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Daves experience with Univair.... "but the tech guy I called at Univair today seemed totally unaware of the issue and could not tell me how many holes are acceptable for attaching the seat pan to the spar cap" .... is similar to my experience. Every time I called someone up at Univair since 2000 I had a similar experience. These guys are totally, completely clueless when it comes to Ercoupes. My 6 year daughter knows more about Ercoupes than these losers. They are an example of "repair" folks that can only type in part numbers and follow instructions. They are completely unable to write instructions! Herein leis the danger. IF Univair is being ask by the FAA to recommend methods of remedy for the center spars, they will ask the FAA what THEY think is best. Roger Caldwell will then tell them that a new center spar is the best method to assure the safety of our airplanes. And whoop de loop, we are all loosing our planes to the shredder. My question again is : Do we want to comment on the problem as a group , or do we want to make single comments ourselves. I am good with both. And where does the comment go to? Roger Caldwell did not answer my e-mail by the way. I will resend my questions. Does anyone have a proven good E-Mail address from him? Hartmut http://www.ercoupe.info To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:09:09 +0000 Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Improper holes in spar cap Thank you Bob. I believe the mishap investigation is complete. The issue now is what corrective action the FAA will require. My take on it is that if we take the collective position that "we don't have a problem, go away and leave us alone" as some here want us to do, then the FAA engineers will make a decision anyway, and it may well be worse than if we provide them with the data they want to make a better decision. My time in the airline buisiness has shown me that the FAA is not the enemy, but often is the referee. They may make a bad call if they can't see the play or misinterpret the rules. It's up to us to make sure they get it right by sharing the data they need. There may well be a policy-driven agenda working behind the scenes, but obstructing their efforts to come up with a fix will not change that. Generally, the FAA responds better to self-disclosure than stonewalling. For now, I think giving the EOC and Univair some time to prepare a response is prudent, but the tech guy I called at Univair today seemed totally unaware of the issue and could not tell me how many holes are acceptable for attaching the seat pan to the spar cap. If more information is not forthcoming in a few weeks, then I plan on contacting Roger Caldwell by telephone and explaining the situation on my airplane. Dave English Lt Col, USAFR, (Ret) Former HQ 10AF Flight Safety Officer, B-52 and B-1 IP, Current 757/767 Captain (in case anyone cares...) Recent Activity 3 New MembersVisit Your Group Give Back Yahoo! for Good Get inspired by a good cause. Y! Toolbar Get it Free! easy 1-click access to your groups. Yahoo! Groups Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. . _________________________________________________________________ More than messages–check out the rest of the Windows Live™. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/
