ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!

   

Alfred J. Louque III, better known as Lucky, has won the prestigious 2009 National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year Award!  He received his award during Oshkosh from the head of the FAA Mr. J. Randolph Babbitt.

He received the Dallas and SW Region awards at our IA Seminar on 2/28/2009 in front of 260 IA's and Mechanics, from Jim McElvain the SW FAAST Regional Manager.

FAA Press release link below:

http://www.airventure.org/news/2009/090313_ga_awards.html

Lucky's Corner

these articles were written for and published in the FAA Southwest Region FAASTeam Newsletter: Nuts and Bolts

Last updated:   4/14/09

 

Lucky’s Corner in Nuts & Bolts  April 2009

Hawker Beechcraft AD # 2008-13-17

The Hawker Beechcraft AD # 2008-13-17 that affects Circuit Breaker Toggle Switches found in a large number of Beech Aircraft has become quite a hot topic.  The AD was issued and became effective on August 6, 2008.  It was created due to numerous Switch failures that caused: smoke in the cockpit, burned wiring and fire under the panel.  A “Serious Situation” to say the least.  The Switches that were affected carried Beech Part Number 35-380132-1 through 35-380132-53. The AD states that the “FIX” is to install a “New Improved” Potter Brumfield/Tyco Toggle Switch that carries Beech Part Number 35-380132-61 through 35-380132-113.  Seems pretty straight forward, huh?????   Think again!!!     

Beech bought Switches from (different) Manufacturers, Potter Brumfield and Wood Electric.  They put their own “Beech” ink stamped Part Number on them in addition to the original Manufacturer’s Model and Part Number.  So, a Potter Brumfield Switch would have the same “Affected” Beech Part Number as the Wood Electric Switch, even though they are not the same Switch design. 

Now my job as a technician is to figure out which of my customers have the “Affected” Switches and which ones don’t.  In doing this, I feel I have opened a “Can of Worms” that I can’t seem to get the lid back on.  The failed Switches were all reported to be made by Potter Brumfield.    So my question at this point is:  “What about the Wood Electric Switches?  Should they be included in this AD?”  It seems we are condemning these Switches simply because they were stamped with the same Beech Part Number as the Potter Brumfield ones.                                                                                                    

Now let’s talk about “What” is out there, in “What” airplanes, and “What” we can do at this point.  You can’t go to any Switch manufacturer and buy a replacement Switch.  To comply with the AD, the Switch must be replaced with a Beech Part Number 35-380132-61 through 35-380132-113 (Potter Brumfield/ Tyco).  A huge problem is that Beech can’t keep up with the demand for replacement Switches.  The “Drop Dead Date” at this time for all Switches to be replaced is August 31, 2009.  No way can we make this “Drop Dead Date”, when Switches are being back ordered and can’t be purchased.  I believe there will have to be an extension or an AMOC (Alternate Means of Compliance) adopted into the AD before this is over. 

I looked at an affected Beech V-35B the other day and it had 7 ea. Wood Electric Toggle Breaker Switches and 2ea. Potter Brumfield Switches in it.  According to the AD, “ALL” Switches in this aircraft must be replaced.  Realistically, I should only have to replace the 2 Potter Brumfield Switches, but that is not what the AD says at this time.  Here again, I expect to see a change to the AD, and hopefully it will be pretty quick as we are running out of time to comply fast!  At this point, rather than just ordering all new Switches for every aircraft you own or maintain, I would first determine what Switches are in each aircraft and whether they are Wood Electric or Potter Brumfield.  Then I would document which ones are where, as far as locations, to make life a whole lot easier later.  And finally I would order the replacements for the Potter Brumfield units now, because we know they are defective and need to be replaced.  My hopes are that a correction will be made to this AD that excludes the Wood Electric Toggle Switches.  I have talked with the American Bonanza Society about this matter and shared what I have found and they are looking into the possible changes needed.   

