SWFA,
My interest in this stems from the history of Restricted Catagory aircraft in the USA...that suggest there always exists a possibility of bad, bogus, out of time, falsely certified parts showing up on an aircraft. That may or may not be the case here and could happen for any number of reasons. I am viewing this as if I were the buyer of the aircraft in question and pose these questions, all of which I think are fair and legitimate.
I am in no way suggesting that is the case here...afterall...my input was based upon straight forward review of news articles and other public sourced information available to anyone who can spell "google.com" and hit an enter key.
When I read of the accident report submitted by Bert, then see an FAA document showing the same aircraft being exported to South Africa...then one can only wonder about the status of that aircraft. The accident report did call into question the tail rotor as being suspect as to being a genuine Bell part did it not? What is the truth on that issue? Was the accident caused by the installation of a bogus part, or improperly repaired part? Or, was the repair done in compliance to existing Bell procedures and the Bell inspector missed out on something that is not reported so far?
Based upon that one accident report, one can only assume the aircraft received major damage. That then brings up the question of whether the airframe now bearing the data plate in question is the same airframe that crashed. SWFA I assume can remove and replace data plates on various airframes can you not? Where in the current aircraft's records is that documented? Was there an airframe change as a result of that crash and the old data plate afixed to a different airframe? What was the original US Army tail number for the aircraft in question....if a buyer had that information, he could then to the VHPA data files and trace the military history of the aircraft and see what kind of combat service the aircraft had if any, what units it was assigned to ....and how it was disposed of. All which would be of interest to a buyer I am sure.
Other general questions arise as well...was the current airframe one of the ex-Singapore airframes imported to the USA by SWFA? Did not that batch of airframes have corrosion problems that lead to some problems with the FAA regarding certification requirements? How successful has the blade modification been where you guys shorten the blades and move the trim tabs....has there not been a lot of cracking on them that force their removal from service?
I think as a buyer, I would want to know where this particular aircraft stands in regard to those issues.
Understand, I love to see the old birds fly....and love to fly them...but I like to know what I am stepping into before I go up. Asking the questions in no way suggests impropriety on the part of SWFA or its South African Agent but rather points out valid concerns about the history of the aircraft.