[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3588-3590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1130]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 93-CE-59-AD]


Airworthiness Directives; Grob Luft Und Raumfahrt Models G102 
Astir CS, Club Astir IIb, Twin Astir, Speed Astir, Standard Astir II, 
and Speed Astir IIb Sailplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive 
(AD) that would apply to certain Grob Luft Und Raumfahrt (Grob) Models 
G102 Astir CS, Club Astir IIb, Twin Astir, Speed Astir, Standard Astir 
II, and Speed Astir IIb sailplanes. The proposed action would require 
inspecting all elevator and rudder hinges for damage (delamination, 
cracks, corrosion, or buckling), and repairing any damaged parts. 
Several occurrences of inner elevator hinges separating during flight 
prompted the proposed action. The actions specified by the proposed AD 
are intended to prevent these hinges from separating, which could 
result in loss of control of the sailplane.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in triplicate to the Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA), Central Region, Office of the Assistant Chief 
Counsel, Attention: Rules Docket No. 93-CE-59-AD, Room 1558, 601 E. 
12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106. Comments may be inspected at 
this location [[Page 3589]] between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, holidays excepted.
    Service information that applies to the proposed AD may be obtained 
from Grob Luft und Raumfahrt D-8939 Mattsies, Germany. This information 
also may be examined at the Rules Docket at the address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Herman C. Belderok, Project 
Officer, Sailplanes, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service, FAA, 1201 Walnut, suite 900, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; 
telephone (816) 426-6932; facsimile (816) 426-2169.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    Interested persons are invited to participate in the making of the 
proposed rule by submitting such written data, views, or arguments as 
they may desire. Communications should identify the Rules Docket number 
and be submitted in triplicate to the address specified above. All 
communications received on or before the closing date for comments, 
specified above, will be considered before taking action on the 
proposed rule. The proposals contained in this notice may be changed in 
light of the comments received.
    Comments are specifically invited on the overall regulatory, 
economic, environmental, and energy aspects of the proposed rule. All 
comments submitted will be available, both before and after the closing 
date for comments, in the Rules Docket for examination by interested 
persons. A report that summarizes each FAA-public contact concerned 
with the substance of this proposal will be filed in the Rules Docket.
    Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments 
submitted in response to this notice must submit a self-addressed, 
stamped postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments 
to Docket No. 93-CE-59-AD.'' The postcard will be date stamped and 
returned to the commenter.

Availability of NPRMs

    Any person may obtain a copy of this NPRM by submitting a request 
to the FAA, Central Region, Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel, 
Attention: Rules Docket No. 93-CE-59-AD, Room 1558, 601 E. 12th Street, 
Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

