Blanik L-13

On Wednesday, February 20, 2013 5:23:15 PM UTC-7, wrote:
At around 2000hrs. total time: hold on to it and wait for the AD&C mod to be approved by the FAA (like it has been by many other national airworthiness authorities) or sell it very cheaply to someone in a country where it has already been approved.



If it's at more than 3000 or 4000 hours already the flying life given by the mod probably wouldn't be economically feasible given the cost versus remaining flying hours.

The last word from the FAA which was obtained by the SSA indicated that it would be a real stretch if the European fix will ever be approved here. To compound the problem it looks like there would be more questions about the rest of the aircraft's life expectancy since the wings that broke were not near the 5,000 hours. Don't think a large number were repaired in Europe according to my inquiries when there last spring.


If it's at 5000 hours (or more) - scrap it after pulling any good parts off of it (oleo, wheel, instruments, possibly some miscellaneous small parts). 5000 hours is the current maximum authorized total airframe time with no further aerobatics even if you put the $12-15K into carrying out the AD&C mod.



Following the factory's website I don't see much hope for them coming up with an alternate solution anytime soon.