Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

That's a hoot. I was thinking about Piets when I wrote that! The streamlined tube away from the end fitting corrosion (if there even IS any) would be great to use instead of pressed aluminum tube for struts and landing gear on one of my WW-1 designs. Graham Lee did some great stuff on the Nie 11 but with the engines most guys are putting in the sub scale replicas I like the idea of steel gear.
Hank

[UNIVAIR]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

I don’t make a habit of going to the various forums or message boards but I’ve been to yours to follow some of the buzz going on about T-Craft lift struts. First of all I’ve been doing this job for 29 years and I’ve seen several ADs and Service Bulletins/Letters issued over the years. The resulting cry is usually the same. Why? There is no need! This is a rip off etc… I’ve been there and heard it all. These things don’t get issued just for fun or to stir up aircraft owners. A lot of times somebody has tumbled from the sky or there is the genuine concern that somebody might. As a Type Certificate owner owner ourselves for the Stinson and Ercoupe series, we understand that a company simply does not have the luxury of turning their back on failed parts, inquiring Feds, grieving widows and lawyers only too happy to get in the middle of all of this.

Univair is not the organization that issued the most recent Airworthiness Directive against the Taylorcraft. However, we are the only ones currently supplying lift struts for the aircraft. And for the record, we are not new to the game. We have been trying to keep you guys flying for the last 60 years.

• There has been some question as to the approval or airworthiness of our Taylorcraft lift struts. Here is the official skinny: We have had an FAA-PMA approval on both front and rear lift struts for the BC12-D/D1 and BCS12-D/D1 since 12/1/1992. These have been sealed and internally oiled since that time. What is sealed? Sealed is a bushing that is welded at the top attach bolt hole to prevent water from getting in (front). The rear has a cap welded down where the adjuster is to prevent water from getting in or moisture weeping in. We then use the same Val oil to slosh the inside of the strut just like we have done on tens of thousands of Piper and Aeronca sealed struts that we have manufactured.

• Are our struts 4130 steel? No. They are mild steel just like the 2000 lb. gross weight PA-20 Pacer and PA-22 Tri-Pacer lift struts. The Piper struts are approved with .035” wall tube, just like the Piper factory struts were. Our Taylorcraft front struts are approved and manufactured with .049” wall fronts and .035” rear struts of the proper original style streamlined cross section.

• We had no foreknowledge of the AD being issued. This AD was issued on an Emergency Basis with no opportunity for public comment. It was as much of a surprise to us as it was to you. When it was issued we applied for an Alternate Means of Compliance (AMOC). We are now including a copy of the AMOC letter with each strut. We were issued our AMOC in a timely fashion (for the FAA) which allows for our struts to be installed on the above aircraft and be a terminating action.

• Why don’t your struts come with yellow tags, or certificates or some sort of gold seal? Because like the other 5,000+ FAA-PMA parts we manufacture they are marked per 14 CFR 45.15. They have an ink stamp with part number, work order number, our address and final inspection stamp ON THE PART. We are now including a copy of the AMOC letter with each strut. Repair Stations issue yellow tags on repair parts. These are not repaired parts. They are new. There is no control by us when the parts are sold through an intermediary and some of this documentation is altered or removed. Also, our invoice serves as proof of purchase of an approved part from an approved source.

• Again, our front and rear Taylorcraft are made from an original Taylorcraft streamlined tube cross section that Univair had to make tooling specifically for. We are not using an alternate cross section.

• What about us F-19 and F-21 guys? These airplanes have a higher gross weight than the BC12 series. Because of that we just can’t add them to our PMA even though the strut is structurally strong enough for these airplanes. We would basically have to go through the PMA process all over again costing us thousands of dollars and taking several months before we could have an approval in hand. Given the relatively small numbers of these airplanes, we unfortunately cannot justify the expense at this time.

I hope this clears up some confusion and misinformation that has been floating around. We also understand this is an expense and purchase you guys would prefer not to make. We get that. Like I said before, I’ve been around helping you folks out for a long time and I know how this gripes a lot of you. Please understand we’re on your side. There is a lot of work and effort that we put in to make these parts available. In that light, our productions runs have gone from typical runs of 5 and 10 struts each to runs of 50 to 100. This does two things. 1.) It means we ARE making deliveries and working hard to do so. 2.) The economies of scale should allow us to look seriously at the cost/pricing of the struts.

