Would you buy this CT?

[Bnelson1952]

I am considering the purchase of a 2006 Flight Designs CTsw.  In early 2009 the airplane had a ground loop.  The plane was sold to Airtime Aviation in Tulsa, OK, and repaired.  Issues after the incident included damage to the outer 2 feet of each wing, damage to the left aft wing attachment point, damage to a rudder attachment point and to the rudder, damage to the front nose cowling, replacement of engine mount and rubber engine mounts, nose gear strut, nose wheel, nose wheel fairing, prop spinner, wheel hub, nose damper, and the inspection work done on the engine after the prop suffered an immediate stop after a ground strike. (There was no damage to the engine.)

The plane currently has 750 hours on it, has had the Rotax 5 year rubber replacement done in 2018, and the BRS emergency chute was recently repacked and a new rocket installed.  There is no ADS-B installed, but it’s all glass panels, with Garmin GPS and King radio and transponder.

My main question is this; after such an incident with a carbon fiber composite aircraft in 2009, and considering the repairs needed but the fact that it has been flown without incident and well maintained since then, how much concern would you have regarding this plane and purchasing such a plane?

Thanks for your help.
Bill Nelson

[Warmi]

Personally, with 10 years of flying history I would not worry about the original accident ... now, you could use this fact , and also the fact that it has TruTrak glass that is orphaned and no longer supported, to try to knock down the price well below 60k 
 

ps. That’s assuming we are talking about the same plane ... and also assuming you would follow up with a full pre-purchase inspection ...

[Anticept]

Repairs are honestly something people worry too much about.

Even if an airplane was repaired last week, that's not an issue in itself.

What you want to look for is documentation and a good prebuy inspection of it.

Remember: repairs are supposed to be done in a way that makes it stronger than from the factory.

Nice thing is, damaged aircraft and everyone's aversion to them makes them good deals to buy up off the market

[Warmi]

I don’t mind repairs but some of these are hard to evaluate even with a prebuy - for instance it is pretty hard to tell if extensive composite repairs were done properly within correct environment, compatible epoxy etc and if things won’t start delaminating a year from now ...

Having a buffer of X years makes it more likely that you won’t have to deal with issues like that imho.

 

[okent]

My 2008 ctls had an off field landing with similar repairs done.   Well documented and repaired up to Flight Design specs according to the logs.  Bought it from Airtime Aviation. Never gave it a second thought and am happy with my purchase and they have been excellent to deal with.  If it's the right plane I wouldn't worry about repairs. 

[andyb]

I can't speak to the plane specifically, but I purchased my plane from Airtime and had a very good experience with them.  I'd trust that they oversaw the repair was done properly.

 

Andy