Ed, That's the $10,000 question, isn't it? (Cost of a new spar from Univair)
Univair should be aware of the problem and telling us what they know about what is authorized. The FAA should be more specific as to what tolerances they are looking for. The "catch all" is the term "unauthorized". If the holes weren't there from the factory, and there is no tech data on whether existing holes can be modified or additional holes can be drilled into the main spar cap, then anything beyond what the factory did may not be unsafe, but it is potentially "unauthorized". Do I think my wing spar is unsafe due to the fact that some engineering genius decided to drill about eight more holes in my main spar cap than would be necessary to re-install a repaired seat pan? No. Do I think it constitutes unauthorized maintenance procedures or modifications? Unless someone can show me the tech data that allows it, I absolutely do! My guess is that if you have the original configuration, you'll probably be OK. If you are one of the unfortunate owners with extra holes drilled into your spar, be prepared to spend big bucks to bring your airplane back into compliance or lose your airworthiness certificate. And contrary to opinions expressed here, I do NOT have the money to write off my newly-purchased airplane that I bought to teach my daughter in and go buy another. I'm scrambling to find a way out of this that won't involve parking my airplane for an extended period of time. I will be in the category of owners that is most affected by any AD's that are issued. --- In [email protected], ebengui...@... wrote: > > Morning All > Regarding holes in spar cap: > Alons basically have the same wing spar as the Coupe. > Without going into nomenclature details, > Alons have approximately 16 holes on the spar cap to accept seat brackets. > Does anyone know of any problems > with Alons falling apart because of these approved holes? > Ed >
