Ruud

It is great that SHK is taking their responsibility.

But, .... is not this what we should expect?

Obviously (as your Duo also had defect bondings), there are problems
with the Duo, and it seems to be poor manufacting procedures. As
customers should we not demand the manufacturer to cover all costs for
inspections and repairs?

So why should we give credits to some one who appearantly did a really
bad job?

If SHK will cover all costs for the inspections, including travel, lost
income due to lost flying time etc etc, it is OK for me.

Robert




John Galloway wrote:
Ruud,

How old is your Duo - and did you find out how old
the other one at the factory was? I am hoping that
the production problem is of recent duration and not
spread thoughout all ages of the fleet.

Our Duo T S/N 35 was delivered in December 2001 and
has not been inspected yet.

John Galloway


At 12:18 06 August 2003, Ventus2ct Ruud Holswilder
wrote:

The problem with the Duo could not have happened at
a worse time.
Right in the middle of the soaring season and the Schempp-Hirth
factory on holiday.
A lot of SHK workers volunteered to skip their vacation
and help out
with the inspections that started already started last
weekend.
I made the 700 Km drive to Kirchhein on Sunday afternoon.
Next day SHK workers were already busy from 7 AM.

The inspection procedure is rather simple.
One team is taking care of the removal of ailerons
and drilling
inspection holes.
After that the inspection team comes in with a boroscope.
If no defects are found, the holes in airbrake box
are repaired; the 2
small holes (12 mm) in the lower skin are reinforced
with epoxy and
covered by tape.
Ailerons installed , paper work done and you're out
in about 3 to 4
hours.

Unfortunately the left wing of my Duo had a 4 cm defective
bond near
the wing tip and repairs were needed.

From that entire number of Duo's present at that time;

there was one
other Duo who needed similar repairs.
They had to cut out a few small panels in the underside
of the wing to
make repairs to the bonding of the spar.
After this they had to repair the cut-outs and restore
the finish.
This took about 24 hours of extra time.

Next week the CS factory that manufactures most of
the Duo parts will
be back from vacation.
A hefty investigation will start…