Sincerely yours,

Mike Sellers
Marketing and Sales Manager
Univair Aircraft Corporation
Aurora, CO

[VictorBravo]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Mike thank you for stepping into the fray and talking straight. It is very refreshing compared to some of the posts and non-posts by other business entities.

I have a 1940 BC-65 s/n 2387. It is not a BC-12D, although the FAA type certificate is the same (696) as a BC-12D.

The aircraft logbooks show two new Univair sealed front struts were installed after a nose-over rebuild. I can see the capital letter U stamped on the upper ends of the strut, which I believe is one of your marks.

I have two questions I would like a clarification on:

1. Are my Univair sealed front struts approved to be installed on this airplane?

2. Are my new Univair sealed struts the same cross section, size, material and wall thickness as the struts my airplane had on it when it was built in the Fall of 1940... or are they bigger/thicker/stronger/wider in any way?

Again thank you for taking the time to participate on this discussion group and providing clarifications on this stuff,

Bill Berle

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Mike,
Great info in your message but I got the feeling you felt some of the negative comments here were directed at Univair. There may be a few who are blasting in general at anyone on the supply side of this but it isn't Univair that is the target of the anger (it certainly shouldn't be). The anger in the threads is from a perception that the Taylorcraft factory used a longeron failure on a poorly maintained seaplane to push through an unnecessary strut inspection.
There HAVE been some damaged struts found so far (not many, but a few, and it doesn't look like they were compromised enough to be a risk for catastrophic failure. But do any of US want to be the first one flying a plane that crosses the line?).
Please DON'T take the negative comments here as attacks on Univair. Many of us are fully aware of the support you guys (and a lot of other companies) have provided, and it IS appreciated. There are a lot of us who will remember the companies who came to help in this mess as opposed to those who only tried to make a buck. Univair is one of the good ones.
Hank

[N96337]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Here is the official skinny: We have had an FAA-PMA approval on both front and rear lift struts for the BC12-D/D1 and BCS12-D/D1 since 12/1/1992. These have been sealed and internally oiled since that time. What is sealed? Sealed is a bushing that is welded at the top attach bolt hole to prevent water from getting in (front). The rear has a cap welded down where the adjuster is to prevent water from getting in or moisture weeping in. We then use the same Val oil to slosh the inside of the strut just like we have done on tens of thousands of Piper and Aeronca sealed struts that we have manufactured.

Sincerely yours,

Mike Sellers
Marketing and Sales Manager
Univair Aircraft Corporation
Aurora, CO

Mike, so does that mean if we installed a Univair strut since 12/1/92 that it's a sealed strut and does not have to be replaced or inspected?
I'm eagerly awaiting reply.
JH

[tawadc95]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

thanks for the time to write Mike.

[cpirrmann]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Very good, clear, concise info Mike, thanks for chiming in. I echo what Mr. Jarrett said.

[UNIVAIR]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Mike, so does that mean if we installed a Univair strut since 12/1/92 that it's a sealed strut and does not have to be replaced or inspected?
I'm eagerly awaiting reply.
JH

You Betcha! Your biggest concern is that you can document the source of your purchase, but as Bill Berle points out in his posting we mark a U inside a circle on our struts to help identify them. What you won't have is our AMOC letter. No problem. Go to www.univair.com. Go the the task bar, look for "SVC BULL and ADS" and stands for Service Bulletins and Airworthiness Directives. Click on it, scroll down to T-Craft, find the AMOC, print out the pdf and you are good to go. I put that up on the web for guys just like you.

