"Marco Rispoli" wrote in message
.net...
Check this out:

"Paul Sterling of Sterling Aviation Technologies, Inc.
has FAA approval for his Wing Life Extension STC.
You can now get a minimum of 7650 additional hours past the 11k hour
limit"

Found this on this site: http://www.pipertomahawk.com

(Yes i am looking into Tomahawks ... I am aware of the reputation they
have).

My question is, from this text it looks like planes... "expire". Once the
airframe is past a certain number of hours, that's it. They are toast.

You have kits to prolong their life (for the Tomahawk at least, as I have
seen) but ... what happens after the life goes past that threshold?

Do you "chuck the plane" in the trash?

Do you replace the wings? I can't even imagine how much that would cost.

I can't believe this... I was under the delusion that planes would last
forever... for some reason I find this ... "sad".


--
Marco Rispoli - NJ, USA / PP-ASEL
My On-line pilot community - http://www.thepilotlounge.com

Some airplanes (and components) are life limited, others are not. Depends
on what rules were in place when the aircraft received its original
certification. For instance, a Tomahawk is life limited, but a C-152 (or
150 isn't). The Cessnas were certified before the FAR's were updated in the
early-mid '70's, and therefore don't have a life limit.

Beyond original certification, some AD's also mandate the retirement of some
or all of the airframe at a specified limit.

Once the airframe is used up, it is parted out, with the usable parts sold
as replacements. For instance, my understanding is that the wing spar is
the life limited item on a Tomahawk. IF that is true, the fuse, empennage,
flaps, ailerons, etc. would be usable after the wing is scrapped.

KB