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Thoughts on this RV?

If the finish kit includes the motor mount, it looks like it is toast. There are a lot of parts that could be used but it took quite a bit of damage. I am interested in what happened too. I guess it depends on what you could get it for.
 
It's what you cannot see underneath. Big risk. Engine is a complete tear down. Crank shaft.....
Avionics is pretty dated. Will be a lot of work getting this airplane airborne again. Looks like it ground looped as well. Might have been hard landing. Really hard one. There will be a lot of things looked to be bent for sure. New skin in many areas for sure.
Cannot tell about tail section has damage.
 
Location says Rhome, TX, and indeed the N number is registered to someone in Rhome, but we definitely don't have mountains and desert like that in Rhome. Might be best to confirm where it's actually located also.
 
Location says Rhome, TX, and indeed the N number is registered to someone in Rhome, but we definitely don't have mountains and desert like that in Rhome. Might be best to confirm where it's actually located also.

It says Rhome is the location of the salvage (airplane), not the mishap location. Rhome is under the 10 O'clock edge of the DFW Class B.
 
It's what you cannot see underneath. Big risk. Engine is a complete tear down. Crank shaft.....
Avionics is pretty dated. Will be a lot of work getting this airplane airborne again. Looks like it ground looped as well. Might have been hard landing. Really hard one. There will be a lot of things looked to be bent for sure. New skin in many areas for sure.
Cannot tell about tail section has damage.

Just for clarification, the original poster is inquiring about just salvaging the finish kit components and some avionics. That airframe is totaled.
 
Not much value in the avionics in today's market. Empennage, canopy & cowling might be of value. Engine could be OK after a prop strike tear down, but that's a $10K+ gamble. Top down the wreck isn't worth much, new QB fuselage & right wing at least plus labor to transplant. Bottom up may be a few thousand, but there are still the recovery costs. To a local who has storage space may be worth a punt?
 
Finish kit and avionics stuff seems like a big question mark. Avionics is generally not worth much after a few years, and a big part of the finish kit is the canopy, gear & engine mount. Gear and engine mount are definitely trashed on this one, and the canopy might or might not fit without an overhaul of the skirts.

Anything that's even a little bit custom fit is like remodeling a house vs. building new. You spend 1/2 your time trying to adjust or accommodate or make fit to something that's already there.

If I ever build another RV, I'm going to look for a wrecked one, not for the avionics or airframe, but for all the other nickel and dime stuff. Lights, switches, breakers, seat belts, antennas, stick grips... all that stuff really adds up.
 
Not that I think this wreck has any particular vale, but I must be tired and missing something - why do folks think the motor mount is toast? You do realize that on an -8, the main gear has nothing to do with the mount…right?

It might be bad if the engine took a huge hit, but I don’t see it…..
 
If the intent was to bid on this hulk for finishing parts, I would rather purchase known good or new parts instead. A build project is already big & involved enough, without having to sort thru a pile of questionable parts and incure the unknown expense to have them repaired / overhauled to reliable standards. In the end it probably comes out to the cost of new parts anyhow (with a bunch more effort)
 
Browse the airframe logbook. This is the second prop strike. This poor airplane is the equivalent of a "rescue dog"...
 
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