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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2056.PDF
OPERATIONS: GENERAL JL Owners of all Beech King Air 300s will need to replace wing-attachment bushes King Air operators face wing mods Almost 400 Beech King Air .200 and 300 turboprop exec utive aircraft will need modified wing-attachment fittings, follow ing tests which suggest that the original expected life will not be reached. The manufacturer had thought that regular 2,500h inspections, probably from 10,000h, would be sufficient, but now considers bush replacement in lower forward spar caps on aircraft built in the past five years to be more prudent. Beech says that 368 King Airs —post-1983 Model 200s and all Model 300s—are affected. It expects to call for modifications to be carried out at around 7,500h flying time, which it calls a very conservative estimate of the life of original fittings. On King Air 300s and post- 1983 200s the lower forward- spar shear-bolt is located in bushes which have been chilled before fitting into a heated lug to achieve an interference fit. Fatigue tests have shown that, in extremely hostile conditions, the bushes could begin to rotate, and that this could lead to failure. The manufacturer has intro duced a so-called force mate process, which uses a tapered mandrel to expand bushes in the fitting to increase fatigue resis tance. King Air operators will be advised to book their aircraft in for modification at a service centre when the advised flying time is reached. They will have to pay for labour and incidental parts, but Beech will provide the new bushes, fitting tools, and ensure the presence of a service engineer. During development of the King Air 300, which is more powerful and 1,5001b heavier than the earlier 200, Beech changed the attachment at the centre-section/outer-wing joint to a double clevis and pin arrangement from the previous bolt-in-tension fitting. The upper forward and both aft spar attach ments remained as before. At the same time, a three-element bonded aluminium spar was introduced in the lower forward position, in the place of the earlier single-piece beam. In 1987, Beech fatigue tests examined a "worst conceivable case", in which eventually the lower forward left-hand attach ment clevis failed at 7,730h as a result of fatigue cracking initiated by fretting. Analysis by Beech concluded that, under more real istic (but still conservative) flight conditions, the structure would endure at least 127,000h, and that a greater interference fit of 0 0028in could raise this time to 200,000h. This translates to an engineering safe-life of 34,700h. Following the test, Beech advised owners last year that it expected to recommend regular 2,500h inspections from 10,000h. Now, Beech expects to adopt 7,500h as the point at which lower forward-spar attach ment bushes should be replaced as a standard action in Chapter 4 of the maintenance manual. • Commander tackles product issue Anovel approach to product liability persuaded Gulf- stream chairman Allen Paulson to sell the Commander piston- single line to Commander Air craft, says president Randall Greene. Commander Aircraft had to assume liability for some 1,000 Rockwell-built aircraft still flying and produce acceptable pro posals covering the new aircraft it planned to produce. The result is the Commander cost-assurance programme, which Greene believes will mini mise lawsuits by reducing the risk of accidents and limiting insurance payouts. Any new Commander cus tomer must undergo three days of initial training to build pro ficiency on the aircraft. This includes use of a cockpit pro cedures trainer and flight in the actual aircraft covering all approach paths and grass land ing. Thereafter, there will be an annual check ride. Secondly, Commander will provide $5 million combined single limit insurance (five times the norm). In an effort to limit insurance claims, the company has signed non-subrogation agreements with its vendors —principally engine supplier Lycoming—which prevent them joining any lawsuit against Commander Aircraft. This, and the use of a single underwriter, keeps the premium to acceptable levels, says Greene. Thirdly, the engine will have an extended warranty equivalent to the time between overhaul. On reaching TBO the customer will automatically receive a recon ditioned engine in return for his time-expired unit. This should avoid accidents caused by pilots flying beyond engine TBO and experiencing catastrophic failure. Aircraft values are likely to remain high, because, as a Commander gets older, it also gets closer to receiving a new engine, says Greene. While the cost of product- liability insurance has kept Cessna's piston-single out of production, the cost-assurance programme has enabled Gulf- stream—which never built any Commander singles after it pur chased the line from Rockwell in 1981—to sell the line and for production to restart. Commander Aircraft will complete the first four new-production aircraft in December. The aircraft are being built in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Gulfstream parent Chrysler is providing production financing in an effort to offset the impact of closing down its Kenosha car manufacturing plant. The aircraft being put back in production is an aerodynamically refined version of the Commander 114, with cruise speed raised from 149kt to at least 164kt from the same 260 h.p. Lycoming IO-540 piston engine. • NEWS IN BRIEF SQUIRREL REFURBISHED European Helicopters has refurbished an Aerospatiale AS.355F1 Twin Squirrel, pur chased in the USA, for the Charter Group, a London prop erty organisation. EHL asso ciate company Lynton Aviation will operate the helicopter under a management contract. GABON GRANT The United Nations has granted $8 million aid to the Multi national Civil Aviation Training Centre in Mvengue, Gabon. The centre, which trains pilots and technicians from 14 Afri can countries, has financial problems because some member states have not paid contributions. AIRSPORTS GROUP Sport aviators seeking unified representation to the European Commission have formed Europe Airsports, a pressure group with members in the 12 states of the European Commu nity. Its president is Frederick Marsh. 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 July 1989
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