Originally Posted by
hoistop
Zlins are, as markkal said, built like tanks, a bit overengineered and meticoulously put together - as any other classic Czech built airplane. First thing I would look is product support. Can you get spare parts in decent time for a decent price? My airclub had some Czech made gliders (Blanik) and that became a serious issue in recent years. Second one: life limits. Czech loved (as Russians) to put relatively low life limits and had some overcomplicated ways to get extension. After communism collapse, ownerships of those companies was handed here and there and those life extension procedures varied wildly, seems mostly dependant on company owner greed. My experience is based with Blanik metal gliders, but I had a chance to fly a bit on Zlins and seen upclose some engineering on twin Morava airplane too. This issue can be a deal breaker - in our airclub it brought us to decision to get rid of Blaniks, that are otherwise rugged, easy to handle, almost indestructible ab-initio trainers, loved by generations of pilots.
I suppose the engine is inline Walter direct injection engine? I really liked the starting sequence, which is from zero to idle in one second without hesitation, spluttering and growling like most Lycomings and Continentals. Walter sounds like Singer sewing machine, but....this was achieved with fuel system, that is like the one on Diesel engines with complex sequencing mechanical pump, only pressure is lower, also it has overhead camshaft, driven by precise bevel geared drive - again, a piece of marvelous but complex engineering.
If you can get over above mentioned hurdles and numbers show you it is reasonable, go for it, but I would be very careful. I regularly see a Zlin 143 (Lycoming) in Austrian register - in private use, so obviously this guy found a way to keep the plane airworthy.
I would look out for a good Cessna 150. Age similar burns about 4 galls an hour. We have operated one for 30 years. It had a zero hour engine a the time and had a respray and a lot of work carried out.. Spares prices have jumped in recent years, that applies to all aircraft. . There are very few AD's. I think averaging over the period and about 1500 hours spares have cost about 600 euros a year. Age related issues are a potential pitfall and I know of two that have had spar issues that required repairs. So far ours has not suffered. Another potential area for problems are the main undercarriage mountings in the fuselage particularly on the blade type legs. It is a 1967 airframe.
The most famous Zlin spar failure was a UK pilot Neil Williams, a serious aerobatic exponent. The wing spar failed and the wing started to fold up. He rolled inverted and got it back to the airfield. Rolled it away from the failed wing and got it onto the ground. A superior pilot with skills well above average and lucky!!!