L-23 life limit parts

[BDS]

We are having the annual inpsection done on our club L-23s and the mechanic
just called and said that the rudder cables, instrument hoses, and landing
gear strut all have life limits of 15 years according to the maintenance
manual - rudder cables and instrument hoses must be replaced and landing
gear strut must be rebuilt.

Our maintenance manual is dated 1995. Does anyone know if these life limits
have been extended or removed in subsequent revisions to the maintenance
manual?

Thanks,
Bruce

[[email protected]]

On Jul 12, 9:02*am, "bds" > wrote:
> We are having the annual inpsection done on our club L-23s and the mechanic
> just called and said that the rudder cables, instrument hoses, and landing
> gear strut all have life limits of 15 years according to the maintenance
> manual - rudder cables and instrument hoses must be replaced and landing
> gear strut must be rebuilt.
>
> Our maintenance manual is dated 1995. *Does anyone know if these life limits
> have been extended or removed in subsequent revisions to the maintenance
> manual?
>
> Thanks,
> Bruce

Look at the TCDS for the L-23. It all depends on how you interpret
Note 3.

I interperet said note to not be mandatory for part 91 operations.
However, I think you should always follow all service instructions/
recommendations of the manufacturer where possible/practilcal

aerodyne

[BDS]

> wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 9:02 am, "bds" > wrote:
> We are having the annual inpsection done on our club L-23s and the
> mechanic
> just called and said that the rudder cables, instrument hoses, and landing
> gear strut all have life limits of 15 years according to the maintenance
> manual - rudder cables and instrument hoses must be replaced and landing
> gear strut must be rebuilt.
>
> Our maintenance manual is dated 1995. Does anyone know if these life
> limits
> have been extended or removed in subsequent revisions to the maintenance
> manual?
>
> Thanks,
> Bruce

Look at the TCDS for the L-23. It all depends on how you interpret
Note 3.

I interperet said note to not be mandatory for part 91 operations.
However, I think you should always follow all service instructions/
recommendations of the manufacturer where possible/practilcal

aerodyne

**********
The TCDS I found has this for Note 3:

G60EU
Revision 5
LETECKE ZAVODY
L 23 Super Blanik
January 11, 2006

NOTE 3. Information essential to the continued airworthiness,proper
maintenance,
inspection and repair is contained in the LET "L 23 SUPER-BLANIK
Maintenance Manual (Books 1 and 2). Time Limits/Maintenance Checks are
listed in Chapter 5.

Can you elaborate?

[[email protected]]

On Jul 12, 2:43*pm, "bds" > wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
> On Jul 12, 9:02 am, "bds" > wrote:
>
> > We are having the annual inpsection done on our club L-23s and the
> > mechanic
> > just called and said that the rudder cables, instrument hoses, and landing
> > gear strut all have life limits of 15 years according to the maintenance
> > manual - rudder cables and instrument hoses must be replaced and landing
> > gear strut must be rebuilt.
>
> > Our maintenance manual is dated 1995. Does anyone know if these life
> > limits
> > have been extended or removed in subsequent revisions to the maintenance
> > manual?
>
> > Thanks,
> > Bruce
>
> Look at the TCDS for the L-23. *It all depends on how you interpret
> Note 3.
>
> I interperet said note to not be mandatory for part 91 operations.
> However, I think you should always follow all service instructions/
> recommendations of the manufacturer where possible/practilcal
>
> aerodyne
>
> **********
> The TCDS I found has this for Note 3:
>
> G60EU
> Revision 5
> LETECKE ZAVODY
> L 23 Super Blanik
> January 11, 2006
>
> NOTE 3. *Information essential to the continued airworthiness,proper
> maintenance,
> * inspection and repair is contained in the LET "L 23 SUPER-BLANIK
> * Maintenance Manual (Books 1 and 2). *Time Limits/Maintenance Checks are
> * listed in Chapter 5.
>
> Can you elaborate?

It does not say you MUST comply, as part of the operating limitations,
like in other portions of the TCDS. Then again, it certainly implies
you should.

