Fuselage strut fitting - FAA Airworthiness Concern Sheet (merged)

[Robert Lees]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

My word!.....

[VictorBravo]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

the photos of the strut attach fittings that failed on the Wiley ship.

Oh my God... the F*&%NG Taylorcraft factory used THAT as fodder to sell new wing struts !

Foxtrot Yankee, Mr. Ingram. You will never see so much as a dollar from me.

Forrest, would you please post the photos of the lower 12 inches of the affected wing strut on that ship.

Assuming that the lower end of the struts, the bolt, and the knuckle of that fitting are still bolted together in one piece, which I am assuming they did... I will be contacting a Beverly Hills attorney that I know who just loves high profile plaintiff's cases. I will approach that attorney on behalf of 3,000 taylorcraft owners, with the idea that even though a Taylorcraft wing strut held together long enough for the Wiley ship fitting to be corroded to that unbelievable degree, instead of the Taylorcraft factory and the FAA issuing a "medal of honor" for the strut... they instead chose to call the integrity of the strut itself into question and issue a very questinoable service bulletin and subsequent AD... because there was more money in strut sales.

Instead of addressing what was an obvious and crystal clear fuselage corrosion issue, the FAA at the urging of the factory took steps that could easily have resulted in another seaplane coming apart inflight, after the strut AD was complied with but while the fuselage was still dangerously corroded.

"Your Honor and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, if the factory and the FAA had not used that critical period of time to maximize sales of new wing struts, they could have used that same crucial period of time to contact the Taylorcraft owners... not only by the normal channels but by jumping onto the immediate, life-saving communication that was there for the asking on the Taylorcraft Forum... and perhaps Mr. Clapsaddle and his mechanic would have been instructed to look at the part of his aircraft that was dangerous.

"But instead, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Ingram and his minions in the federal bureaucracy were more concerned about sending Taylorcraft owners bulletins with the proper part numbers for ordering new wing struts, or subjecting them to excessive and intentionally difficult inspection tasks on the wrong parts in order to bludgeon them into knuckling under and buying $3,000 worth of Mr. Ingram's struts.

"Here is the strut from the Wiley crash, and here is the strut from the Clapsaddle crash. Despite years of corrosion in a salt water enviroinment they held together and WOULD HAVE held together long enough... during those last critical weeks while the real danger was being bottom-drawered..."

If someone at the factory, the FAA, or the NTSB is remaining silent or playing it close to the vest out of fear of lawsuits, they should know that a WORSE lawsuit can and would land on their ass BECAUSE they played it close to the vest.

The only thing that would put them on the high road in that environment is if they were shown to have done the right thing as soon as possible, and through whatever was the fastest and most effective means of communication. A jury would LOVE to hear that someone kept the discussions private, or didn't participate on an internet group... because they were not obligated to do so

[ROllerton]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

Is that a red shop rag stuffed into the end of the strut? It appears to have been there for some time. It that black stuff on it char from welding or black mold?

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

HELLO! this is not the cause of the wing strut AD ; this is the reason for the AWC sheet on the attach fitting, as you can see it pulled off the fuselage..... don''t get mixed up. somewhere there is a post about N70K , that was a floatplane at Brown's that I flew for my rating a few years back. It had issues back then.

[mhorowit]

Re: FAA Airworthiness Concern Sheet

A relatively simple part, combination of access plate and protective fairing, could make it a lot easier to inspect for existing corrosion and help prevent corrosion in the future.

Bill - could you sketch out what your're envisioning? Fabric classically covering the attachment points would have to be secured someplace other than the longeron - Mike

[mhorowit]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

Is that a red shop rag stuffed into the end of the strut? It appears to have been there for some time. It that black stuff on it char from welding or black mold?

See AC 43.13 "Internal Splice by Shop Cloth".

Was this area covered by fabric or float stuff? - MikeH

[cpirrmann]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

I'd also like to ask, were the surrounding material and fittings corroded as they appear or was that a result from being in the water after the crash?

[cpirrmann]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

Oh, BTW, thanks for posting the pictures, very useful info.

[tawadc95]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

That is gross beyond gross.
I too wonder what that is inside the tubing and further HOW IT GOT THERE.
It does not appear to be new so was that tube in half at some time ?
It also appears to have some algae on it in a couple of small spots if so it was very wet for awhile.

[tawadc95]

Re: FAA Airworthiness Concern Sheet

Mike G.,
I could not agree with you more, rust is a process.We have years to notice it ourselves as owners.
All this talk of lazy IA's not looking or missing this. Yes there are very poor IA's out there but everyone here says there's is great
Where is the talk about the aircraft owners responsibility,who spends the most time with the bird anyways.
We the owners should be the ones finding or checking for problems on our birds.If we do our part we would be less susceptible to a nanny state decision.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

See AC 43.13 "Internal Splice by Shop Cloth".

Was this area covered by fabric or float stuff? - MikeH

I think that the fabric which looks like a red shop cloth is the aircraft fabric covering, specifically the fabric that may have been "stuffed" into the nooks and crannies of the fitting??? Hard to tell from the photos.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

You are Wecome , I may come to you for Bond money for the slip of my buttons on the computer, there is much more too!!
Somebody refresh me on N70K , it was at Brown's then went to maybe Philidelphia, did it too have a accident or incident?

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

I think it was experimental because it wouldn't pass annual due to the corrosion in the fuselage, geez. Just the tubing corrosion under the seat are should tell you about the overall condition of the tubing, and it is visible! I still don't understand why there is a rag stuffed into those tubes. Talk about holding moisture. It should have been plainly obvious there was a rust issue with that fuselage. I have junk around here laying outside that looks better than that.

Mike

[tawadc95]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

Here is a thought about the rag......possibly that fitting was welded for a repair at one time and the rag was put in there WET to help dissipate heat away from the surrounding fabric.
I just can't imagine ovelooking rust that bad and in the open but it does make me feel better about the safety of mine as that is blatant abuse.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Fuselage Fitting Airworthiness Concern / SB / AD

I think we need to determine if it is a red shop rag or fabric from the airplane IMMEDIATELY...

Forrest, did the NTSB say whether or not it was indeed a shop rag? I seem to remember something about the fabric COVERING being stuffed into the structure and trapping water???

I'm short a few brain cells from the 1980's but I still can't think of myself being careless enough to stuff a rag into a structure, weld it shut, and leave it there.

Wouldn't the rag have caught fire during the welding?

I think this issue is more important than many others, because if this is truly gross negligence on someone's part then it does not justify an AD. They don't recall a certain model car when a drunk driver kills someone with it.