The odds of finding a perfect aircraft with no concerns at a fair price is nearly zero, unless you buy from the factory, and IMO the factory price is not fair. There are a finite number of airworthy Decathlons out there. I'm gonna take the opposing view on this. If the gear look symmetrical side to side but the wing tips are at different heights on level ground, something is bent in the fuselage tubing, and it's an expensive fix. Cross check to ensure that the gear do not look bent and that each wingtip is the same distance off the ground. Decathlons and Citabrias can take a beating in this area from student landings. Take a close look at the fuselage fabric and underlying tubing around the main gear. Look carefully for any indications of fuel leaks that might indicate replacement is looming. Still, check the fabric carefully in high stress areas.įuel tanks historically have not stood up well to snap rolls and they require removing the fabric over the tanks to replace them. However, changes to the formers and tapes have more or less eliminated the issue. Add new aluminum gear and you'd still be $62K ahead.īack in the day fabric on the belly used to be an issue, lasting only about 400 hours of acro when the design was new. You could have it re-winged with new ACA metal spar wings painted to match and still save $70K. The $100K or so you'd save on the purchase price buys a lot of fuel and maintenance. It has the same dated Airtex interior (right down to the fabric and colors) as my 7KCAB, and has wood spars, and steel rather than aluminum gear, but otherwise it's not giving up much of anything to a 2012 and has probably been abused a lot less. For example, this one was rebuilt in 2011. Realistically, you can find a Super D fully restored around the same time that 2012 was made, with a low time engine and prop for around $80K-85K. The current operator has been making money with it, so the big question is why are they selling it? I'd suspect they are concerned about the upcoming overhaul and/or other deferred maintenance that makes it more economic for them to sell it. That's a large expense on the horizon and the sales price needs to reflect the cost of an overhaul in the very near future. However with the thermal stresses and gyroscopic loads from a steady diet of acro flight, it might not even make TBO. Flown right side up most of the time it's a 2000 hour engine. #Deathloop crank wheel plusIt's got 1200 plus hours of apparently almost steady acro use. A 2012 Super Decathlon will probably be in the $175,000 -$200,000 range and if not, ask "why?". Click to expand.Honestly, I'd pass on that one.
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