Again, it depends how would one interperet this

Aerodyne

[Sandy Stevenson]

On Jul 12, 4:06*pm, wrote:
> On Jul 12, 2:43*pm, "bds" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > > wrote in message
>
> ....
> > On Jul 12, 9:02 am, "bds" > wrote:
>
> > > We are having the annual inpsection done on our club L-23s and the
> > > mechanic
> > > just called and said that the rudder cables, instrument hoses, and landing
> > > gear strut all have life limits of 15 years according to the maintenance
> > > manual - rudder cables and instrument hoses must be replaced and landing
> > > gear strut must be rebuilt.
>
> > > Our maintenance manual is dated 1995. Does anyone know if these life
> > > limits
> > > have been extended or removed in subsequent revisions to the maintenance
> > > manual?
>
> > > Thanks,
> > > Bruce
>
> > Look at the TCDS for the L-23. *It all depends on how you interpret
> > Note 3.
>
> > I interperet said note to not be mandatory for part 91 operations.
> > However, I think you should always follow all service instructions/
> > recommendations of the manufacturer where possible/practilcal
>
> > aerodyne
>
> > **********
> > The TCDS I found has this for Note 3:
>
> > G60EU
> > Revision 5
> > LETECKE ZAVODY
> > L 23 Super Blanik
> > January 11, 2006
>
> > NOTE 3. *Information essential to the continued airworthiness,proper
> > maintenance,
> > * inspection and repair is contained in the LET "L 23 SUPER-BLANIK
> > * Maintenance Manual (Books 1 and 2). *Time Limits/Maintenance Checks are
> > * listed in Chapter 5.
>
> > Can you elaborate?
>
> It does not say you MUST comply, as part of the operating limitations,
> like in other portions of the TCDS. *Then again, it certainly implies
> you should.
>
> Again, it depends how would one interperet this
>
> Aerodyne

Aerodyne, I'm really skeptical of your interpretation. Elsewhere in
the Blanik technical documentation you will find a statement that says
that in case of a difference in interpretation between the original
Czech language manual and any other language version, the Czech manual
governs. This looks very suspiciously to me like a translation issue,
and I wouldn't count on that interpretation to defend my actions
should a parts failure related accident occur, unless I had had a
native Czech speaker review the Czech version of the manual and
confirm it.
There are those who will argue that Blanik, in the form of the company
that is the current holder of the type certificates that are attached
to that trade name, is given to overkill in its maintenance
requirements. Many of those people have a much higher level of
technical training than I do.
However, I always keep in mind that it's the type certificate holder
who has ultimate liability, so it's their call. If they choose to be
conservative, it's their right.
Given the recent double fatality in Austria that resulted in the wing
root inspection AD for L-13's, and the fact that Blaniks were/are
fabricated from metal whose chemical composition may or may not meet
western European or North American specifications, I'm not at all sure
that they are going overboard in their requirements.
I'd like to respectfully suggest to Bruce that if Blanik says
"essential" in the manual, they probably believe that that is just a
synonym for "mandatory".
Therefore, as expensive as it is - and I had the unpleasant experience
of the sticker shock of replacing both the elevator and rudder cable
assemblies on an L-13 last year -
it would be prudent to replace all of these parts as required in the
manual. At least you're dealing with L-23's. Your rudder cable
assembly is a much simpler design than the one for the L-13, and
should require about a third the number of labor hours to install.
Unfortunately, LET never type certified that assembly for the L-13,
even though it fits, so we were stuck with the old one and 6 hours of
labor to put it in.
My personal view is that the relatively low initial cost of the Blanik
aircraft is due to the market discounting the price by the expected
cost of future maintenance.
A contributor to a different forum recently recounted at least 3
changes in ownership of Blanik in the last 11 or 12 years, and it
appears that the considerable increases in Blanik parts prices since
2005 simply reflect their true costs when provided by a sustainably
profitable supplier.
We all try to keep our costs down for ourselves and our fellow
members, but at what point have you cut it too fine and put yourself
and your friends at excessive risk?
I've wrestled with that one from time to time as I'm sure others have
too.
Best Regards,
Sandy Stevenson