Strut inspection results

[whake]

Re: Strut inspection results

I did the visual check on my '45 BC12D they look great. To strip the paint off the attachment will require cutting away some fabric. The patch could be a time consumming pain and beyond my experience level. I ordered new struts from the factory, Inspection in the Venice FL area will be too expensive.

[mhorowit]

Re: Strut inspection results

You might have to piece the scan but with Paint Shop Pro or Photo Shop it is a simple job.
RonC
N 96995

If you do that, you can forget about showing to anyone in an official capacity.
You will have lost the integrity of the scan. It's just like a chain of custody of evidence. Even if you took possession of the film and all you did was scan it, one could say "I don't know what you might have done to doctor it up". Let the X-ray tech digitize it, or baring that, have him read the x-ray and prepare a report and you can store the x-ray with the others doctors have given you over the years. - MikeH

[Guest]

Re: Strut inspection results

The things I do for you bums !

Today I took my X-ray films to Office Max to have them scanned. They could not scan an X-ray, it came out black.

Then I went to Kinko's to have them scanned. They could not do it. The girl said I could try going to the dentist's office down the street, maybe they had a way to put X-rays on a disk.

Dr. Cho's Dental Office did not have the machine to do it. Try the other dentist office across the street. It took four tries until I realized Dr. Cho was trying to say "digital X-ray" instead of "Distal X-ray".

The dentist across the street didn't have the capability. Try the other dentist a mile away on the other side of the street.

The dentist's office next to the Chinese restaurant did have the digital scanner that would see an X-ray. The young guy at the front desk with the perfect white teeth and dressed neat as a pin said that they don't normally deal with airplane X-rays. I smiled back, noticing noticed his perfect fingernails had what appeared to be clear polish on them. I smiled again and started telling him about the Young Eagles program, and how this antique princess of an airplane has brought so much joy to kids. He smiled back at me for just a little too long and said to bring the X-rays behind the counter and he would try.

I mentioned that I'd gladly pay ten or twenty bucks if he could to it for me.

He smiled at me again and I believe he was about to discuss an Alternate Method of Compliance.

I got the digital X-ray images on a disk, and for only twenty bucks and a handshake instead.

Let this be the day that you all know I spent three hours driving around, and almost took it in the shorts, for the greater good of the Taylorcraft !

Here are my strut X-Rays. They are 99.9% clean, save for one tiny spot that the X-Ray tech said could be a tiny spot of rust. He looked at the lower struts and the fuselage fitting, and he said it's absolutely safe to fly in his FAA approved Level Three NDT/Radiography opinion.

Nice pics Bill, thanks.

Question, have you seen an x-ray of a known bad strut? Can you see a difference?

Dave

[VictorBravo]

Re: Strut inspection results

Nice pics Bill, thanks.

Question, have you seen an x-ray of a known bad strut? Can you see a difference?

Dave

I have not seen an X-ray of a bad strut. What I was told by the tech is that it appears like a dark splotch, or dark colored mold on an X-ray. The one small dark spot (an un-captioned arrow on my X-ray photo) is an example of what a problem on an X-ray looks like.

But it doesn't matter a lick whether I know what a good or bad X-ray looks like, it's whether the X-ray tech knows... and this one does. I did get a written report saying "no cracks or significant corrosion found".

[mhorowit]

Re: Strut inspection results

I did get a written report saying "no cracks or significant corrosion found".

That's what you're looking for. Digitized x-rays is just nice-to-have.MikeH

[alwaysoar]

Re: Strut inspection results

How do you find someone who can do Xray? Where I live in Vermont, we don't have the resources many of you have.

Ed@BTV VT
TF527

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Strut inspection results

Bill , you are indeed a treasure a ray of sunshine on a gloomy morning in Ohio.
We had a weather week-end and folks trying to get back from Brodhead & Bartelsville of course... gathered up a lot of struts and laid them out in the shop. X-ray seems to be emerging even more. this should be the way for the attach fitting pending SB . THANK you so much for your efforts.

[DannyDot]

Re: Strut inspection results

The things I do for you bums !

Today I took my X-ray films to Office Max to have them scanned. They could not scan an X-ray, it came out black.

Then I went to Kinko's to have them scanned. They could not do it. The girl said I could try going to the dentist's office down the street, maybe they had a way to put X-rays on a disk.

