Thanks, Ari!
You are very gracious! Yes, it is unusual to find landing/taxi lights in both the wing and cowl on any 150! I looked at internet sources of general information, compared differences in the various models on the Club website, and looked at N6780G in the clubs "Document Search" database access located in "Members Hangar".
The 1971 150L production run was from s/n 15072004 manufactured in late 1970, to s/n 15072628 built in late 1971. N6780G is s/n 15072280 built in 1970, the 276th 150L built of 624 1971 models. The year on FAA registrations reflects the aircraft airworthiness certification date; not the manufacturers model year! My 1970 150K is registerd with the FAA as a 1969 (the certification year). All aircraft manufacturers who observe model years other than January 1st through December 31st endure this same confussion at the hands of the FAA (not to mention aircraft owners).
All 150L's had their Landing/Taxi lights in the cowl when they left the factory. I'm sure none left the factory with these lights in the wings. It is possible your original wing has been modified for whatever reason. I find this highly unlikely! In the clubs database access and the FAA database, there is an entry for 6780G under Accident/Incident dated 22-06-78. That's all! Just the date and no narrative! It is most probable that the wing has been replaced with an earlier model wing, and I suspect it has to do with something that happened on or just before June 22, 1978.
I wouldn't jump to conclusions, just yet! There is nothing I've found that proves the aircraft was in an accident. There could have been an "incident" in 1978 having nothing to do with the wing replacement. An FAA entry about my 150K tells of making a forced landing (to a road) after one previous IDIOT pilot knowingly took off with very little fuel onboard (...no damage). It may have been cheaper to replace the wing for a number of reasons, from severe hangar rash to corrosion to a fuel truck backing into the wing. In any case, the repairs should have been documented!
I'd do more research on the aircrafts history, first. Start with your logbooks, and look for anything from day one that suggests wing related repairs, especially mid to late 1978 or later. Look for long durations with little or no accumalated flight time. Assuming there is no adequate documentation of repairs, try to find the names of the previous owners (especially in June 1978), and the mechanics/IA who signed off the annuals (especially the first annual after that date). See if you can find their addresses in the FAA database. Contact them (using friendly language; Maybe you want to thank them for this wonderful modification to your wing, and can they do it to the right wing?). See if they can or will shed light on the wing "mod".
It bothers me that your mechanic apparently didn't mention this in his pre-buy inspection. It would seem that this would be an obvious discrepancy, requiring explanation and documentation in the logs. Then again, after looking at hundreds of wing and cowl lights, it's possible he simply didn't notice (ever left the house with one black and one brown sock?).
Ari, I hope I've answered your questions, and I wish I didn't have to raise these others, but that's what friends do, right? Please let me know if I can help further! Perhaps another member has ideas on where to get more information?!
A friend,
Carl
From an earlier post by Greg Hopp:
Since it has been awhile, and since I just left the site, I thought I would post for the benefit of the group the web site address where you can order all registration and airworthiness documents from the FAA. The web site is
https://diy.dot.gov/fac.htm and the cost for a CD ROM containing all docs the FAA has on your very own plane is only $5.00. The web site takes credit cards too.
