Yikes, glad I don't have a Pegasus!

I spoke with Greg Davison at the FAA in Oklahoma City the other day and
he gave me the scoop on the AD and its implications.

Yes, technically there is a 3000 hour life limit on all Pegasus gliders
sold in the US. This is not an FAA rule- it came from Centrair. The
glider is certified to 12,000 hours in Europe, but the US STC was only
for 3000 hours. As a result, the AD had to be issued.

Don't panic, though. Greg has met with Centrair and they have agreed to
issue a 3000 hr. inspection protocol like other gliders require. Once
this inspection reqirement is issued (probably in the Spring of 2006),
the FAA will put out another AD that will supersede this one.

Greg realized that the 3000 hr. limit is not realistic, and Centrair
agrees. It was just a screwup when the glider was originally certified
in the early 1980's. I have been assured that the problem WILL be
fixed. It is just that the FAA had to comply with the original
manufacturer's intent and the resulting limit.

Greg was extremely helpful in explaining the situation. He has promised
to keep poking at Centrair until they come up with the 3000 hr.
inspection regimen. Greg suggested I call him in February 2006 to check
on Centrair's progress.

My Pegasus has around 2400 hrs. so I was more than just a little
concerned. Especially because I usually put 200+ hrs per year on my
glider. I am encouraged by his response, and I am back to getting a
decent night's sleep.

An email to Centrair urging them to work on the inspection protocol
might be a good idea. )

Mark Mocho

Generally, I don't have a problem with life limits if they can be tied
to genuine airworthiness concerns (as opposed to, for example, an
effort to tail product liability exposure -- not real likely here
because of GARA). 3000 hours is a lot of time.

120 hours/year for 25 years and you are there.


I suspect it won't be
easy to find a U.S. registered Pegasus anywhere near that range unless
it has spent a substantial chunk of its life in club or rental service.

My 1987 Discus has 2500 hours, but is a relative baby since the life
limit on the Discus is 12,000 hours.



(In fact, I wonder what the highest-time glass ship still in service in

the U.S. might be.)

Well in excess of 3,000, I bet.



Mark -- B9

Greg,

Your quoted comments were from "Mark - B9" - excerpted from my earlier
discussion. Those were not my comments. I do not own a Pegase,
consequently, I have no comment about it, just in case anyone was
wondering.

If I were a type club or a governing body for gliders, I would
certainly have a comment about an AD that mandates a life limit, in
other words an AD that is not addressing an airworthiness issue such as
cracking, corrosion or other failure. This is a life limit issue and
it's very unusual for the FAA to use an AD for this purpose. Life
limits are normally found in TC data sheets or AFM's, etc. In the ACS
that addressed this issue, the FAA themselves stated that this is an
unusual action.

Not that it hasn't happened before, I'm just saying it's unusual. And
that is why someone should have commented on this AD NPRM. I've seen a
few AD's killed in the initial process by comments, so sometimes it
does pay to send in your letters if you are affected.

Jim.

300 000 hours ( yes 3 hundred k ) is a 'realistic' lifespan for a
plastic glider. Read the recent OSTIV proceedings if you dont believe
me.

Ian

wrote:
300 000 hours ( yes 3 hundred k ) is a 'realistic' lifespan for a
plastic glider. Read the recent OSTIV proceedings if you dont believe
me.

Better start that flight instruction fund for the great grand kids.
:-)

That's ~34 years of flight. Under day/VFR conditions, it would take well
over a century to accumulate if you flew every day. That many years of
exposing a composite structure to sunlight and ozone would worry me a bit,
OSTIV not withstanding. Add turbulence and hard knocks (not to mention
parts availability) and I suspect the lifespan would be significantly less
than 300K hours.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Ray Warshaw (tongue firmly in cheek)
1LK

wrote in message
oups.com...
300 000 hours ( yes 3 hundred k ) is a 'realistic' lifespan for a
plastic glider. Read the recent OSTIV proceedings if you dont believe
me.

Ian

Among many well-reasoned points, Mark wrote:

...It is just that the FAA had to comply with the original
manufacturer's intent and the resulting limit...


This isn't true at all. FAA doesn't have to do anything more specific
than "keeping the airways safe." They do whatever they feel like
doing.

-Pat

At 13:18 09 December 2005, Pat Russell wrote:
Among many well-reasoned points, Mark wrote:

...It is just that the FAA had to comply with the
original
manufacturer's intent and the resulting limit...


This isn't true at all. FAA doesn't have to do anything
more specific
than 'keeping the airways safe.' They do whatever
they feel like
doing.

-Pat

There was I all ready to hire a shipping container
and buy up all the 3000hr Peguses or Pegii and ship
to the uk
Drat
Nigel

jphoenix wrote:
The FAA does notify the SSA of pending AD issues through the AACS
process. They receive an e-mail notification of each AD NPRM relating
to the type groups they suscribe to (such as gliders) from the AOPA -
as do I because I'm the type club representative to the AACS for the
1-26 Association. As a party to the AACS, I can see pre-NPRM issues for
all GA types, including gliders, towplanes, Malibus, etc.

The AACS process affords interested parties an opportunity to
participate in the AD rulemaking in advance of the AD NPRM process.

The AOPA is a key player and facilitator in the AACS.

Jim

jphoenix wrote:
The FAA does notify the SSA of pending AD issues through the AACS
process. They receive an e-mail notification of each AD NPRM relating
to the type groups they suscribe to (such as gliders) from the AOPA -
as do I because I'm the type club representative to the AACS for the
1-26 Association. As a party to the AACS, I can see pre-NPRM issues for
all GA types, including gliders, towplanes, Malibus, etc.

The AACS process affords interested parties an opportunity to
participate in the AD rulemaking in advance of the AD NPRM process.

The AOPA is a key player and facilitator in the AACS.

Jim

If the SSA is in fact being notified by the Feds about pending ADs
which will impact SSA membership, why have they not gotten the word out
in some form or another? Or, giving them the benifit of the doubt,
have they?

Bill Hill