Stabilizers; Pacific Aerospace Limited (Fletcher) Horizontal Stabilizer Trim System

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FAA Aviation Safety SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN SAIB: CE-12-42 SUBJ: Stabilizers; Pacific Aerospace Limited (Fletcher) Horizontal Stabilizer Trim System Date: August 15, 2012 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin is being issued to inform the public about an airworthiness issue identified by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand concerning the Pacific Aerospace Limited (Fletcher) FU24 series airplanes.

At this time, this airworthiness concern is not considered an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under title 14 of the code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR part 39).

Background

The airplanes subject to the airworthiness issue are airplanes that may have been modified by conversion to turbine power. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knows of no airplanes of this type on the U.S. registry have been modified with turbine engines.

The CAA found that large trim changes may be required on standard category turbine-powered Fletcher FU24 series airplanes due to the different range of loading. The manual trim on the FU24 takes approximately 25 turns of the handle for full travel. This can be mitigated by the installation of an electric trim system. With electric trim the pilot can adjust the trim tab by simply moving the top hat style switch located at the top of the control stick. An electric trim is a safety enhancement, fast moving, and instantly accessible to the pilot.

Recommendations

This concern was the subject of CAA AD DCA/FU24/181, but the FAA notes that it is described as a safety enhancement. Should such an airplane be modified through conversion to a turbine engine, we recommend you incorporate the provisions of the CAA AD. This information may be found at:

http://www.caa.govt.nz/Airworthiness_Directives/Airworthiness_Directives_Home.htm

For Further Information Contact

Karl Schletzbaum, Aerospace Engineer, Small airplane Directorate, ACE-112, Room 300, 901 Locust Street, Kansas City, MO 64106; phone: (816) 329-4146; fax: (816) 329-4090; e-mail: [email protected]

For Related Service Information Contact

Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, (Airworthiness Specialist), P.O. Box 3555, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand; phone: 011-64-4-560-9569; fax: 011-64-4-560-9452.