Pegasus gliders.

All-

As the owner of a high time Pegasus (and the guy Mitch was referring
to in the first post), I'd like to dispel a couple of rumors and
disagree with some of the "suggestions" to this situation. First, some
folks have suggested "losing" the A/C logbooks and just starting over.
This is in fact the worst idea, as the FAA must assume that, in the
absence of LEGAL documentation to the contrary, an aircraft with a
service life limit has reached that limit and is no longer
serviceable. There is an example of a Learjet that was auctioned off
in Mexico for peanuts because the logbooks were stolen along with the
pilot's luggage. Without documentation of the life history and
maintenance records, the aircraft was deemed unflyable according to
the FAA, and was not permitted to reenter the US. Likewise, the
suggestion of coming up with a "new" set of logbooks is questionable.
If you were caught, you would probably not only face the immediate
loss of the service life remaining, but could also be charged with
forging an official document.

Another suggestion that has been booted around in the past is to
change the certification from Standard to Experimental.
Unfortunately, Experimental status does not exempt the aircraft from
manufacturer service life limits and Airworthiness Directives.

In June of this year, I received a letter from the FAA outlining the
situation. I believe this letter was also sent to all registered
owners of the Pegase 101A in the US. It gave the reasoning behind the
AD that limited the service life. Basically, it boils down to the fact
that Centrair never submitted fatigue test data to the FAA, nor did
they offer an inspection protocol that would extend the service life
past 3000 hours. The letter also referred to the fact that Pegase
101's in France are still flying well beyond 3000 hours since they
were certified in France without a life limit.

JJ is also correct in stating that the "new" Centrair is not
cooperating on this issue. According to the FAA website, there are 31
Pegase gliders in the US, and since Centrair no longer manufactures
the glider, they are willing to write off the US owned ships. At least
in this matter. A couple of years ago, we were all forced to buy new
rudder pedals (at an exorbitant price) because of a Service Bulletin
that quickly became an AD from the FAA. Apparently, the French are OK
with taking our money, but not supporting their product otherwise. (At
this point I could make a comment about 1944, but I won't.

The last paragraph in the FAA's letter is intriguing. It states "SSA
or another entity could obtain approval for a service life extension
program via a Supplemental Type Certificate."

I am beginning research into exactly what this would entail. I would
be interested to hear from other Pegase 101 owners, especially those
who have been affected by the AD, and those who are nearing the 3000
hour life limit. From what I have been able to determine, the STC
could be costly, and I am wondering how to go about funding it.
Interested owners may contacy me directly at Mark (at) MMFabrication
dot com.

Oh, by the way, the proper Latin is "Non illegitimi carborundum."

Mark