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Airplane history wanted

D

dwollen89

Well Known Member
If this isn’t in the correct area, or is not appropriate, feel free to delete. I’m in the process of trying to acquire an engine for my 7A build. I found a low time O360 that started life on a Cherokee and ended up on an RV4, N914RD. The plane was totaled last year for some type of “storm damage” in Florida.

I have the full log books and it was overhauled in 1994 after a hard landing and I’m guessing prop strike. It then appears to have been put on the RV. After about 100 hours of flight time, it wasn’t flown for 20 years. It then had another 150 hours put on it before the plane was totaled In 2025. Just trying to get some history on the plane/engine and what happened to it.

There’s an insurance claim number in the log book. I tried looking up the number with no luck. The plane appears to have been built by an R L Davis and most recently owned by Susanne Schlenk. I tried facebooking them and internet searches, but no luck. Anyone familiar with this plane?
 
dwollen89 said:
If this isn’t in the correct area, or is not appropriate, feel free to delete. I’m in the process of trying to acquire an engine for my 7A build. I found a low time O360 that started life on a Cherokee and ended up on an RV4, N914RD. The plane was totaled last year for some type of “storm damage” in Florida.

I have the full log books and it was overhauled in 1994 after a hard landing and I’m guessing prop strike. It then appears to have been put on the RV. After about 100 hours of flight time, it wasn’t flown for 20 years. It then had another 150 hours put on it before the plane was totaled In 2025. Just trying to get some history on the plane/engine and what happened to it.

There’s an insurance claim number in the log book. I tried looking up the number with no luck. The plane appears to have been built by an R L Davis and most recently owned by Susanne Schlenk. I tried facebooking them and internet searches, but no luck. Anyone familiar with this plane?
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In what Florida city was the RV4 damaged by a storm?
 
Jaypratt said:
There were lots of flooded / sunk, airplanes in Florida.
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True. But if you want to track down the owner of the RV4 with the N-number of N914RD then knowing the city where this particular airplane suffered damage would give one the starting point to begin their search for Susanne Schlenk. Pilots tend to associate with others at their home airports.
 
dwollen89 said:
If this isn’t in the correct area, or is not appropriate, feel free to delete. I’m in the process of trying to acquire an engine for my 7A build. I found a low time O360 that started life on a Cherokee and ended up on an RV4, N914RD. The plane was totaled last year for some type of “storm damage” in Florida.

I have the full log books and it was overhauled in 1994 after a hard landing and I’m guessing prop strike. It then appears to have been put on the RV. After about 100 hours of flight time, it wasn’t flown for 20 years. It then had another 150 hours put on it before the plane was totaled In 2025. Just trying to get some history on the plane/engine and what happened to it.

There’s an insurance claim number in the log book. I tried looking up the number with no luck. The plane appears to have been built by an R L Davis and most recently owned by Susanne Schlenk. I tried facebooking them and internet searches, but no luck. Anyone familiar with this plane?
Click to expand...
Not sure if you requested from the FAA the paperwork on the airframe. It will give one a lot of info. (Shows 56 pages of documents) It's cheap and they are fairly fast. The owner lived in Clearwater and yes lots of flooding in the area in 2025. PM sent.



 
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Thank you all for the replies! I’ve received several PMs with some leads and contact info. Great community here!
 
Consider the engine a "core" and figure in the cost of an overhaul. You should figure worst case scenario, bad crank, cam, cylinders, magnetos, crankcase etc.. With that in mind there should be no surprises at teardown. You might get lucky and find the pricey internals serviceable.
 
rv6ator said:
Consider the engine a "core" and figure in the cost of an overhaul. You should figure worst case scenario, bad crank, cam, cylinders, magnetos, crankcase etc.. With that in mind there should be no surprises at teardown. You might get lucky and find the pricey internals serviceable.
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It only has 250hrs since overhaul. I was hoping to find out it had been properly pickled for 20 years and was still good to go. However, if it’s been submerged in saltwater, that’s gonna be a no go.
 
dwollen89 said:
If this isn’t in the correct area, or is not appropriate, feel free to delete. I’m in the process of trying to acquire an engine for my 7A build. I found a low time O360 that started life on a Cherokee and ended up on an RV4, N914RD. The plane was totaled last year for some type of “storm damage” in Florida.

I have the full log books and it was overhauled in 1994 after a hard landing and I’m guessing prop strike. It then appears to have been put on the RV. After about 100 hours of flight time, it wasn’t flown for 20 years. It then had another 150 hours put on it before the plane was totaled In 2025. Just trying to get some history on the plane/engine and what happened to it.

There’s an insurance claim number in the log book. I tried looking up the number with no luck. The plane appears to have been built by an R L Davis and most recently owned by Susanne Schlenk. I tried facebooking them and internet searches, but no luck. Anyone familiar with this plane?
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Check the website cares.faa.gov
N914RD shows a bit of paperwork that may answer your questions. Even with the information in public domain I hesitate to post it online.
 
Lots of history that would have me negate the value of the engine.

I'd trust a good prebuy more than anything else. History would be of little value, what matters is the state of things as they would likely impact the future.

Interesting exercise though.
 
dwollen89 said:
If this isn’t in the correct area, or is not appropriate, feel free to delete. I’m in the process of trying to acquire an engine for my 7A build. I found a low time O360 that started life on a Cherokee and ended up on an RV4, N914RD. The plane was totaled last year for some type of “storm damage” in Florida.

I have the full log books and it was overhauled in 1994 after a hard landing and I’m guessing prop strike. It then appears to have been put on the RV. After about 100 hours of flight time, it wasn’t flown for 20 years. It then had another 150 hours put on it before the plane was totaled In 2025. Just trying to get some history on the plane/engine and what happened to it.

There’s an insurance claim number in the log book. I tried looking up the number with no luck. The plane appears to have been built by an R L Davis and most recently owned by Susanne Schlenk. I tried facebooking them and internet searches, but no luck. Anyone familiar with this plane?
Click to expand...
Did you get this engine?

Bob
 
I know Susie from her flying a few times with our formation group. Hangar flooded at KPIE in Milton(?) storm surge.
GREAT stick. She’s shopping for another 180 C/S 4 if you have any leads.
 
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