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
om...
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