Run, don't walk away from this guy. Since you're the CFI when something it will be your butt on the line. Nothing about being in the same room with this guy is a good idea, much less his plane.

When I was a hungry CFI i was faced with a similliar situation ( 1949 model B35 v tail ) the owner a retired lawyer approached me about a bfr. In our brief meeting he bragged to me about having never paid more than $250.00 for an annual. I asked to see his logbooks he got very indignant and stormed out. Another CFI who had a local reputation for flying with anyone in anything took him on. Shortly after they took off the aircraft devloped a severe vibration r so they reduced airspeed returned. The first thing our DOM found was the V tail would move up and down several inches. Then he found the skin just ahead of the tail ripped. When the tail was opened up the heavy mounts for the tail had failed. Beach factory engineers said that they were seconds from losing the tail and the quick action of reducing airspeed had saved them. During the investigation it was found some of the hoses on the airplane were from the early 50's and this occured in the late 90's. That all being said Please for your own good dont ever get so desperate for flying experience that you turn off your good common sense.

PS: this person tried to sue Beech for bad enginering and was laughed out of court when Beech's report showed years of pencile whipped maint.

Well all I remember him saying was that it was V-Tail. I assume it's for personal use. He told me that not too long ago he flew his family up to New York or New Jersey. Also he tells me he's had a couple of engine failures in it.

So yeah, I think i'm going to keep my distance.

I wouldn't.

The guy did try to set you up with an unairworthy aircraft, but you caught it. Drop it and move on. Nobody likes a snitch.

I would report the guy. The last thing you want to do is pick up a newspaper one morning and see a picture of this guy and his plane on the wrong side of the dirt when you could have done something about it.

Just my $0.02

Tough call. You're new to the scene and certainly don't want a reputation on the field as a rat.

For me it would come down to whether I think the guy is dangerous to himself and others.

His regulatory lazais-faire is certainly dangerous to your certificates and career. But if he's a perfectly competent wrench and a good pilot, there may not be a real safety issue...you know better than any of us.

Its one thing if the guy made an honest mistake, but if this guy is in good conscience disregarding the regs he'll eventually get caught. All it'll take for him is that single honest mistake to draw attention to his mx records and get busted. Sounds like the least you should do is try to convince him to keep better mx records.

Furthermore, why does this guy want you to do a BFR on him if he has such disrespect for mx records? Afterall, a BFR endorsement is just "paperwork".

While I agree that no one likes a rat, this guy has had a couple of engine failures, an unanswered prop a.d. and hasn't had an annual in years (is that 2 or 20 ?) he is an accident waiting to happen. You say he is a "mechanic" but apparently not an a&p and he flies his family around in the airplane. I think he needs to be stopped before someone is hurt.

what i would like to know is how the heck do you have a cfi if your even asking this question. no brainer. student pilots know this answer, you sir are a cfi, somehow.