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



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 23rd 18, 06:01 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Dan Daly[_2_]
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

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.
  #2  
Old March 24th 18, 12:18 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jonathan St. Cloud
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

For those that wonder why do positive control checks with automatic hookups..

On Friday, March 23, 2018 at 10:01:15 AM UTC-7, 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.


  #3  
Old March 24th 18, 01:17 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
son_of_flubber
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

On Friday, March 23, 2018 at 1:01:15 PM UTC-4, Dan Daly wrote:
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.



I'll rephrase this just in case someone else has trouble understanding statements written in the passive voice.

Somebody cut away FRP material and enlarged a hole in the top of the vertical stabilizer of a SZD-55. This modification makes it possible for the pilot to assemble the glider such that he ends up with an inoperative elevator control linkage.





  #4  
Old March 24th 18, 06:37 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

Why would someone do that? Can a 55 owner provide some context? Is there some rigging difficulty they were trying to resolve?
  #5  
Old March 24th 18, 02:07 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Dan Daly[_2_]
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 1:37:36 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Why would someone do that? Can a 55 owner provide some context? Is there some rigging difficulty they were trying to resolve?


The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch published a thorough 22 page report. https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib...zd-55-1-g-cklr

  #6  
Old March 24th 18, 03:15 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
son_of_flubber
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 9:07:25 AM UTC-4, Dan Daly wrote:

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch published a thorough 22 page report. https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib...zd-55-1-g-cklr


From that report:

"In a photograph taken in July 2006 while this repair was being carried out, the enlarged elevator lever slot in the horizontal rib of the tail fin is clearly visible, indicating that it had been modified prior to this point."

'Accident waiting to happen' for 12 years.

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.

  #7  
Old March 24th 18, 04:10 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

The horizontal stabilizer attachment on the 55 is one of the easiest designs I have seen and I never had a problem installing it. It went on perfectly and easily every time.
I have a totally unsubstantiated theory about what may have happened. I am wondering if material was removed at the 3000 hour inspection for the insertion of a borescope and never replaced?
Tragic none the less.

Bob 7U


On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 10:15:36 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 9:07:25 AM UTC-4, Dan Daly wrote:

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch published a thorough 22 page report. https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib...zd-55-1-g-cklr


From that report:

"In a photograph taken in July 2006 while this repair was being carried out, the enlarged elevator lever slot in the horizontal rib of the tail fin is clearly visible, indicating that it had been modified prior to this point."

'Accident waiting to happen' for 12 years.

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.


  #8  
Old March 24th 18, 05:28 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 465
Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

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!
  #9  
Old March 24th 18, 10:05 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jonathan St. Cloud
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Posts: 1,463
Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

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.
  #10  
Old March 24th 18, 10:21 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)
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Default Proposed SZD-55 EASA AD now out for comment - "Flight Controls – Elevator Control System / Vertical Tail – Inspection"

Hey, great way to get current in major departure stalls/spin entries!
Yep, I did that unintentionally once.
Just once.
With the sailplane owner watching me do "over the top spin entries" at altitude.
Yes, I recovered.....sorta obvious.
Yes, most aircraft flown well beyond the aft CG limit becomes "sporty" at a minimum. Glad I figured it out at altitude.
Sigh.

Yep, ask NASA about changes in unit of measurement, they wasted a mars lander due to that......sigh.....meters vs. feet.....
 




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