Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2008L00719:body:0:p3
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2008L00719
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 5657–8357

UA-854, or FAA-approved equivalent part numbers.

             Note:  FAA AD 2008-04-09 Amdt 39-15381 refers.
Compliance:     1. Within 5 hours time in service after 20 August 2007, unless one of the following conditions is met:

                   1. The struts have been replaced with parts specified in Requirement 2.a.  No further action is required on those struts.

                  2. The struts have been replaced with parts specified in Requirement 2.b. and have been installed for less than 48 months.  No visual inspection is required.  These parts are now subject to the repetitive inspection requirement specified in Requirement 4.

                2. Before further flight after the Requirement 1 visual inspection.

                3. Before further flight after the Requirement 1 visual inspection.

                4.a. Initial inspection required within 3 months after 20 August 2007 or within 48 months after installing a lift strut specified in Requirement 2.b., whichever occurs later.

                4.b. Repetitively inspect thereafter at intervals not to exceed 48 months, except as required by Compliance 4.c. below.

                4.c. If the initial inspection was accomplished using the eddy current method as specified in the original issue of this Directive, the first ultrasound or radiograph repetitive inspection must be accomplished within 24 months after accomplishing the eddy current inspection.  Repetitively inspect thereafter at intervals not to exceed 48 months using the ultrasound or radiograph inspection method.

                5. Before further flight after the Requirement 3 or Requirement 4 inspection.

                6. As of 30 April 2008.

             The compliance time for Requirement 1 remains unchanged by this issue of the Directive.
             This Amendment becomes effective on 10 April 2008.

Background:  The FAA received several reports of corroded wing lift struts from different Taylorcraft series aircraft.  Independent laboratory analysis of the struts revealed varying degrees of excessive internal and external corrosion, including through-the- thickness corrosion.  The struts exhibited corrosion severe enough to require strut replacement.  This condition, unless corrected, could result in failure of a wing strut and lead to separation of the wing from the aircraft with subsequent loss of control.

             Amendment 1 is issued in response to a new FAA AD, which requires a radiograph inspection method instead of the eddy current method, and changes the compliance time between the repetitive inspections.

David Villiers
Delegate of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority

29 February 2008