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Pegasus gliders.
All-
As the owner of a high time Pegasus (and the guy Mitch was referring to in the first post), I'd like to dispel a couple of rumors and disagree with some of the "suggestions" to this situation. First, some folks have suggested "losing" the A/C logbooks and just starting over. This is in fact the worst idea, as the FAA must assume that, in the absence of LEGAL documentation to the contrary, an aircraft with a service life limit has reached that limit and is no longer serviceable. There is an example of a Learjet that was auctioned off in Mexico for peanuts because the logbooks were stolen along with the pilot's luggage. Without documentation of the life history and maintenance records, the aircraft was deemed unflyable according to the FAA, and was not permitted to reenter the US. Likewise, the suggestion of coming up with a "new" set of logbooks is questionable. If you were caught, you would probably not only face the immediate loss of the service life remaining, but could also be charged with forging an official document. Another suggestion that has been booted around in the past is to change the certification from Standard to Experimental. Unfortunately, Experimental status does not exempt the aircraft from manufacturer service life limits and Airworthiness Directives. In June of this year, I received a letter from the FAA outlining the situation. I believe this letter was also sent to all registered owners of the Pegase 101A in the US. It gave the reasoning behind the AD that limited the service life. Basically, it boils down to the fact that Centrair never submitted fatigue test data to the FAA, nor did they offer an inspection protocol that would extend the service life past 3000 hours. The letter also referred to the fact that Pegase 101's in France are still flying well beyond 3000 hours since they were certified in France without a life limit. JJ is also correct in stating that the "new" Centrair is not cooperating on this issue. According to the FAA website, there are 31 Pegase gliders in the US, and since Centrair no longer manufactures the glider, they are willing to write off the US owned ships. At least in this matter. A couple of years ago, we were all forced to buy new rudder pedals (at an exorbitant price) because of a Service Bulletin that quickly became an AD from the FAA. Apparently, the French are OK with taking our money, but not supporting their product otherwise. (At this point I could make a comment about 1944, but I won't. The last paragraph in the FAA's letter is intriguing. It states "SSA or another entity could obtain approval for a service life extension program via a Supplemental Type Certificate." I am beginning research into exactly what this would entail. I would be interested to hear from other Pegase 101 owners, especially those who have been affected by the AD, and those who are nearing the 3000 hour life limit. From what I have been able to determine, the STC could be costly, and I am wondering how to go about funding it. Interested owners may contacy me directly at Mark (at) MMFabrication dot com. Oh, by the way, the proper Latin is "Non illegitimi carborundum." Mark |
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