Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

[Hank Wehrli]

Re: Fuselage strut fitting - FAA Airworthiness Concern Sheet (merged)

I called integrated Technologies incorporated (iTi) in Manchester PA (717)-266-9670. They have an Air Agency Repair Certificate. Chuck, the fella I talked with, recommended ultrasonic testing. The cost for 4 struts is $750.00
Not cheap, especially if it has to be repeated every 2 years!

Common sense tells me that a good, tested strut will not go bad in 2 years in normal land operation. I think the 2 year intervals is out of line. If Taylorcraft struts can go bad that quickly, we would be seeing a hell of a lot more failures!

Hank Wehrli
N2003L
last F19 ever built

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Complete sense , Andy & I talked yesterday. They can get what they ask for on the PMA. I have beat my head against the wall many times on this issue. I ordered by Part# ( equivalent part # in this case) , and Univair still warns that it is not good for the ships NOT listed, now I agree with them!

What a world, any body ever deal with the early C-150 landing gear bulk heads? Cessna part # was different for the later 140 & the early 150 ; they were the SAME bulkhead only $600.00 more for the one for the 140..

My 15 year old ( or more) Massey Ferguson 2705 PTO shaft came in two day UPS and it is the one I ordered, it fits, and was very inexpensive. ahhhh alls right with the world somebody please buy my stuff on www.barberaircraft.com pictures just posted on Model A ser#45... bye

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

It appears that this letter only lists the BC-12-D/D and not all the models referenced in the AD. What is the status of Univair's PMA approval for the other models?

I talked with Andy Mcanaul a couple of days ao about this and I came away with this; for other models contact Andy for approval of what you want to do. He appears to be very willing to grant approvals.

The AMOC in place is there only because that's what Univair asked for so if you ask more you will probably get more. Hope that makes sense.

[DanBrown]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

This was posted on the Virginia Carolinas "VCTOC" Blog. It appears Univair struts are now fully approved as terminating action and more or less an AMOC for this AD.

It appears that this letter only lists the BC-12-D/D and not all the models referenced in the AD. What is the status of Univair's PMA approval for the other models?

[DannyDot]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

snip

Question 4: What can you tell me about the lower fitting and how the FAA is proceeding?

Answer: Right now it appears that the seaplane crash was an isolated incident. There were many visual indications that there was significant rust in the fitting and stuts that could be seen during preflight. More field data is needed to verify that the incident can be considered isolated, although an inspection of the fleet may be called for.

Looking at the picture, it looks like a simple visual inspection of the fitting area (e.g. not removing any fabric) would have revealed the problem with the strut fitting. I hope the FAA doesn't go overboard on what needs to be done with the fitting attachment.

Danny Deger

[VictorBravo]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

This was posted on the Virginia Carolinas "VCTOC" Blog. It appears Univair struts are now fully approved as terminating action and more or less an AMOC for this AD.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

The struts found bad out in the field are few and far between BUT they are out there. The membership calls me when they find a problem. The last one was a .50 cents piece size of corrosion on the bottom of a front lift strut 4 in up from the bottom. I am merely saying look them over. The old M&D reports were not used as requested , we ( me and the FAA engineer) found only two that applied .
WE is usually the Foundation. The NDT testing here in Alliance on Tues , Sept 18th results are on disc and are being reviewed now. I will have more on that when we are done looking.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

In this post on the Fitting SB thread, Forrest wrote:

We are finding reports of bad struts upon inspection so get ready out there to replace some struts.

Hi, Forrest, who is the "we"? The Foundation? What was the airworthiness and inspection status of the aircraft from which these struts came?

Rob

[Len Petterson]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

No! If part rings "clear as a bell" means it is good chanse it has no cracks or major rust, not what it is airworty!
To me it means:I will test them and I am not considering a replacement.
Unless the test tells othervise. It is o use to test something you think is not going to pass the test.
I need to find some one to do the NDTtesting here in Canada. So far no luck.
I have accees to a maule tester and I will test with it to learn from it for self and others.
Len

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Question 1: Why is the inspection interval two years? If the struts look good upon inspection then couldn't the NDI interval could be longer?

Answer: It could possibly be longer. As more field data is available and the FAA gets a better picture of the state of the Taylorcraft fleet the interval may be extended; however, after the accident the thinking was to do something safe and expeditious which resulted in the current AD.

The real answer is they copied the Piper strut AD vertbatum (word for word)with the exception of leaving out the Maule tester which is described in the Piper SB. I guess that was a good of a starting place as any.

[cpirrmann]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Sealed question again:
My front struts are closed at the top (welded seam all round) but have the drain hole at the base.

The rear struts have the adjusting screw at the top and the drain hole at the bottom. U can't seem to get a wire past the bolt at the top to see if there's anything inside.

