Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

You guys could just join the rest of the world and go metric!

On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 4:05:06 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I took delivery of a brand new Ventus 2c, had the W&B done for my weight plus chute. Took the glider for it's first flight and thank goodness it was a great soaring day as it took me about two hours to be able to control it between 45-75 knots. Turns out they figured out the correct weight, say 5 pounds, wrote it in log book, but when they actually the weight in they used Kilograms, so I had 5 kg instead of 5 lb in tail. We figured it out, but I forgot the number, I was WELL aft of the aft most CG. I agree, check W&B.


On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 9:28:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 10:15:36 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
When I bought my SZD glider, I found that the previous owner had removed ~10 lbs of factory installed lead ballast from the nose. The ballast mount location was hidden behind an access panel.

- when I bought my Russia it came with 9 pounds of lead shot / epoxy mix permanently mounted in the nose, hidden behind the front bulkhead panel. Thankfully the seller told me about it. (And for me flying it, I had to add even more ballast in another forward location.) Be careful with the W&B!

Earth to Dan Marotta: here's another great reason to go metric, don't ya think? Glad you survived the Kilo-Bomb, Jonathan.

If memory serves me right, there was a fatal accident with a SZD55 maybe a year or two ago which sounded very similar to what the British accident report summary states:
'During a towed launch, the glider was seen to climb rapidly. After disconnecting from the tow rope with a very high pitch angle, the glider rolled to the right and descended before hitting the ground in a nose-down attitude. The pilot was fatally injured.'
I cannot find the NTSB accident report for the accident in the US but it may be worth looking into it.

Uli
'AS'

Worthless post.......

"There are 2 measuring systems, metric and the one that put a man on the moon".

Yes, I was in grade school (in the '70's) where, "we're going metric!" Was the battle cry.
Today, the US still uses our method, sometimes.
Yes, I have American tools, metric tools, even some Whitworth. There ya go, way throw back for the Brits.

Whatever, seems like a "fix" that created new issues. Hope this gets around to prevent more issues.

Why are you telling me this, Herb?Â* Do you feel better about yourself by
measuring a certain part of your anatomy in mm than in inches?

BTW Johathan's near mishap would not have happened had Shemp-Hirth and
"the rest of the world" had used the English system.

On 3/25/2018 8:10 AM, wrote:
On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 4:05:06 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I took delivery of a brand new Ventus 2c, had the W&B done for my weight plus chute. Took the glider for it's first flight and thank goodness it was a great soaring day as it took me about two hours to be able to control it between 45-75 knots. Turns out they figured out the correct weight, say 5 pounds, wrote it in log book, but when they actually the weight in they used Kilograms, so I had 5 kg instead of 5 lb in tail. We figured it out, but I forgot the number, I was WELL aft of the aft most CG. I agree, check W&B.


On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 9:28:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 10:15:36 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
When I bought my SZD glider, I found that the previous owner had removed ~10 lbs of factory installed lead ballast from the nose. The ballast mount location was hidden behind an access panel.
- when I bought my Russia it came with 9 pounds of lead shot / epoxy mix permanently mounted in the nose, hidden behind the front bulkhead panel. Thankfully the seller told me about it. (And for me flying it, I had to add even more ballast in another forward location.) Be careful with the W&B!
Earth to Dan Marotta: here's another great reason to go metric, don't ya think? Glad you survived the Kilo-Bomb, Jonathan.

--
Dan, 5J

On Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 11:14:57 AM UTC-4, AS wrote:
If memory serves me right, there was a fatal accident with a SZD55 maybe a year or two ago which sounded very similar to what the British accident report summary states:
'During a towed launch, the glider was seen to climb rapidly. After disconnecting from the tow rope with a very high pitch angle, the glider rolled to the right and descended before hitting the ground in a nose-down attitude. The pilot was fatally injured.'
I cannot find the NTSB accident report for the accident in the US but it may be worth looking into it.

Uli
'AS'

Uli:

NTSB Identification: CEN16FA308
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, August 06, 2016 in Channahon, IL
Aircraft: PZL-BIELSKO SZD 55-1, registration: N551DR
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
[A BUNCH DELETED FOR BREVITY] QUOTE ...The empennage remained intact and exhibited no damage. The wing and horizontal stabilizer attach points were attached properly and were secure. The flight controls, including the spoilers, were checked for continuity from the flight controls to their respective surfaces. Flight control cables and control tubes were traced and all breaks were consistent with overload. No preimpact flight control continuity anomalies were detected... UNQUOTE

On Friday, March 23, 2018 at 1:01:15 PM UTC-4, Dan Daly wrote:
Comment period ends 5 April. It would require an inspection within 60 days to ensure the elevator control attachment slot on the vertical stab be measured. One which caused a fatal crash in UK last year was found to have been enlarged. If the cut-out has been enlarged, the factory must be informed and it would have to be fixed before the next flight. Details at https://ad.easa.europa.eu/ad/18-038 , including a link for the AD as a PDF.

From a comment on the SZD-55 Yahoo! Group (my group but not my comment):
"From various informal discussions I have had, there seems to be potential for significant variation in the size of the elevator slot on different aircraft. If this is the case, I would expect a large number of owners who are subject to EASA regulations to have to modify their aircraft within 60 days if they are to remain airworthy."

I don't know if the U.S. treats EASA AD's like Canada, but up here, they apply. I know of two 55's which have been informally measured and happily found to be unaltered; they will still require a quick look and logbook entry by our mechanic.

I believe positive control checks should be done by the pilot, at the control surface, not from the stick; that way you also get to feel the hinges as well as the drive.

John F

On Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 7:03:43 PM UTC+2, Dan Daly wrote:
On Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 11:14:57 AM UTC-4, AS wrote:
If memory serves me right, there was a fatal accident with a SZD55 maybe a year or two ago which sounded very similar to what the British accident report summary states:
'During a towed launch, the glider was seen to climb rapidly. After disconnecting from the tow rope with a very high pitch angle, the glider rolled to the right and descended before hitting the ground in a nose-down attitude. The pilot was fatally injured.'
I cannot find the NTSB accident report for the accident in the US but it may be worth looking into it.

Uli
'AS'

Uli:

NTSB Identification: CEN16FA308
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, August 06, 2016 in Channahon, IL
Aircraft: PZL-BIELSKO SZD 55-1, registration: N551DR
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
[A BUNCH DELETED FOR BREVITY] QUOTE ...The empennage remained intact and exhibited no damage. The wing and horizontal stabilizer attach points were attached properly and were secure. The flight controls, including the spoilers, were checked for continuity from the flight controls to their respective surfaces. Flight control cables and control tubes were traced and all breaks were consistent with overload. No preimpact flight control continuity anomalies were detected... UNQUOTE

Dan - thanks for the clarification! Glad it wasn't caused by a disconnected elevator.
Uli
'AS'

On Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 11:36:12 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Why are you telling me this, Herb?Â* Do you feel better about yourself by
measuring a certain part of your anatomy in mm than in inches?

(...) --
Dan, 5J

That's hilarious, Dan. Talk to your doctor(s). It seems to me that here in the US, without making much fuzz about it, our health care providers have actually switched secretly to metric. I can hear millimeters milliliters, kilograms around me all the time. Dentists, family doctors, hospitals...

a=
ctually switched secretly to metric. I can hear millimeters milliliters,
ki=
lograms around me all the time. Dentists, family doctors, hospitals...


In my early engineering schooling we had to use 'Slugs' and 'Poundals'.
Cannot even remember what they were now, except maybe they could have some
connection with the metric 'Newtons'.