Well, I suppose the seller was being half truthful. A written history did not exist in the records. Ha!!!
Seriously, not getting emotionally involved in the airplane and doing the records search was a very good idea.
It is possible the previous owner had never researched the airplane and truthfully did not know of the history of it. A simple records search of the FAA won't turn up any 337's for the damage, and nothing was in the logs. However, on the other hand, he could have (and most likely did) know all about the damage and chose not to say anything.
Some people become emotionally attached to objects they want to buy (tractors, antique autos, and airplanes all come to mind), unwilling to walk away when something suspicious comes up. These are the people you read about who relate their purchase horror stories in some magazine article, and how they were the innocent buyer, duped into believing it.
Don't do it!!!
If it stinks, it probably is rotten. If it looks or smells fishy, its probably the sellers hook, line and sinker you are sensing. If you are a potential buyer who easily attaches to something, then take a buying buddy with you. Talk to them, see what they think. If they try to talk you out of it, believe them, another one will come along.
I have a good friend, who once wanted me to go with him to look at a '66 mustang that was for sale. Sensing that my friend might not believe me if I told him to run from it, I asked a co-worker/friend of mine to come along. These two had never met and none of us had ever see the car before or met the buyer. My potential buyer friend talked wonderful tales of what the seller had told him about the car.
We looked pretty throughly at it and my co-worker/friend and I found enough strange to lead us to believe it was a pieced together parts car project, fairly well done, but by no means the restored old family friend the seller had asserted it was.
It took the two of us to talk my buyer friend out of it, but I would not have been able to do it without the help of my co-worker. My buyer friend had become emotionally attached to the car even before he had seen it!!! I suppose some money he wanted to "invest" was just burning a hole in his pocket.
Charles
