Good points Royson. When I bought my 150/150, I was fortunate enough that the AP/IA from the prior owner brought all of the paper into compliance (the owner had VERY deep pockets and insisted on it). This was a wakeup call as some of the items were quite important, and on my purchase of my 177B, I was quite careful with the paperwork. Irregardless, it is noteworthy that I still found two STC's without paperwork (Yokes and Skybolt fasteners). One I can easily fix since the STC owner gave me permission to use their paper, the other....probably not, since the STC owner is a bit less cooperative. But...I made a conscious decision to proceed with the purchase.
Another point is that the plane had a prop strike. Logs clearly show engine teardown and inspection IAW Lycoming Bulletins, but there is a new prop log book, but no reference to the installation of the prop, whether it is new or rebuilt or what. My assumption is that with the new log it is either new or rebuilt to new specs, so the fact that I don't know, and that it has 500 plus hours of successful service, leads me to accept the risk.
If this particular plane has too many issues....walk away or the first time something goes wrong after you buy it, you will be quite bitter with your decision, but do cut yourself some slack on what is acceptable.
In the Cardinal world, there is so few of them that you have to decide early on to accept damage history or be prepared to pay a substantial premium...I made that decisions and the jury is still out since th first annual is in June, but I sure enjoy flying her.