Happy Flying

Mike Sellers
Univair

[UNIVAIR]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

I appreciate the kind words by you and others. Sometimes it does feel like we have a target painted on our backs, but enough of that. To give you an illustration of how this inspection stuff goes: A couple of years ago a guy in an Ercoupe with a buddy was screwing around out in CA. He overstressed the airplane, the center section failed and two people died. In the subsequent investigation it was found that 12 rivets that hold the web to the spar cap were corroded all the way through. These would not have been found in a visible inspection. The failed rivets were not the cause of the accident. We later issued a Service Bulletin which requires a NDT ultrasonic tranducer inspection by a qualified NDT specialist of all the rivets in the center section. This is costing the Coupe guys about $700 to $1400 each. Of all the inspections done, I'm only aware of about 6 airplanes that have had bad rivets. One of the owners of the 6 airplanes called me up to give me an earfull about the cost of the inspection to say "...and he only found 7 bad rivets!" You feel bad for the guys who don't find anything. Six airplanes out of the fleet so far, big deal. The guys who do find bad rivets are usually apppreciative. Given the law of averages, maybe this is overkill. However, one of the acid tests around here we have to use is "OK, how will that sound to a jury?'

[VictorBravo]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Mike, is my 1940 BC-65 legal or not to fly with Univair front struts ?

[UNIVAIR]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Bill, you've made me do a little work to answer your question.

Our PMA is specific on its model applicability. It states BC12-D/D1 and BCS12-D/D1. In the old days when we would apply for a PMA for say a Super Cub, we could just put down PA-18 and the FAA would accept that to cover the entire series. Now, we have to state PA-18-95, PA-18-105, PA-18-115, etc. etc. They want specifics. True your airplane is on the same TC as the BC12 series and depending on how hard nosed you I.A. wants to be, it will likely determine how things turn out. If you have a parts book for a BC, BF, or BL-65 that call out our strut part numbers, that may help your case. We are going to try to get your airplane added to our model applicability and if anybody has an old parts book with that information in it to help document things, it would help grease the skids on this end.

We have an old T-Craft drawing for the front strut. It lists 3 different struts cross sections and three different materials, 1010, 1025 and 4130 annealed. So take your pick. However, something of interest that has bearing on your first question is on the drawing block at the bottom of the drawing, it shows the A-A815 strut is applicable on the B and B12 models. If this would be of any assistance to you, email me at [email protected] with your email address and I will try to scan this thing and fire it off to you.

[UNIVAIR]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

Mike, is my 1940 BC-65 legal or not to fly with Univair front struts ?

In researching your answer we have dug up some interesting info that will allow us to add the model applicability for the F-19/F21 and the B series to our approval. This will include your BC-65.

This won't be something that will happen right away. The Feds are not known in working real fast. It could be as much as 3 months before this gets worked through. When it does, nobody can give you any flack about our struts on your BC-65. We are going to rush this through as quick as we can.

Mike

[VictorBravo]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

THANKS Mike !!! I appreciate your effort. As mentioned I have Univair front struts... my rear struts are so far so good... but if/when I need rear struts it is good to know Univair cares enough to find the right answers and get all the correct airplanes on the paperwork.

Now if you'd just be kind enough to make an improved cooling baffle system for the T-craft... and the lower cowlings... and the landing gears... and the STC for L-2 spoilers...

[flyguy]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

"A couple of years ago a guy in an Ercoupe with a buddy was screwing around out in CA. He overstressed the airplane, the center section failed and two people died. In the subsequent investigation it was found that 12 rivets that hold the web to the spar cap were corroded all the way through. These would not have been found in a visible inspection. The failed rivets were not the cause of the accident."

I'm about 95% sure this is the aircraft that was reported by an IA as being improperly repaired as mentioned in a previous post. It was the center section that was repaired after being damaged in a hard landing. (this is all second hand information as I have not seen the accident report--but it came from involved persons)

DC

[N96337]

Re: Anyone received their new factory struts yet?

You Betcha! Your biggest concern is that you can document the source of your purchase, but as Bill Berle points out in his posting we mark a U inside a circle on our struts to help identify them. What you won't have is our AMOC letter. No problem. Go to www.univair.com. Go the the task bar, look for "SVC BULL and ADS" and stands for Service Bulletins and Airworthiness Directives. Click on it, scroll down to T-Craft, find the AMOC, print out the pdf and you are good to go. I put that up on the web for guys just like you.

Happy Flying

Mike Sellers
Univair

Thank you VERY MUCH Mike, that's wonderful news to my customer! (as well as me and others, I'm sure!) I really DO appreciate you coming on here and providing us with this information!!
John Hanson