On Feb 20, 12:24 am, WJRFlyBoy wrote:
"The right elevator tip trailing edge had been broken and repaired with
aluminum foil tape, and the rudder bottom tip had two cracks of about 1.5
inches extending from a rivet hole which had been stop-drilled and painted.
No record was found of these repairs."

Not attempting to be dramatic, but isn't this at least gross negligence and
possibly accessory to 3rd degree manslaughter?

Those are plastic tips. They all crack as they age and
shrink; in cold weather they contract. Try to find an older 150 or 172
without cracked plastic tips. We replace them with fiberglass Stene
Aviation tips. They're on the 'net. Their tips are far superior and
are cheaper than Cessna's plastic stuff.
The beef with those cracked and stopdrilled tips was that
no record was found of the repairs. Elevator tips (or top rudder caps)
that are cracked toward their front ends can fold back and foul
against the stab or fin. Those should be replaced.
The TSB guys detail everything in their reports. The
serious stuff was the worn rudder hinges and other bits, and the
broken rudder bar spring. I would imagine that there were LOTS of
snags that could have been written up on that airplane.

Dan