Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

[jmvolpp]

N44305 is coming up on its first 4 year anniversary of the infamous wing strut inspection AD and I'd prefer to have the clusters, attach fittings, and distal strut ends examined by X-ray without removing the struts from the aircraft. IDM at KIND, which inspected the struts initially, is no longer there. Is anyone aware of a facility in Indiana or adjoining states that does this type of testing? Wag Aero reseal is my next preference, but I still like the idea of a regular X-ray look-see at the whole shebang.

Mike V.

[M Towsley]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Mike,

Closest I know of that I will be taking mine to is in Creve Coeur, MO. Nice airport and the testing facility is not far, they will meet you at the airport. They have responded on this forum in the past, that is how I found them.

Do you know Larry Miller, he has a grey L-2 and should be somewhere around Muncie.

[Craig]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Hi Mike

The inspection is coming due on my struts also.

I have emailed a mechanic friend that is helping with the removal and installation of mine and asked if he knows of anyone here in the INDY area. I'll let you know what he says.

I had decided on the Wag Aero Re-seal. It So, happens I have to go to Milwaukee on buisness next week so I'm dropping mine off to Wag Aero on Monday on the way up there and will pick them up coming home Friday.

I know timing is a wonderful thing. But, if you decided on going the Wag Aero route I could drop yours' off at the same time. Spoke with John at Wag Aero and he can't do both in the same week. But, it would save you shipping them both ways.

Give me a PM or reply here if it sounds like something that would help you out.

Craig

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Is the new 4130 "superCub" struts from Alaska Airframes still a viable option? Brie

[Craig]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

I looked into those. Seemed to be a good deal. But, heard there were some issues with alignment with the fittings.

They do have a drawing asking you to measure the angle at the end fitting.

But, if you sent them a bad measurment and the struts didn't fit you could be stuck. So, I opted for the Wag Aero reseal and will install my own struts with no worries about fit connections.

Craig

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

I called up the Wag Aero catalog, and found not one word about re-seal services for the BC65, or any other Taylorcraft. How much, do I still need the yearly X-ray, and any other information that you guys have. Brie

[M Towsley]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Brie,

There is additional info here on the forums but my understanding is they will inspect yours to make sure they will comply, they then seal them up and then you no longer need to do the inspection. Cost, from my reading here, is about half of new or somewhere around there.

[M Jones]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

The rear struts I have will be due in November. I used Quality Testing Inc. in St. Louis 4 years ago and no problems. Drove them down and they did them while I went to an appointment for work. I'm considering having Wag Aero inspect and seal them, now that it's an option. I replaced the front struts with Wag's new struts earlier and they're a real close match for the pre-war models.

Marty, I'm interested in your source in Creve Coeur if that's an option too. Let me know how it goes when you do it please, thanks.

[M Towsley]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Mike,

Go to this link and look at message #10. I will check with them prior to doing this to make sure they are still doing this, but as of last November they were I was told. http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread...ht=creve+coeur

Mine aren't due until next May, if I remember correctly. I will call him and find out the details.

[Craig]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

The struts are inspected and sealed by Aero Fabricators, the manufacturing division of The Wag-Aero Group.

You can contact John Ames at 800-558-6868 ext 155 to discuss their process with him.

[avenger1949]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

When I talked to John about a month ago about doing my struts he said it was $250.00 a strut. He suggested putting them in a long plastic tube as shipping was the only real problem. From Kansas to him was like 96.00 shipping.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

I did mine and the shipping was the biggest problem (except my struts failed, DON'T STORE YOUR REMOVED STRUTS LYING FLAT!!!!!) Got back my old struts packed with new ones in the same tube. Not a scratch and it was a LOT cheaper to seal existing struts, but the FAA doesn't give them any wiggle room on Pass/Fail and mine failed for interior surface corrosion. I will be using them on a homebuilt after I blast the interior, seal them and do a pull test. They applied the inspection cost to the new struts and all I paid extra was a small shipping increase for sending back 8 struts instead of 4.
WAG has GREAT people and they were a real pleasure to work with. They have MY loyalty.
Hank

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Thanks for the reply Hank, this "certificated G,A," is getting too expensive for me. If the struts fail the inspection, I will turn the plane into a fat ultralight, by replacing the wings with aluminum ladder style, double surface Ultralight wings, taking
a 20 inch wide cut out of the fuselage where the seat is, the width of the cut will change forward and aft of that point.
I will pull the 75 horse A-65, and stick it on an airboat, and stick a 124 pound, Army surplus GPU engine that was designed and built by Continental in the plane.
Then the FAA can say nothing about the self maintanance of the aircraft, and the "soul" of the Taylorcraft will remain in my hanger, for me to fly every day. Brie

[M Towsley]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Geez, Brie...I hope some of this is tongue-in-cheek humor! If not, I have a nice TEAM Air-Bike for sale on Barnstormers. Flys just like a Taylorcraft and is a whole lot cheaper to fly. Plus, after a weekend school you can do your own inspections.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Indianapolis Wing Strut Testing

Marty,
Unfortunately, it is not humor, in January, the V.A. finally discovered that what I told them in 1988, and again in 1993, that they were overpaying me 200 dollars a month, when they blew me off both tims, was correct, and now they are taking 700 dollars a month out on my monthly V.A. check. They said that I won't live long enough for them to recover it all if they take it out at the same rate that they paid it to me. (It's nice to know what kind of faith they have in their own health care system).
I was thinking about trying to sell the plane if I could get enough to buy a 75% scale replica B model Taylorcraft, that a company in Opa Locka, Florida used to make, but I can't find them, and believe that they are no longer in existance.
I know the air bikes fly well, a friend of mine owns one, and I have flown it. The only thing about his that I don't like is that it is two stroke powered, and he, an A&P mechanic, had had the engine quit on him twice.
If I could find someone who had an LMA (the name of the company), Taylorcraft replica, wanted to move up into the real deal, and understood the AD has NOT been done, I would trade with them.
LMA usedto be a really cool company, they made 75% replicas of the Aeronca Champ, the J-3 Cub, the Taylorcraft, and I THINK the Luscombe as well. Their planes had a 4 stroke Global engine option, so I could stick a flat two cylinder Continental designed 33 HP, 79 pound engine into one. It is one half the 45HP, 124 pound engine that I mentioned. I have six of the four cylinder engines, (4 A-084's), and two of the two cylinder engines, the 2 A-042.
Here's HOPING that my struts pass inspection when I send them up the first week of next month. Brie