5000 Hour Wing Spar AD

[Dmoore]

I am new to SkyMasters and have been flying a C337G for the past year. Just getting into my first annual and my shop tells me there is an AD due 5000 hours for the wing spars. I'm only a few hundred hours away or about 2 years. Has anyone had any experience with this? Whats the cost? Has anyone had to get repairs? Any help would be appreciated, thanks David

[awilps]

I have flying/fixing a few O-2s for the past few months. From what I have learned from Don Nieser, at Commodore Aerospace, it isnt the inspection itself that is the worst part, its removing the wing skins. The screws are a bear to remove, and there are MANY. He had a great suggestion, which was to progressively begin working away at removing and replacing them with new fasteners, a few at a time. That way opening the whole thing up when you need to saves a ton of time and labor costs. He had done quite a few of these, and as I recall, he never had one with any actual cracking.

[WebMaster]

There was a plane, a long time ago, that had a crack. Ever since then, the AD has been in place. It's time consuming, not inexpensive, and nothing to sweat.

The suggestion to replace all the fasteners is a good one. You also want to look at the documents, and drill an inspection hole. It makes the whole process so much faster, and more reliable.

Don't wait until it is mandatory, get your ducks in order ahead of time, you will be glad you did.

The most expensive part of it is the eddy current test. Most shops don't have the equipment and expertise to do that, so they hire someone in.

[Kim Geyer]

Originally Posted by larry bowdish

There was a plane, a long time ago, that had a crack. Ever since then, the AD has been in place. It's time consuming, not inexpensive, and nothing to sweat.

The suggestion to replace all the fasteners is a good one. You also want to look at the documents, and drill an inspection hole. It makes the whole process so much faster, and more reliable.

Don't wait until it is mandatory, get your ducks in order ahead of time, you will be glad you did.

The most expensive part of it is the eddy current test. Most shops don't have the equipment and expertise to do that, so they hire someone in.

We had the inspection done on one of our Skymasters last year at Air Services in Carrollton Ga. Cost was @ $2000.00 for the first time. Each of the next inspections should be @ $1000.00

Kim

[Dmoore]

Thanks for the info, That doesn't sound to bad. This is the first annual and I am going to have to make a considerable investment because of poor upkeep in the past. I just didn't want to get hit with something in a year or two that would cause me to park the plane.

Does anyone know where to get a door strut that keeps the upper half of the clam shell door open? Mine was previously replaced with an unapproved automotive part.

[Red Air Rambo]

Originally Posted by Dmoore

Thanks for the info, That doesn't sound to bad. This is the first annual and I am going to have to make a considerable investment because of poor upkeep in the past. I just didn't want to get hit with something in a year or two that would cause me to park the plane.

Does anyone know where to get a door strut that keeps the upper half of the clam shell door open? Mine was previously replaced with an unapproved automotive part.

Try Don Niesser at 405-722-4079