FAA requires older Piper planes to be checked for damaged cables

PilotAlan said:
Remember that when you buy a set of cables and turnbuckles from Piper, the liability clock on those parts starts again.
Click to expand...

Does the 15 year rule cover aftermarket parts manufacturers also?
 
Tom-D said:
How many owners do you believe have replaced these cables?

Plus how many of those owners will use a replacement cable manufactured in the field?

Lots of common sense things simply do not add up in this AD.
Click to expand...

I replaced all the cables in our brave after we bought it and we made them ourselves. I actually tried to buy one from piper but it was obviously too short. When we got this last Pawnee one was corroded so we tried piper again, this time it was too long.
 
bnt83 said:
I doubt that aggressive control checks come anywhere near to the proof load of an 1/8 cable and its terminal.

Corrosion problems seems reasonable tho.

Proof load is 60% cable rated breaking strength which for 1/8 inch 7x19 steel cable would be 1200 pounds.
Click to expand...

Probably right, I just mentioned it because of the instruction to look for cracks in the barrel. The cables are in close proximity to the battery though and the PA28 battery box cover is notoriously flimsy. I've dealt with a lot of corrosion issues in that area.
 
Skylane81E said:
Cuz it aint a problem with the hardware. If it was it would be on the hardware, at least all the hardware on the affected planes, not just the stab ones. Me thinks that it has something to do with the environment created for the hardware my their position in the tail of certain piper aircraft
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly.
 
flyingmoose said:
I don't see why not. The AD is for aircraft type, not turnbuckle maker.
Click to expand...

The FAA knows if they hit the turnbuckle manufacturer and all the aircraft that uses them there would be a riot in the Aviation industry.
 
Tom-D said:
The FAA knows if they hit the turnbuckle manufacturer and all the aircraft that uses them there would be a riot in the Aviation industry.
Click to expand...
I meant to say that I don't see why it would cover the buckle itself. I wrote it wrong. You are right about that.
 
I have survived an elevator cable failure at rotation in a PA32-300. This occurred 7 hours after the AD Inspection. My opinion is "Change the Cables" it is cheap insurance. Reaction time to the failure approximately 3-4 seconds after the bang and control yoke coming into my lap.
The Piper Service Bulletin was not being complied with, so the FAA made it an AD. Don't wait for annual. Have this inspection completed immediately. The life you save may be your own. Mechanics are seeing cable problems in many aircraft that are being inspected.
 
brianb said:
I have survived an elevator cable failure at rotation in a PA32-300. This occurred 7 hours after the AD Inspection. My opinion is "Change the Cables" it is cheap insurance. Reaction time to the failure approximately 3-4 seconds after the bang and control yoke coming into my lap.
The Piper Service Bulletin was not being complied with, so the FAA made it an AD. Don't wait for annual. Have this inspection completed immediately. The life you save may be your own. Mechanics are seeing cable problems in many aircraft that are being inspected.
Click to expand...

Makes me question either the validity of the AD or the skill of your mechanic.

Not having the details I cannot say for sure
 
brianb said:
I have survived an elevator cable failure at rotation in a PA32-300. This occurred 7 hours after the AD Inspection. My opinion is "Change the Cables" it is cheap insurance. Reaction time to the failure approximately 3-4 seconds after the bang and control yoke coming into my lap.
The Piper Service Bulletin was not being complied with, so the FAA made it an AD. Don't wait for annual. Have this inspection completed immediately. The life you save may be your own. Mechanics are seeing cable problems in many aircraft that are being inspected.
Click to expand...
Wow...:yikes:
 
Many aren't doing well about looking at cable wear. I found all four aileron cables looking like this.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    781.1 KB · Views: 88
Look up the Stearman. There are a total of five AD's, last one came out in 1963.
 
Silvaire said:
Look up the Stearman. There are a total of five AD's, last one came out in 1963.
Click to expand...

Yep, 3 of them are for duster mods, one is for the exposed upper center section fuel tank (mine is covered), and the last is for the McCauley metal prop to get stripped and inspected every 100 hours. For as big as it is, it's not any more of a maintenance hassle than my Cub. Gas hog, but not hard to keep running...

Mike-
 
tmyers said:
Most of what I have read about the failures is back near the vent fan mounting location. Many times moisture is present from entering the intake screen in the vertical stab. Breaks in the scat tubing and sometimes just leakage through the scat tube connections allow moisture into the empanage near the turnbuckle causing corrosion. I knew about this prior to purchasing and had the A&P crawl back into the tail section to look at it. Nothing was found on the cable or swage or turnbuckle, but some corrosion was noted behind the battery box which I had him remove and treat.

Hopefully it won't take too long at annual, or I might have it looked at next time I have my A&P in my plane.
Click to expand...

FWIW I am working on this AD now on a -140, turnbuckles are clean but there is an area of corrosion right under the lower turnbuckle. This is directly under the low spot on the scat tube coming from the vent fan...
 
Skylane81E said:
FWIW I am working on this AD now on a -140, turnbuckles are clean but there is an area of corrosion right under the lower turnbuckle. This is directly under the low spot on the scat tube coming from the vent fan...
Click to expand...

got a pic of it?
 
VanDy said:
got a pic of it?
Click to expand...

See what I can do, just finished looking up cable tensions, back in:rolleyes:

1170897_10152183191913712_1463335986_n.jpg


It isn't as bad as the pic makes it look
 
Last edited:
gotcha, I wasnt completely sure what you were saying, but i got ya now!
 
I remember reading a couple years ago about this on the POS (that's Piper Owners Society, not Piece of Sh**) website. The OP has bad scat tubing and the moisture was dripping onto the cable. When the OP gave it a tug the turnbuckle and cable parted company.
 
Yep, this has me thinking, if a leak in the scat allows water to drip onto the cable, it could run into the turnbuckle or swedged end and begin to corrode where you wouldn't be able to see it on a normal inspection.

Makes me wonder if any of the planes that have had issues had the vent fan...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top