The FFA 16.5 Diamant was the first "All plastic" aircraft, ie, all man
made composite structure. There is no balsa, or any wood anywhere in
the ship, and metal parts are very limited to control system and
gear. It is a very elegant design for it's day, but had serious
quality problems during manufacture of the composite parts.

The wing and the ship is very heavy by current standards, but nothing
the right set of dollies won't fix. By dollies I mean two sawhorses
and a root dolly, Any two piece wing is a cinch to rig if you balance
the wing weight on sawhorses or dollies and lower the fuse cradle with
an electric jack.

Once you buy one, you will probably won't be able to sell it. if a
ship was considered a dog 25 years ago it does not get a pedigree
because it got older. However, it flies great and if you have to buy
an albatross, you could do worse. if you are a engineering student on
a budget and want to trade even for say, a Cherokee, it would be a
great choice.

Educate yourself with all the AD's and SB's, and maintenance records,
and definitely fly before you buy. Reclining seat position is a
problem for some folks, as is the canopy mechanism. Any oddball 40
year old ship will have problems, if one is buying it because the
price is right you are going to be in for a rude surprise.

MM
Former owner, D 16.5 s/n 44