only produces 3–4 sets of gear a quarter so, if you are thinking about getting new gear, you need to plan and order three months in advance. Also, Extra does not supply paint. I got the specs for the color and had to source the paint locally.
- New smoke pumps. ($454/per) My system has two pumps, one to fill the tank and one to push it to the exhaust. They are in different locations. One is on the firewall and one can’t be reached unless you remove the body panels.
- Repaint the panels. The Miami humidity had done a number on the paint, leaving it cracked and distressed looking. Note of caution for buying planes from humid environments, many small switches and connectors had to be replaced due to corrosion.
- One of my airspeed indicators was lying by 10 knots. I needed to find out which one it was.
- Other minor repairs like missing screws, balancing the spades, and tapping a stripped backplate on the wheel pants.
- Fuel sending unit was leaking. The rest of the unit was broken during disassembly and new parts had to be ordered from Germany.
- Aileron pushrods were cracked.
- The exhaust shrouds and engine shock mounts were corroded and needed to be replaced. He pulled the engine (not normally done.) and powder coated the engine mount.
- Since parts were already being ordered from Germany, it was suggested to me by a friend that the flop tube in the acro tank should be replaced. It’s a $50 dollar part and replacing it takes only a few minutes while the plane is this torn apart but would be an expensive repair if it failed afterwards. (food for thought)I did an extensive shakedown prior to competing for the first time, and this is where I discovered all the flaws in the work done. When I first jumped in the plane and fired it up, I went to do a radio check, only to find I was constantly transmitting. It turns out that when they put the front seat back in, they crushed the micro-switch. They had to remove the switch and heat shrink the ends until another one could be ordered. They also broke the switch that allows me to select which receiver I want to monitor, Radio two is always on and can’t be deselected.The smoke pumps are both set to intake instead of one intake to fill the tank and one outflow to the exhaust. It’s a DC motor, so the leads can be switched to fix it, but it should have been done correctly the first time. The radios stopped working after I got home. I could hear but not transmit. It turns out the coaxial cable was not properly tightened. Then I got a call from the FAA saying my ADS-B was below the threshold for acceptable signal strength. The airspeed indicators were never tested, even though I was told this would be done. I have had a recent pitot-static test, so I believe it is a faulty indicator. The spades never got balanced, either. I am playing with P-strips to fix it after I received a word of caution from Chris Rudd to be careful about putting too much “bite” in the spade. He had an experience where the stick was ripped out of his hand after putting in too much bite. He says P-strips are easier to adjust, and it’s only a few dollars in weatherstripping and clear tape. After a couple of inches of P-strip and tightening the front of the spade to decrease the “bite”, the spade is balanced. The main takeaway is this. Don’t hire a Honda mechanic to work on your Ferrari. Aerobatic planes are specialized pieces of equipment. Make sure you find a mechanic like Chris Rudd who has experience with all aspects of your airplane. Don’t pay your local mechanic to learn on your dime. At the end of the day, we are trusting our lives to this equipment. If Rob Holland’s death taught up anything, it’s that even with the best mechanics and equipment, mechanical failure can occur. Don’t increase your risk by letting your Cessna mechanic work on your aerobatic planes. Chris and his crew will be the only mechanics touching this plane from now on.
Scott Gorski is a former Navy crew member who rekindled his passion for flying after 20 years and now teaches various forms of flight training, including tailwheel, Roll/Upset, and competition acrobatics. He competes regularly and is part of the IAC chapter 67.