SAIB CE-04-66 —

SAIB CE-04-66 Current Issued 04/29/2004 Mooney Aircraft Corporation M20

What is a SAIB?

A Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin is an FAA-issued advisory — not mandatory like an AD, but worth knowing about. SAIBs typically flag service bulletins, manufacturer recommendations, or emerging issues that don't (yet) rise to AD level.

Bulletin text

Verbatim from the FAA-published PDF. 11 paragraphs · 307 words.

CE-04-66 April 29, 2004 www.faa.gov/certification/aircraft This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction:

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts you, owners and operators of Mooney Aircraft Company Model M20 airplanes (year model 1966 through 1978) with Dukes Part No. 1057-00-5, -5E, -5F, -5G, of possible premature failure of the landing gear actuators.

Background:

Mooney issued Service Bulletin (SB) 20-190 to provide maintenance and gear replacement procedures for the Mooney landing gear with the Dukes P/N 4196-00-1C or International Telephone and Telegram (ITT) P/N LA11C2110 actuators only. We issued AD 75-23-04, applicable to all M20 series airplanes equipped with Mooney Electric Gear System, Dukes P/N 4196-00-1C, and referenced the procedures in SB 20-190. A later revision of SB 20-190 included the ITT P/N LA11C2110 landing actuator.

We have received several Service Difficulty Reports (Maintenance or Malfunction Defects) regarding the premature failures of the Dukes P/N 1057-00-5, -5E, -5F, and -5G. We determined that some operators were inappropriately maintaining these products with the wrong service instructions (SB 20-190) creating the premature failure of the landing gear actuator. This could prevent the landing gear from functioning properly and could result in a gear-up landing situation.

M20 airplanes with the Dukes 4196-00-1C and the ITT LA11C2110 actuators have a 20:1 speed ratio, made possible with a double lead worm shaft, and the Dukes 1057-00-5 actuator uses a 40:1 speed ratio, made possible with a single lead worm shaft.

Recommendation:

To prevent premature failure of the landing gear actuators, we strongly recommend that owners and operators of the M20 airplanes referenced above stop using SB 20-190 to perform maintenance of these actuators. You should consult the appropriate M20 Service and Maintenance Manual.

For Further Information Contact:

Mr. Garry D. Sills, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Fort Worth ACO, 2601 Meacham Blvd, ASW-150, Fort Worth, TX 76137-4298; phone: (817) 222-5154; fax: (817) 222-5960; e-mail: [email protected].

The FAA-published PDF is the authoritative source. Open on drs.faa.gov ↗