Originally posted by jstall
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I think it is safe to say that the light is broken down in Brownsville, folks.
Again, no insult intended at all, but if you are waiting for a straight answer on this, then you're unfortunately missing the point:
There is not going to be a straight answer from Harry Ingram because he is not a straight shooter.
There is not going to be a straight answer from the FAA (on the manufacture / sales of struts) because they have no jurisdiction over whether or not he actually manufactures and sells them.
There will likely not be a straight answer officially from the Owner's Club, Foundation, etc. because they cannot officially come out for or against anyone. I sometimes disagree with this personally but then again I'm not in the line of fire of a lawsuit or being seen as biased by the FAA, and they are.
There is not going to be a straight answer (anytime soon) on the AD's, SB's and flight safety issues from Harry OR the FAA... because the FAA finally knows they got at least partially conned, BUT the FAA and the T-craft owners have seen that there ARE some unsafe rusted struts out there that need to be replaced, and they always did know that the Wiley seaplane crash was caused by something other than a strut.
Off topic warning
Bottom line? At this point, (no disrespect to the FAA) despite the AD's and SB's, there are still personal decisions that have to be made: In my opinion as just a reasonably experienced owner/operator ,
Do not immediately assume you need or want new wing struts. Don't panic, just calm the #*$% down for a minute. It is well worth the peace of mind for you to find out if your current struts are or are not safe. Forget about doing ten years worth of theoretical mathematics and just figuring that it is cheaper throwing away the struts that have been faithful to your airplane for 60 *(#$% years !!! This situation is changing often enough that nobody really knows where this will wind up. REMEMBER that some airplanes are flying with unsafe struts, but none of them have failed inflight... so what is needed is immediate inspection and verification before you fly happily off into the sunset or throw anything away.
If you have good condition, undamaged, sealed aftermarket wing struts from any reputable manufacturer, chances are that you can fly those struts safely while the FAA paperwork, PMA approvals, which airplane models are on who's PMA list, how long between the X-ray or Ultrasound or Gypsy fortune teller testing is done, etc. is sorted out.
If you have 60 year old original wing struts, no matter what they look like on the outside, for goodness sake spend $200 for your own safety and have them X-rayed on the airplane by a competent X-ray shop. Feel free to use the "on the airplane" AMOC that I got approved (which was posted on this forum), or any other AMOC that has been approved to do this... hand the AMOC to your IA with the films and X-ray report. If the struts are good, tell the IA to pour the !($%^@ oil into the !($*#^ struts and have a nice day for at least two years until all this BS gets sorted out. Chances are that this will actually be extended to four years. After four years, have the !($%&* brains to X-ray it again because you will have damn near a 70 year old airplane at that time.
STOP what you're doing and perform a very very thorough inspection on your lower fuselage fitting right now. Before the next time you fly it, get down there on a creeper with a strong light and an ice pick and poke at it like hell from all sides. Look for rust stains. Look for fabric tucked into the crevices (and pull it out). Look for mud. Poke at it some more. Have your IA there to poke at it with you. Poke at the INSIDE of this fitting behind the seat too. For ($#%&'s bloody sake you should have been poking around your airplane a lot every year before this happened anyway. The days of a fat/dumb/happy airplane owner that has no idea or concern what's going on inside his airplane are over, and never should have been allowed in the first place! When you are done with your initial ice-pick inspection, you can fly your airplane until the rest of this BS is sorted out if you want. (Make sure the ice pick is stored safely in Harry Ingram's back, because he has provided a similar service to us).
BUT also be prepared to have you and your IA remove the lower attach bolt and look even harder at the lower fitting, and wrap your head around the idea that you will probably be cutting a little fabric and installing a removable or transparent inspection cover there. Anybody who tells you this means removing the wings, or taking the struts completely off... tell them to sit down and be quiet. It is NOT necessary. Yes a hangar is really nice to do this, and by all means you should be able to con your way into a hangar for an hour. Start thinking about it now, the AD or SB on the lower fitting will and should include looking at the inside of the little knuckles. However, if there is really really no way to get your airplane into a a hangar then you can still do this inspection. Several of us have or can write up a safe, sane, easily accomplished method of doing this inspection without removing the wings and minimizing the risk of damaging the airplane. Start being nice to people who have minivans and full size pickup trucks, because you will need a vehicle with a roof that is about 3 to 6 inches below the lower surface of your wings when the plane is leveled.
And most importantly, go out of your way to find one of the old-tyme IA mechanics who understands and is experienced with tube and rag airplanes. This may or may not be some old haggard greybeard... it might be a 30 or 40 year old guy who grew up around old airplanes.
End of off-topic portion
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