That?s a question I can answer for certain and the answer is no. There are a lot of aircraft out there that have "hail damage" that are in otherwise great shape. Most often hail damage is superficial and I got the answer tonight from an IA, hail damage does not need to be reported in the logs since it?s not the result of an accident. You guys are right though, bondo is a big no no.
My new Mooney is a hail salvage and I got the story straight from the previous owner. He was upside down in it and just had the insurance company total it out, no mention of it in the logs and I had no problems insuring her for what she's worth and not what I paid. I personally did the annual on her before I cut the check and my new bird is next to flawless, if you can find more than the 5 dings I did then I'll buy you a tank of Avgas.
Check out
www.aigaviation.com [
aigaviation.com] and you'll find their list of recently salvaged aircraft. Some are crashed but a lot are hail salvage. I've spent the summer ferrying a few of them back here to Dallas and I've got to tell you that it?s the way to go if you're looking for a great plane cheap. Get an AI you trust and it?s really a golden opportunity for a great aircraft.
Really from what I've seen this is much ado about nothing since its no secret that there are lots of less than honest people selling everything under the sun. Like I said, get yourself an AI that knows what he's doing and you trust implicitly and your problems will be few and far between.
But always remember: Caveat Emptor.
http://jfc17.smugmug.com/gallery/1611345
