I would of not had any problem with a pre purchase. I’m sure I would of put my money down for the DC-6. I enjoy older aircraft. The issue in my mind was putting a product in the market claiming it worked as advertised.
I spend many many years as a test engineer for a very large company. The bottom line is you test a product in the environment it was meant to be used - full stop. There is no other test more important.
dw