Now for the Worms!! If Potter Brumfield is the Manufacturer of the Toggle Switch Breakers that are failing in the Beechcraft Series Aircraft, “What about all of the same type Switches of that model and style manufactured by Potter Brumfield sold to other Manufacturers such as Cessna, Piper, Grumman American, Bell, Sikorsky and so on??  Are they not a problem Switch, just because they do not have a Beech Part Number stamped on them?  Shouldn’t they be covered by this AD too??  What about all of the spare and surplus Breaker Switches that came from used or salvaged aircraft and were installed in aircraft by Avionics Shops during avionics up-grades????   How about Amateur built aircraft that have these Switches??????   Now you know why this is a “Can of Worms”, Beechcraft isn’t the only one out there!!!!! Looks like maybe somebody needs to do a little more research on this one and make the needed corrections to this AD.  I believe this AD should be rewritten as an Appliance and come back under Circuit Breaker Switches/ Potter Brumfield and be addressed specifically by Manufacturer’s Model and Part Number to assure that we purge all of the truly defective Switches from the system and not condemn perfectly good ones.    Lucky Louque  / Air Salvage of Dallas

 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION February 15, 2008 SAFETY TEAM -SOUTHWEST REGION Issue: 08-01

Nuts And Bolts

LUCKY’S CORNER

HOW TO AVOID SURPRISES

The dictionary gives the defini­tion of a “Surprise” as: (1) To catch or take unaware, (2) To attack with­out warning, (3) To cause one to be astonished or amazed!  In this article we are going to re-live the “Surprise” that one of my customers had a few weeks ago in his Beech A-36 coming back from Durango, Colorado .  

It was on the morning of Au­gust 31, 2007; he had beautiful weather and was at a cruising alti­tude of 13,500 just crossing Spanish Peaks in Colorado.  The aircraft was performing normally when all of a sudden a very loud bang oc­curred. (The pilot said it was similar to a shotgun blast.)  The aircraft suddenly started vibrating and shaking violently and then losing power. What now???? What had hap­pened????? Scanning the engine ana­lyzer, he noted that the # 6 cylinder had lost temps on the CHT and EGT! Reducing power way back seemed to reduce the vibra­tion.  Trinidad, Colorado lay ahead within reach, so that was his target. He had an uneventful landing in Trinidad. He then made the phone call to me for help from this “Unplanned Stop and SUR­PRISE”. Upon looking at the engine I found that the # 6 Cylinder had blown the top of the cylinder head off of the barrel.  The only other damage noted was to the exhaust stack collector (it was deformed from the cylinder head trying to exit the cowling) and the fuel injection line. Nothing else was noted except a circular worn spot in the center of the bottom cushion of the pilot’s seat. There wasn’t an apparent odor noted, however; if I had gotten there right after the landing, I bet there would have been.  

“Why did this happen is the mil­lion dollar question. I could have pos­sibly caught this prior to it happen­ing. I have been seeing this type of failure more and more.  Not just on older cylinders but on new ones and not only Continental, but Lycoming as well. So it is not isolated to just one manufacturer.  Several factors are showing up that I feel have a bearing on these types of failures.  For in­stance, (1) Time in service: there are cylinders out there that have thou­sands of hours of time in service. Some of them, mechanics have no idea how many hours they have in service. (2) Actual age of the cylin­ders: there are some cylinders out there that are over 50 years old, possi­bly having corrosion problems be­tween the steel barrel threaded area and the aluminum head area, which is where cracks can originate. (3) Ther­mal shock cooling; not knowing how many times these cylinders have ex­perienced this and (4) Barrel replace­ments: mechanics don’t know how many times that the barrel and head have been de-mated and re-mated, no records of this process are passed on with the cylinder history.

The cylinder that failed on this A­36 was an original OEM (TCM) cyl­inder that had about 3300 to 3400 hours total time in service and about 1600 hours since its last re-chrome and overhaul. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that it’s not a question of “IF it will fail” but rather “WHEN it will fail”.  I have seen fresh overhauled cylinders fail this way after only 15 hours out of over­haul and others with 4,000 hrs on them and are still doing fine.  With all of the new mods going on out there, such as turbo-normalizing, turbo in­ter-coolers, exhaust system mods like “Power Flow Exhaust”, and running

rich of peak and running lean of peak, we have introduced these cyl­inders to new operating parameters for which they may or may not have been designed or tested to operate in. There are so many variables involved that I can’t mention them all.  What I do know is that to catch this problem before there is a failure, a very sim­ple test can be run. This test was originated by a PMA holder and the FAA to catch premature failures of this type in some PMA’d cylinders. The test is to run a differential com­pression test and while the cylinder has pressure on it, take a spray bottle of soap and water mix and spray the cylinder head all the way around the head part where it is attached to the barrel. If a crack has started but isn’t visible yet, you should be able to see bubbles and leakage in that area. Also pay close attention to the area at the fuel injector nozzle hole and at the spark plug holes.  I have found leaks and cracks at these areas also. Any leakage or bubbles is cause for further investigation or cylinder re­moval before further operation.  All of these barrel head separations start with a fracture or so called crack first which then progresses to the point of complete failure of the head. 

