And of course although quick, a posting on RAS or an
update on a manufacturers web site does not mean that
everyone affected will find out...


At 07:42 05 August 2003, Bert Willing wrote:
Legally quite true, I guess.

However, if a manufacturer comes forward and says that
serial no's x to y
are potentially not airworthy, common sense requires
those aircrafts to be
grounded even if local authorities are not up to the
news.

--
Bert Willing

ASW20 'TW'


'Caracole' a écrit dans le message de
. com...
Schempp-Hirth has issued a tech note 396-8 for Duo
Discus serial numbers
165
through 389, and Duo Discus T serial numbers 1 through
78.

These Duo Discus must not be flown until the inspection
and repair (if
necessary) is accomplished.

Tom Knauff

Neither the LBA nor the manufacturer has the authority
to ground
gliders operating with
U.S. Standard Airwothiness Certificates. As of today,
the FAA has not
issued an
AD requiring compliance with the Spar inspection technical
note issued
by
Schempp-Hirth on the Duo Discus. There is every likelihood
that the
FAA
will issue an AD regarding this.

However the factory's own web page states that,
'For security reasons a larger number of Duo Discus
and Duo Discus T
have been grounded, as the exact serial numbers of
potentially
affected gliders could not be determined in the short
time given.'

We may find that the FAA pushes the factory to determine
the exact
serial numbers of potentially affected gliders, so
that a more
accurate set of glider serial numbers can be included
in any U.S. AD.

So for now at least, for U.S. owners, compliance with
the inspection
is at their own discretion.

Interestingly, someone said to me the other day that
if the potential
for faulty construction goes back at least 5 years
with the DUO and it
includes CS DUOs manufactured in a different country,
maybe the LBA
should consider requiring inspections on other Schempp-Hirth
models as
well?

I would think that the factory would at least put
up a page on their
Web site so that the DUO owners can see what the statistical
results
of the inspections are as this debacle unfolds.

In the meantime, maybe the DUO owners can post to
the news group with
the results of their gliders inspection and the degree
of repairs
required. I'm sure the DUO owners would greatly appreciate
the
information.

M Eiler