Proposed Strut AD

[Forrest Barber]

Do we have any other direct knowledge of this "Proposed AD" the factory is supposed to have already drawn it up and the "FAA" approved it!
here is an exerpt from an e-mail to me from a list member:
" Well, an AD is coming down on the lift struts. I had
>a chance to read it over, it is requiring the same type
>of inspection that the Cub AD had from a few years ago.
> The best option will be to just replace the struts with
>new ones. I saw the drawing for the new strut, only the >tubing thickness is changing (slightly) and it is
>becoming a sealed unit. They were in the process of
>setting up the tooling for manufacture of the struts when
>I was there two weeks ago.

Egads! here we go again!

[VictorBravo]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Someone who is in the position of being able to see the factory drawings themselves, and who just offhandedly made a blanket statement "the best option will be to replace...", may not be a neutral party IMHO.

When someone shows the FAA ONE Taylorcraft that fell outof the air because of a bad strut, we can talk about an AD!

[jgerard]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Remember gang, a strut has to fail the inspection before Harry can sell you a new one. If he expects to climb out of debt with this bogus AD he's nuts! I would buy a strut from Univair before I bought one from Harry.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

I can find no mention of an NPRM or recent AD for struts on the FAA website, so it is a rumor as far as I am concerned still. I would like to see the letter you were sent.

Mike

[Ray36048]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Potential strut problems are not limited to Piper's or Taylorcraft's. A guy is rebuilding a Chief in the hanger next to mine. You should have seen all the holes that appeared on the end of the strut when he bead basted it.

[crispy critter]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

I hate to wieght in on this with this kind of info but I bought 2 t-crafts in the past 3 months(one project and one flying project)and a pile of used struts,both has holes rusted in the bottom of the front struts around the drain hole and also one rear one has rust in it too.Some of the used struts I bought that were supposed to be servicable have either had rust rattling around inside them or rust bubbling through with holes in them. I am not trying to support the AD nor the factory in any way and I think the AD is partly hogg wash but I have been seeing more and more t-crafts with rust in the struts. Any good A&P/IA knows to inspect them and determine airworthiness and I wish they would drop the AD but I would say it is coming sooner than we want it too.
Just remeber I'm not supporting the AD,just passing the info from my personal experiance.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

I totally agree, YES there are used and abused struts out there, My God some are 60-70 yrs old . They need inspected properly especially if doing a rebuild... I get calls from members about parts they have received from other members that are complete junk..... Have a mechanic check your parts before installation and I don't mean just sign them off! When in doubt buy new ones, BUT some of them are sad too!

[Bobdog]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Isn't there a way that you can test the struts yourself? As I recall there was a "punch test" that was used on the Cubs. There has to be some way of doing it without $20,000 worth of test equipment.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Yes anything made of steel will rust but that don't mean we need AD's for the tubing in the fuselage as well does it? The Piper AD came about due to inflight failures resulting in fatalities. I do not know of a strut failure history on Taylorcraft struts.

Mike

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Isn't there a way that you can test the struts yourself? As I recall there was a "punch test" that was used on the Cubs. There has to be some way of doing it without $20,000 worth of test equipment.

Ice pick test in a 1/4 inch grid pattern covering the lower 12" strut or so. Ruins the paint and is very timing consuming.

Mike

[Laz]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

I have a friend that is just about finished with his pre-war BC12. He ultimately had to buy struts. He went through 5 sets and could only find two worth keeping (I bought them). If I need some new ones I will buy from Univair. any one out there have any experience with their struts good/bad. My t-craft has one strut purchased from Tcraft in 1970 from T-craft /Ferris. I think its OK. but will have it checked.

[Buell Powell]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Stitts Poly Fiber has a product Tubeseal that I use in struts after bead blasting and checking that prevents moisture and seals them.A common sense way to deal with the strut issue is to make sure the struts are in servicable condition and if the plane is kept is a dry hanger they shouldn't need to be checked every year. If the plane is left outside, especially on floats then they should probably be checked once in a while. I would bet that most of the struts that are found to be rusted either came from planes that were stored outside or they had been stored in a damp place.
Buell

[Marcus Bates Jr]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

Piper AD used a Maule fabric tester in a 1/4" grid.....didnt hurt my paint.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

The biggest problem I have found is they get kinked where the the jury strut attaches, and i can't stand to look at patched struts. I have a huge stack of damaged wings struts i need to figure out how to use the streamline tubing out of them.

Mike

[VictorBravo]

Re: Proposed Strut AD

If I recall, the 43-13 shows a repair to a streamline strut using an internal sleeve and rosette welds. When the body work is really done right you can grind and sand it and nothing will show through paint.