Ed.
The Airworthiness Concern reports that the airplane was maneuvering. (The aircraft was being operated at other than cruise flight and was maneuvering. ) Also the report concludes that the plane had it's wing spar separated at the illegal holes location. The report is not saying what caused the separation nor does it mention whether a separation would have happened elsewhere were the holes not drilled. It basically targets unauthorized maintenance and will be a problem for the planes that have had an illegal bucket seat or other parts installation on the center spar. The report is formulated so that it does not matter what the cause was, only the outcome is counted. While holes and cracks are something no one should take easy in a wing spar, maybe the aileron flutter would have gotten a healthy spar too. Maybe. I doubt it. I experienced aileron flutter myself and the visible movement is very little. What the witnesses saw on the ground during the tragedy were the wings working itself free on the broken center spar. I think the spar broke during maneuvering and there must have been a crack beforehand. I think it is good to have the center spar closely examined at certain intervals, but anything else than a ye check would be a huge burden on my side. Here in Germany I need an FAA approved inspector , if this inspector needs special knowledge and equipment, I am grounded for good. Hartmut To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:17:22 -0500 Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Improper holes in spar cap Hartmut wrote: > The Airworthiness Concern" is based of the Sebring inflight > breakup. This is a real issue and I don't want to talk this down. A key question is: was the spar failure causative or was it a result of extreme loads caused by aileron flutter (if there was aileron flutter)? Without aileron flutter or aerobatics, has any Coupe ever had an in-flight breakup due to center section spar failure in the 69 year history of the type? (I don’t know of any such incident.) If the aileron flutter really happened and led to the spar failure, should there be an AD requiring annual confirmation of the tightness and specs of the control system? Ed _________________________________________________________________ Show them the way! Add maps and directions to your party invites. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/products/events.aspx
