New AD for wings.
 

See attached.

Many thanks to our Left Coast contributor for bringing this to my attention

wing tip extension ad
 

So, the obvious question is... who is going to pay to correct this? AE obviously made mistakes.
They should be paying for the labour and the parts to rectify this. They should also supply conventional wing tips to anyone who wants the mods removed. In my business if a vendor does shoddy workmanship then we get someone else to make good on it and bill the original vendor. My own mechanic was very surprised by the poor workmanship when he did my first annual. This is grounds for a class action suit. I hope AE realizes this and does the right thing before it gets out of control.

Extensions
 

Read the AD carefully. This is for wing EXTENSIONS, that are fuel tanks.

It also begs the question, what about FLINT. They make wing extensions that are fuel tanks. I have seen more than 1 Skymaster with Flint tanks.

wing tip extension ad
 

Yes, that is what mine are. It gets worse of you have the wing tips without the fuel tanks.
GTOW 4000 lbs. VFR only etc.

The way I read the AD it is talking about wing extensions, not winglets or wing tips. It covers wing extensions with integral fuel tanks and wing extensions without integral fuel tanks. I have not looked up the STC numbers yet though.

FLINT obviously has better engineering.

Wing tips without fuel tanks? I am not following your course here Gord. Are you thinking the wing extensions without tanks that have fuel in them? Or are you referring to the winglets that AE has the STC for? The proposed AD for the wing extensions does not contain anything about the winglets.

http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/article...skymaster.html

WIng extensions
 

Hi Herb, I used the wrong word earlier. I meant wing extensions without without fuel tanks.
There does not appear to be any problems with the wing tips. The ad refers to extensions with fuel tanks and extensions without. It appears the limitations are much more stringent on aircraft with the extensions but no fuel tank.
Either way, Saturday morning I start removing the mod. On Monday my engineer and I will do the one time inspection and be done with it. Probably saved my life.

Is there actually a mod for wing extensions without the tanks? I didn't understand that when I read the draft AD.

wing extension ad
 

Hi Herb, it was news to me too. Why bother doing it at all if your not going to have the fuel tanks. Mine are coming off on Saturday. My engineer was beginning to worry after the last annual. He says it will probably save my life. The extended range was nice as a cushion on fuel reserve but I am really only good for a few hours at a time anyway. I think the mod should have come with a pilot relief tube but the FAA probably would have issued an AD on that too.

Ah, and once again my primary safety rule...

6 hour fuel range...

3 hour bladder range!

There's a relief tube on this one. No need to give up coffee or even worry about a preflight pit stop.

I have four young daughters. Flying with five women made the mod essential.

Owen Bell's contact information
 

Does anyone know how to reach Owen Bell?
My engineer has been trying to reach him.
I think one of he engineers (can't confirm as it was second hand) from the FAA has been trying to get in contact with him as well.

website
 

An open letter to Aviation Enterprises.
 

My plane is now in being repaired.
This AD is very expensive in the neighborhood of $20,000.
The damage to my aircraft as a result of the installation of the wing extension/fuel tank STC is extensive.
The repairs are not only to comply with the AD but also to undue the damage caused by drilling into the spar caps.
I gave Mr. Bell an opportunity to contact me to discuss remediation but he has not even acknowledged my e-mail.

Mr. Bell, I know you read these posts? Now would be a good time to come clean and do the right thing. The damage caused by your STC is irrefutable. How can we continue to buy your other products if you are unwilling to stand by them?

This is a wonderful opportunity for Aviation Enterprises to show the Skymaster community that they stand behind their products even to the point of making good on their errors.

Hey, who doesn't make mistakes? Lets fix this one together so we can continue to enjoy our beautiful aircraft and Aviation Enterprises can continue to flourish with the confidence of the Skymaster community.