What have I got? Some pics of the ends of sealed struts would be nice.
The wire in the drain hole comes out clean except for sticky residue of the inside coating.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Very useful and sensible post, I am sure our X-rays here tomorrow in Alliance will show positive results. It is a whole lot of work to replace that cluster, remember the whole truss across the fusealge is a sub assembly . There is an example on the forumn now of a rusted out cluster, the whole set of tubes need replaced, yes a fixture can be made up in the field to hold things into place but it is time consuming and expensive....
The Wiley Seaplane was a very rare situation. HOWEVER I have seen "projects" that I had to recommend ( insist) to the owner that he look for complete front end or tail end or complete fuselage... There will be some struts that need replaced, no doubt...... the A-A11 fitting will fare much better. IMHO ,

[cpirrmann]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Good information. Thank you for the time and trouble you went to. It is nice to know that the FAA poeple we're interfacing with seem to be willing to help and have safety foremost.

Sorry: Bill beat me to the punch.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Terry Bowden (Barnstormer) and I met with Joe Perez at the Bowden's airport (69TE "Deer Pasture") Friday August 14th for about three hours.

SNIP

So that is the news from Deer Pasture airport in Burnett, Texas.

Mark, please send a collective thank you to that FAA fellow on behalf of the entire Taylorcraft community! If you can let him know that his efforts and sensitivity to our needs is greatly appreciated, as is his commitment to safety and his keeping common sense in the mix.

Also (I believe I can speak for everyone on this) we hope you and Terry will accept our collective thanks for making the effort you made.

Mr. McAnaul is in receipt of the X-ray images from my airplane. I'm having the local X-ray shop write up their procedure officially and with their license number on it, etc. This will be sent to Mr. McAnaul and made available on this forum. I will also send it to you if it would further your efforts.

Thanks again, and be sure to tell the two feds that their help is truly appreciated by all,

Bill

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Strut Airworthiness Directive (AD) (merged VI)

Terry Bowden (Barnstormer) and I met with Joe Perez at the Bowden's airport (69TE "Deer Pasture") Friday August 14th for about three hours. Joe is the maintenance inspector that works directly with Mr. McAnaul here in San Antonio. The meeting was very positive in all respects.

As many of the tribe already know, Terry and I took two sets of struts to a NDI Level III shop and did Eddy Current, X-ray, and Ultrasound. Those results were posted by Terry.

Joe looked over Terry's BC12-D which had the struts off (and dripping linseed oil in the corner). Joe showed us more photos of the seaplane crash and we discussed the general state of Taylorcraft maintenance. After this more-or-less chit chat I asked Joe several direct questions. The answers below are paraphrases not direct quotes.

Question 1: Why is the inspection interval two years? If the struts look good upon inspection then couldn't the NDI interval could be longer?

Answer: It could possibly be longer. As more field data is available and the FAA gets a better picture of the state of the Taylorcraft fleet the interval may be extended; however, after the accident the thinking was to do something safe and expeditious which resulted in the current AD.

Question 2: What about AMOCs? Will there be something possibly less expensve?

Answer: AMOCs are definitely in the mix. X-ray will most likely be part of the solution. The small aircraft directorate is not pleased with making the AD prohibitively expensive. The FAA is very sensitive to the expense to the aircraft owner.

Question 3: Eddy current is not normally used on ferrous material because it gives inconsistent results. Will eddy current remain as a preferred NDI technique?

Answer: The chief NDI specialist for the FAA has looked at the AD and some test results. The FAA recognizes that eddy current might not give the best indication of the condition of the struts or the wall thickness. X-ray followed by ultrasound will probably be an approved solution.

Question 4: What can you tell me about the lower fitting and how the FAA is proceeding?

Answer: Right now it appears that the seaplane crash was an isolated incident. There were many visual indications that there was significant rust in the fitting and stuts that could be seen during preflight. More field data is needed to verify that the incident can be considered isolated, although an inspection of the fleet may be called for.
_______

At this point Joe pulled up photos on his laptop showing a dye penetrant test of a lower fitting from a Taylorcraft that had been landed very hard. The dye showed a significant crack in the longeron, but the fitting was in good shape. Joe seemed to think that wear and tear would show up in other places before the fitting was damaged. Joe also had some ideas about how the fitting could be repaired. Joe works very closely with the factory as the cognizant maintenance inspector. Finally, Joe showed us photos from the factory of how the lower portion of a Taylorcraft fuselage could be removed (cut out) and replaced with a new assembly. The assembly would allow for field welding only at longerons and cross tubes while the assembly itself could be made on factory jigs to keep the lower fittings in alignment. This is an elegant solution, but personally I hope it will only be needed on rare occasion as it is a major effort to say the least.

I repeated an offer (from a month ago) to have the San Antonio FAA office come look at two Taylorcrafts (BC12-D and F-19) which I am rebuilding here in town, and also to make three other flying Taylorcrafts available for close inspection - all here in greater San Antonio.

So that is the news from Deer Pasture airport in Burnett, Texas.