I am considering a 1967 150G, IFR equipped and IFR certified, with an asking price of $21,000. I have looked over the airplane initially - needs some upholstry work and the carpet is loose/bunched up at the rudder pedals, but looks good otherwise. It does have the AT-150 xponder subject to the possible AD.
I checked all of the paperwork - all in order and complete. Then, I came across some major repairs done in mid-1972. Many ribs on the left wing replaced, wing skin replaced, right horizontal stabilizer and elevator ribs and skins replaced and vertical stabilizer and rudder tip replaced or repaired. All of the work IS DETAILED IN THE LOGS AND IN THE 337's down to the Cessna part numbers, diagrams of the repairs, and statements of repairs done to Cessna structural repair manual and AC 43.13-1A. In looking at the NTSB records, the airplane attempted to land in high gust conditions (up to 38 knots), was blown off the runway and crashed into some ditches - occuring in late 1970. From the nature of the repairs, it seems that the airplane cought a wingtip and flipped on its back.
The paperwork for the repairs are well detailed and exact (as is the rest of the paperwork) including receipts from day one. And the airplane looks good today. Before I invest in an IA doing the combination pre-purchase/annual inspection before buying, should I walk away? If not, do I have any bargaining power with this damage history? The TT of the airplane is 3200 hours, 85 SMOH.
Thanks!
Steve