Dr. Cho's Dental Office did not have the machine to do it. Try the other dentist office across the street. It took four tries until I realized Dr. Cho was trying to say "digital X-ray" instead of "Distal X-ray".

The dentist across the street didn't have the capability. Try the other dentist a mile away on the other side of the street.

The dentist's office next to the Chinese restaurant did have the digital scanner that would see an X-ray. The young guy at the front desk with the perfect white teeth and dressed neat as a pin said that they don't normally deal with airplane X-rays. I smiled back, noticing noticed his perfect fingernails had what appeared to be clear polish on them. I smiled again and started telling him about the Young Eagles program, and how this antique princess of an airplane has brought so much joy to kids. He smiled back at me for just a little too long and said to bring the X-rays behind the counter and he would try.

I mentioned that I'd gladly pay ten or twenty bucks if he could to it for me.

He smiled at me again and I believe he was about to discuss an Alternate Method of Compliance.

I got the digital X-ray images on a disk, and for only twenty bucks and a handshake instead.

Let this be the day that you all know I spent three hours driving around, and almost took it in the shorts, for the greater good of the Taylorcraft !

Here are my strut X-Rays. They are 99.9% clean, save for one tiny spot that the X-Ray tech said could be a tiny spot of rust. He looked at the lower struts and the fuselage fitting, and he said it's absolutely safe to fly in his FAA approved Level Three NDT/Radiography opinion.

Do you have any pics of the fitting/fuselage attachment point?

Danny Deger

[DannyDot]

Re: Strut inspection results

I got mine eddy current tested for a reasonable fee (I live in Houston, TX). Passed with flying colors. My struts are apparently sealed. My mechanic says the rear strut upper attachment is complete welded shut. Apparently most Tcraft struts have a bolt threaded into the end. Anybody have an idea on what type of struts I have. It is a 1941 BL-65 modified to C-85 engine.

I will get some pictures and post them.


Danny Deger

[VictorBravo]

Re: Strut inspection results

Bill , you are indeed a treasure a ray of sunshine on a gloomy morning in Ohio.
We had a weather week-end and folks trying to get back from Brodhead & Bartelsville of course... gathered up a lot of struts and laid them out in the shop. X-ray seems to be emerging even more. this should be the way for the attach fitting pending SB . THANK you so much for your efforts.

Thanks for the compliments, but the real "treasure" here may eventually turn out to be just one grizzled old foundation chief who knows how to work with the FAA on the inside

I received an e-mail reply from the FAA engineer, and he mentioned that they were working on some "certain" tpe of X-ray as an AMOC. I got the feeling that they still didn't want to give the full authority on the inspection to the X-ray tech, which I think is a mistake. If they gave someone a Level 2 or 3 certification, then that should mean they give him the authority to determine if there is or is not corrosion.

It's the same as an IA doing an annual. They gave you the authority to do the annual as you see fit, instead of giving you an IA rating and then saying "by the way, you hold the inspection mirror in your right hand and the flashlight in your left hand"

Perhaps in your efforts, Forrest, you can show them the logic in that statement...

Once again I must strongly suggest that this group get together here and now, and put together a suggested inspection procedure for the strut attach fitting before someone else does. Forrest I know you are busy with a lot of stuff but IMHO this is probably a good investment of time to save a lot of headache for everyone later.

Bill

[DannyDot]

Re: Strut inspection results

Here's Terry's X-ray results:

How about the fitting? Did you x-ray it?

Danny Deger

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Strut inspection results

The TOP of the struts will be the opening that does not make them "sealed" . There has to be a bushing up there. All new struts by the Taylorcraft factory, Univair, Airframes, Inc., and soon Wag-Aero will be "sealed'..

[Robert Lees]

Strut Inspection Results

We'll gather the results of the Strut Corrosion AD here. (Fitting inspection results will go somewhere else, as yet to be determined).

I'll collect the posts from other threads as I come across them. Please don't feel offended if yours is the first to appear; it's just that I have to dig them out as they appear.

Rob

[flyguy]

Strut Inspection Results

Just had my struts tested on the aircraft by CTC of Lincoln, CA, at the airport there. $100 and the guy did a thorough job using ultra sound thickness testing only. One front one bad throughout it's length. The other front one has about a one square inch area bad. Both rear struts were ok.
Was pretty painless except for the results LOL.
Off line until tomorrow if there are questions.
DC

[alwaysoar]

Re: Strut Inspection Results

Two aft struts passed on N95645. Fronts had been replaced already.