SAIB CE-02-42

1 SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration No. CE-02-42 August 9, 2002 We post SAIBs on the internet at "av-info.faa.gov" This is information only. Recommendations are not mandatory. Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) provides safety information to Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2cM, Discus bM, and Nimbus-4DM, sailplane owners on the following: Model Serial Number(s) Ventus-2cM 44 and 46-120 Discus bM 1-9 Nimbus-4DM 1, 3-8, 10-19 and 21-48 • Propeller Hub Bearing • Spindle Drive Overload Safety Device • Supplements to the Maintenance Manual Background Schempp-Hirth reported that one Ventus-2cM propeller bearing hub failed after 11 hours of operation. A surface discontinuity at the transition from the front seat of the roller bearing to the conical part of the hub caused the failure. Schempp-Hirth has developed Technical Note 825-31, 863-7, and 868-5, which incorporate installation of a reinforced hub and belt pulley. The German Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) has issued Airworthiness Directive 2002-199 for German registered sailplanes. Recommendation The FAA highly recommends that the U.S. owner/operators comply with the referenced Schempp-Hirth Technical Note. We have included a copy of the Technical Note for your information. The FAA provides this information as a courtesy to operators of the Schempp-Hirth Models Ventus-2cM, Discus bM, and Nimbus-4DM because this is a known safety issue. We do not issue Airworthiness Directives for sailplanes that do not have a U.S. type certificate. We will not track or enforce this safety issue. Furthermore, the FAA will not use an SAIB to track all safety related items for non-type certificated products. For Technical Information Concerning These Safety Issues Contact Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH, Postfach 14 43, D-73222 Kirchheim/Tech, Federal Republic of Germany; phone 49.7021.7298-0; fax 49.7021.7298-199. Further Information Contact Tom Knauff, United States Schempp-Hirth Dealer, 3523 South Eagle Valley Road, Jullian, PA 16844; phone (814) 355-2483; fax (814) 355-2633. Mike Kiesov, Aerospace Engineer/Pilot, FAA, Small Airplane Directorate, 901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City, Missouri, 64106; phone (816) 329-4144; fax (816) 329-4090, email; [email protected]

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