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#1
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Proposed AD ECi connecting rods
I hate repeating things that everybody's probably already read on Avweb or
AOPA, but here's the long and the short of a proposed AD published in the Federal Register about ECi connecting rods used in overhauled or repaired Lycoming 360 and 540 cubic inch engines. Full text here http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2005/2005ne07ad.pdf Jim Engines Overhauled or Repaired Since New (g) If your engine was overhauled or repaired since new, do the following: (1) Before further flight inspect the maintenance records and engine logbook to determine if the overhaul or repair facility used ECi connecting rods, P/N AEL 11750. (2) If the connecting rods are not ECi, P/N AEL 11750, no further action is required. (3) If the connecting rods are ECi, P/N AEL 11750, and if the serial number is 54/7 or higher, no further action is required. (4) If the connecting rods are ECi, P/N AEL 11750, and if the serial number is 54/6 or lower, do the following: (i) If the connecting rod has 1,500 or more hours time-in-service (TIS), replace the connecting rod with a connecting rod that has a SN 54/7 or higher, or that has a P/N not specified in this AD within 50 hours TIS after the effective date of this AD. (ii) If the connecting rod has fewer than 1,500 hours TIS, replace the connecting rod with a connecting rod that has a SN 54/7 or higher, or that has a P/N not specified in this AD before accumulating 1,500 hours TIS on the connecting rod. (h) After the effective date of this AD, do not install any ECi connecting rod, P/N AEL 11750, that has SN 54/6 or lower into any engine. |
#2
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I hate repeating things that everybody's probably already read on Avweb or
AOPA, but here's the long and the short of a proposed AD published in the Federal Register about ECi connecting rods used in overhauled or repaired Lycoming 360 and 540 cubic inch engines. Boy, the Lycoming mid-to-large engines are sure getting beat up lately. Why does it seem like no one knows how to make and supply quality engine parts reliably anymore? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#3
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Why does it seem like no one knows how to make and supply quality
"anything" anymore? Doesn't it just **** you off?? We've become a "reactionary" society. We tend to prefer to fix something after it's broken rather than to maintain it. We buy things that are easy to throw away and then replace rather than spending more for quality and maintaining that quality item. We kill pilots and then make laws to save them. We let hurricanes flood cities and then throw money at them rather than spending any on preparation. Both business and consumers have come to place more "value" on lower prices rather than on higher quality. Business will do as little as possible to produce a product that the consumer will buy. The consumer insists on spending as little as possible for the product they desire. Quality standards are put on the back burner for one reason or another, but it seems like any reason is acceptable. This AD is for excessively scalloped oil journal bores. Who inspected them? Who approved them for shipment? Which one of them would want to put his family in a plane with weakened connecting rods? Example (sorry, I have to talk about what I'm familiar with): Currently the large chain stores are placing more emphasis on what bag, box, or pallet that we ship our potatoes in than the size, shape, or grade of the potatoes themselves. To say they care little about the quality would be wrong, but they care more about the price and if it's in the bag, box, or on the pallet that they have determined the customer wants. They are actually telling us that they are willing to take a #2 grade potato and pay the #1 price, as long as the packaging is correct. The soundness of the potatoes is the same, but the #2's do not need to be inspected. So maybe if the box was pretty nobody cared if the connecting rods were inspected. Example #2 The 2nd largest french fry factory in North America is just 15 miles from here. Farmers (not us) contract with them to grow potatoes. When the farmers have more than they contract for, the factory makes them an offer. This year the open market is TWICE as high as the contract price and the factory offered them 10% over the contract price for their extra potatoes. When the farmers rejected the offer the factory informed them that they would buy them for less in Colorado, haul them to Wisconsin. The freight costs would add so much to their cost that they could have paid the local growers the open market price and ended up with a better product AND supported a good relationship with their local suppliers. Instead they end up with an inferior product which costs as much to produce as a quality product would have, plus they **** off the local growers who produce a better product at a lower price year in and year out. All the consumer knows is that the fries taste like crap but the bag is pretty. Jim |
#4
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I think the root of the problem is the old technology. The old guys
who really understood these engines are retiring and there isn't really much incentive for a budding engineer or mechanic to get into this line of work because there's nothing new in the technology. On top of that, these are very expensive items, so there is a justifiable desire to keep costs under control because of competition. |
#5
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("Jim Burns" wrote)
Example #2 The 2nd largest french fry factory in North America is just 15 miles from here. Farmers (not us) contract with them to grow potatoes. When the farmers have more than they contract for, the factory makes them an offer. This year the open market is TWICE as high as the contract price and the factory offered them 10% over the contract price for their extra potatoes. When the farmers rejected the offer the factory informed them that they would buy them for less in Colorado, haul them to Wisconsin. The freight costs would add so much to their cost that they could have paid the local growers the open market price and ended up with a better product AND supported a good relationship with their local suppliers. Spud-Mart bought something else from Colorado - fear. Paul |
#6
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Paul kgyy wrote:
I think the root of the problem is the old technology. The old guys who really understood these engines are retiring and there isn't really much incentive for a budding engineer or mechanic to get into this line of work because there's nothing new in the technology. I don't think there's very much to understand. Practically ever part of our planes (except the modern avionics) is incredibly simple, and usually "over built". It seems to me that we've been getting into problems in recent years when third party vendors like ECI and Superior try and improve the old design, especially in the area of metalurgy. Having said that, I'd still buy ECI or Superior parts, because they've probably worked out all the bugs in their "improvements". But this shows you why the FAA is so incredibly conservative in approving changes to original type certificates, etc. --- Jay -- __!__ Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___ http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! ! http://www.OceanCityAirport.com http://www.oc-Adolfos.com |
#7
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"Jim Burns" wrote in message ... Why does it seem like no one knows how to make and supply quality "anything" anymore? Doesn't it just **** you off?? This AD is for excessively scalloped oil journal bores. Who inspected them? Who approved them for shipment? That's the gist of it, we supposedly pay a premium price for parts because of the extra care during manufacture and the more thorough inspection process. Looks like we ain't gettin' either. Pass the Vaseline. |
#8
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"John Kunkel" wrote in message ... "Jim Burns" wrote in message ... Why does it seem like no one knows how to make and supply quality "anything" anymore? Doesn't it just **** you off?? This AD is for excessively scalloped oil journal bores. Who inspected them? Who approved them for shipment? That's the gist of it, we supposedly pay a premium price for parts because of the extra care during manufacture and the more thorough inspection process. Looks like we ain't gettin' either. Pass the Vaseline. And what does the manufacturer care? We end up paying to correct their mistakes. I wonder what they would produce if they had to pay for ADs like auto manufactures do. |
#9
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I was with you until this point. We -- the taxpayers of the US -- spent a
fortune on the NO levee system. Plus, monies allocated to the Engineers to make upgrades were blocked by local politicians who wanted it spent elsewhere. Besides, Calypso Louie says the levees were blown up, so how could we have reinforced the levees against the CIA's RDX (which I suspect was stored on that spaceship behind Haley's Comet)? Simply throwning money around is no measure of concern or care. Defendant's Exhibit One- The DC public school system. We are becoming the Mommy Society. The more you coo and cuddle, the better and safer all will be. Defendant's Exhibit Two- The Baltimore-Washington ADIZ. Nonsense. Just *feel* good, that's all that matters. We let hurricanes flood cities and then throw money at them rather than spending any on preparation. |
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