My recommendation is to do the soap test while under pressure at every oil change.  This will help you possibly avoid this “SURPRISE”.  Believe me, it is a whole lot easier to replace a cylinder at home in your own shop or hangar than at some airport 500 miles away where you have no tools, supplies or spare parts to work with. Happy fly­ing and be safe!!!!!!  

 

   

Author: Lucky Louque / Air Salvage of Dallas

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION January 25, 2007 SAFETY TEAM -SOUTHWEST REGION Issue:1

Nuts And Bolts

IA Renewal

It’s Your Choice On How To Renew, So Make The Best Of It

The purpose of this article is to help clarify the renewal process for Inspection Authorizations. As with anything there are pros and cons. Last March the FAA passed a change in the renewal process, we are no longer required to renew our Inspection Authorizations every year. To save time and money as far as the FAA budget goes, IA’s will renew their Inspection Authorizations every two years, on odd numbered years. This change blind sided most of us, including me.

Once announced, I got busy to find out what this really meant to me as an Inspection Authorization holder. When I got through with the research, I was blown away by the fact that the only change would be that my Authorization would be renewed every two years instead of every year. This part sounds good, but don’t get too excited yet. There is more to the story! As far as the requirements for renewal each year, nothing has changed. Under section 65.93 (c) (1) (5), you still have to "Qualify" for "EACH" preceding 12 calendar month period to be eligible to renew your Authorization at the two year interval. To “Qualify” everyone knows that you can renew strictly on activity, having signed off on at least 4 Annuals each year, having signed off on 8 Major Repairs and/or Alterations, 1 Progressive Inspection, attend an approved Renewal Course or everyone’s favorite, "The Delightful Oral with the FAA". If you didn’t “Qualify” by March 31 of that calendar year, you would not be able to exercise the privilege of using your Inspection Authorization after that date and would be in Violation of Far 65.93 if you did.

Remember what’s important here — to renew!!!! You must meet renewal requirements by the end of the Calendar year "EACH YEAR" (March 31) or you blew it. So, when you take a good look at this "2 Year Renewal Thing” nothing has changed as far as renewal requirements for us, other than submitting the paperwork and getting renewed every Odd Numbered year. So, my suggestion to you is to act as if nothing has changed and continue to fill out your Renewal paperwork (FAA form 8610-1, not required but I recommend it) with your activity documented and/or continue to attend the approved courses and stash your paperwork in a safe place so you can have it readily available at renewal time. Remember, if you can’t find it or produce it at renewal time, you’ve got a Big Problem! For further information on this refer to AMT Magazines April 2007 article by Bill O’Brien on page 24.

Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of how you renew. By renewing your Inspection Authorization by activity alone, I believe you will miss out on one very important thing! Continuing Education. This shows us what is happening in the field and industry!!!! That is where the Approved Renewal Seminars come into play! Most ask themselves, why should I pay money and spend a full 8 hour day sitting in a classroom listening to people talk and lecture when I already qualify to renew by activity??? To that I answer- For the knowledge and updating of what we have learned in the past year from our own mistakes and successes and that of others, that’s why. The FAA Approved Seminars strive to keep you updated on upcoming changes. Changes that have already taken place and are in effect, whether it is regulations, processes, Airworthiness Directives, Improper Maintenance techniques, log book sign-offs, paperwork changes and what caused the most accidents last year. Renewal through Seminars shares with you All of the combined errors, misjudgments, proper uses that are shared by your fellow IA's. Instead of just acquiring the knowledge you gained last year through qualified activity, you now can acquire so much more from your fellow IA’s as discovered by them, Industry and the FAA. Let’s face it; "SAFETY" is the key word and focus behind the Seminars. It is your decision on how to renew. Think about being in a seminar with 150 to 200 IA’s with individual experience levels ranging from being an IA for 1 year to 40 years. Just think of how much combined experience that is in one room that you now have access to just by being there!!!! It’s your choice on how to renew, so make the best of it.

Lucky Louque, Air Salvage of Dallas