Discussion

    The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), which is the airworthiness authority 
for Germany, recently notified the FAA that an unsafe condition may 
exist on certain Grob Models G102 Astir CS, Club Astir IIb, Twin Astir, 
Speed Astir, Standard Astir II, and Speed Astir IIb sailplanes. The LBA 
advises that inner elevator hinges have separated on several of the 
above referenced sailplanes. This condition, if not detected and 
corrected, could result in loss of control of the sailplane.
    Grob has issued Repair Instruction No. 306-27/1 to Service Bulletin 
TM 306-27/1, dated June 4, 1991, which specifies procedures for 
inspecting all elevator and rudder hinges for damage (delamination, 
cracks, corrosion, or buckling), and repairing any damaged hinges. The 
LBA classified this service bulletin as mandatory and issued LBA AD 89-
209/2 Grob, dated June 26, 1991, in order to assure the continued 
airworthiness of these sailplanes in Germany.
    This sailplane model is manufactured in Germany and is type 
certificated for operation in the United States under the provisions of 
Section 21.29 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR 21.29) and 
the applicable bilateral airworthiness agreement. Pursuant to this 
bilateral airworthiness agreement, the LBA has kept the FAA informed of 
the situation described above.
    The FAA has examined the findings of the LBA, reviewed all 
available information, and determined that AD action is necessary for 
products of this type design that are certificated for operation in the 
United States.
    Since an unsafe condition has been identified that is likely to 
exist or develop in other Grob Models G102 Astir CS, Club Astir IIb, 
Twin Astir, Speed Astir, Standard Astir II, and Speed Astir IIb 
sailplanes of the same type design, the proposed AD would require 
inspecting all elevator and rudder hinges for damage (delamination, 
cracks, corrosion, or buckling), and repairing any damaged parts. The 
proposed actions would be accomplished in accordance with the III. 
Procedure section of Grob Repair Instruction No. 306-27/1 to Service 
Bulletin TM 306-27/1, dated June 4, 1991.
    The compliance time for the proposed AD is presented in calendar 
time instead of hours TIS. The FAA has determined that a calendar time 
for compliance is the most desirable method because the unsafe 
condition described by the proposed AD is caused by corrosion. 
Corrosion can occur on sailplanes regardless of whether the airplane is 
in service or in storage. Therefore, to ensure that corrosion is 
detected and corrected on all airplanes within a reasonable period of 
time without inadvertently grounding any sailplanes, a compliance 
schedule based upon calendar time instead of hours TIS is proposed.
    The FAA estimates that 146 sailplanes in the U.S. registry would be 
affected by the proposed AD, that it would take approximately 1 
workhour per sailplane to accomplish the proposed action, and that the 
average labor rate is approximately $60 an hour. Based on these 
figures, the total cost impact of the proposed AD on U.S. operators is 
estimated to be $8,760. This figure is based on the assumption that no 
affected sailplane owner/operator has accomplished the proposed 
inspection.
    The regulations proposed herein would not have substantial direct 
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government. Therefore, in 
accordance with Executive Order 12612, it is determined that this 
proposal would not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant 
the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.
    For the reasons discussed above, I certify that this action (1) is 
not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866; 
(2) is not a ``significant rule'' under DOT Regulatory Policies and 
Procedures (44 FR 11034, February 26, 1979); and (3) if promulgated, 
will not have a significant economic impact, positive or negative, on a 
substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act. A copy of the draft regulatory evaluation 
prepared for this action has been placed in the Rules Docket. A copy of 
it may be obtained by contacting the Rules Docket at the location 
provided under the caption ADDRESSES.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39

    Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Safety.

The Proposed Amendment

    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by the 
Administrator, the Federal Aviation Administration proposes to amend 
part 39 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 39) as 
follows:

PART 39--AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES

    1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. App. 1354(a), 1421 and 1423; 49 U.S.C. 
106(g); and 14 CFR 11.89. [[Page 3590]] 


Sec. 39.13  [Amended]

    2. Section 39.13 is amended by adding a new AD to read as follows:

Grob Luft Und Raumfahrt: Docket No. 93-CE-59-AD.

    Applicability: Models G102 Astir CS, Club Astir IIb, Twin Astir, 
Speed Astir, Standard Astir II, and Speed Astir IIb Sailplanes (all 
serial numbers), certificated in any category.
    Compliance: Required within the next 30 calendar days after the 
effective date of this AD, unless already accomplished.
    To prevent elevator and rudder hinge separation, which could 
result in loss of control of the sailplane, accomplish the 
following:
    (a) Visually inspect all elevator and rudder hinges for damage 
(delamination, cracks, corrosion, or buckling) in accordance with 
the III. Procedure section of Grob Repair Instruction No. 306-27/1 
to Service Bulletin TM 306-27/1, dated June 4, 1991. Prior to 
further flight, repair any damaged parts in accordance with the 
service information referenced above.

    Note 1: The service instructions of this AD call for ``the work 
to be carried out by a competent person or an authorized aviation 
workshop and has to be certified in the logbook by an authorized 
inspector.'' This statement does not apply to sailplanes registered 
in the United States and the AD is to be accomplished using 
procedures in part 43 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR 
part 43).
    (b) Special flight permits may be issued in accordance with 
sections 21.197 and 21.199 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 
CFR 21.197 and 21.199) to operate the sailplane to a location where 
the requirements of this AD can be accomplished.
    (c) An alternative method of compliance or adjustment of the 
compliance time that provides an equivalent level of safety may be 
approved by the Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, FAA, 1201 
Walnut, suite 900, Kansas City, Missouri 64106. The request should 
be forwarded through an appropriate FAA Maintenance Inspector, who 
may add comments and then send it to the Manager, Small Airplane 
Directorate.

    Note 2: Information concerning the existence of approved 
alternative methods of compliance with this AD, if any, may be 
obtained from the Small Airplane Directorate.
    (d) All persons affected by this directive may obtain copies of 
the document referred to herein upon request to Grob Luft und 
Raumfahrt, D-8939 Mattsies, Germany; or may examine this document at 
the FAA, Central Region, Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel, Room 
1558, 601 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 10, 1995.
Barry D. Clements,
Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 95-1130 Filed 1-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-U