aerovin wrote:
thoots wrote:
Things might move pretty quickly from this point forward -- the B-17 is next, with the work being mainly to recertify the engines. It sounds like they have already replaced fuel lines and such. The whole "wing spar" issue apparently is not an issue -- apparently it was about microscopic cracks in them, and "they all left the factory with those." Presumably they will not keep the plane from flying away.
Once the B-17 is ready to fly it will be flown to Florida on a ferry permit where the mandatory FAA Airworthiness Directive will be completed. This is a major inspection of the wing attach points and hardware and for the other flying B-17s, required the wings be removed. See also:
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAD.nsf/AOCADSearch/AD567A6DFAC6CB5A86256AF10057B840?OpenDocumentThis is pretty much why Evergreen parked the B-17 in the first place back around 2001.
Thanks Scott. I'm still amused by the "they all left the factory with those" comments. What nonsense - shame on them for saying that. No, they didn't leave with cracks. Most of the B-17's flying today do not have cracks, "microscopic", or otherwise. The ones that do have FAA approved repairs.
If you do the full inspection required by the AD - which requires pulling the wing, removing the terminal fittings - and discover no corrosion or cracks, you can put it back together and you're good to go - no further inspections are necessary. If you find a crack, you do the repair in the SRM or one of the AMOCs, and follow the inspection interval for that repair.
The AD also allows an alternate inspection (bolt pull, not wing pull), that must be performed every 36 months. If cracks are discovered, there are AMOCs to address them, but you must continue to re-do inspections at intervals as short as every 25 FLIGHT HOURS to 12-18 months to 36 months, depending on the crack and repair method.
Chuck