Well, Glen, you do make some excellent points. Any mechanic bright enough to hold the license and any AI bright enough to pass the test should be able to do the maintenance. But there are some issues for which they need supplementary information.
It would be possible to make a mechanic's "Coupe annual inspection checklist and how-to" book. We should do that, for sure. I should be able to walk up to Joe, the local mechanic, hand him the book, say "Do my annual according to this book," and count on it being done right. Do the mechanics among you think this could be done so a local mechanic could easily do all special Coupe inspections without spending so much time reading that they blow it off? I ain't no mechanic. Yet here are some of the Coupe specific things I've heard discussed during my involvement with Coupes: 1. Landing gear donuts, Belleville springs, spacers, tail height. 2. Push rod corrosion testing via ice pick. 3. Elevator up travel for each model, how to measure it, what to do about it. 4. Header tank support. 5. Alon header tank welded seam degradation. 6. Window welt installation. 7. Corrosion inspection, where to look on these planes, how to get at it. 8. Control column maintenance. 9. Flow limiter in fuel line between fuel pump and header tank. 10. Control free-play testing. 11. Nose gear maintenance. 12. Taper crankshaft cracking. 13. Aerodynamic trim tab spring testing. 14. Aileron trim adjustment via bending trailing edge. That's a partial list, I'm sure. But it shows that there are some Coupe specific issues. I do think we should develop a Coupe inspection checklist with an accompanying how-to for regular mechanics. Currently, the information for this is dispersed through several books the mechanic can be guaranteed to NOT HAVE. The owner should have these books before taking the plane in for its annual. But then, what does the mechanic do? Read the entire service manual? Then read the entire Bulletins and Memorandum book? Then read the entire text of the Aircraft Specification A-718 or A-787? Then make up his own list (with zero type experience) of what's important and what's not? The first attempt at a check-list I was involved in was about eight years ago, when I was Coupe Capers Editor. I got input from John Wright, Sr., Darryl Lessard, and a couple of other mechanics. You can see it on Dave's Ercoupe Page at: "http://home.flash.net/~dmprosvc/dave/#Articles by Ed Burkhead" Adding new maintenance certificates: On the second issue, Poberezny suggested that just maybe a properly certified pilot could do this regular work. Roy Prugh and I codified our ideas of how and why it could be done. As we said in the proposal, it would require real training and testing. Though I'll never do the training to be an A&P for all planes, I'd like to get the training to do this kind of work on my Coupe. Then there are mechanics like John Wright, Jr. He's already an A&P and there's not a single doubt in my mind that he's fully qualified to act as an AI for Coupes. But he doesn't have time in his life to accumulate the expertise in jet engine repair, airliner maintenance, and the heavy metal aircraft stuff necessary to be an AI. Under the current structure, we have no way for specialists like him to be able to sign off an annual inspection in their specialty aircraft. He currently gets signed off by his dad, but some day his dad might no be around. Then he'll have to take his work to an AI less competent than himself for a sign-off. Our proposal, please note, makes absolutely NO requirement that only Coupe type rated mechanics can work on the plane." As now, any kid off the street can work on a plane "under the supervision of a mechanic." Any A&P can do certain work on his own and can do major repairs or your annual if he can get an AI to sign it off. Any AI can do it all by himself. There is no restriction in this proposal of the current forms of approved maintenance. Feel free to ignore the entire discussion if you like. GW wrote: > > This is silly, really silly. There is no reason to make things more > complicated than they already are. I especially would hate to see some > group like the Ercoupe Owners Club and a bunch of guys with nothing to do > but over-analyze a 60 year old plane deciding who can and who can't work on > a simplistic clunker like this. If the government can't decide, then they > should just forget about it and quit handing out their authority to private > groups. Save your type specific training for a 747. I can't believe you > would even say that either you or your mechanic should have type-specific > training for a plane like this! An Ercoupe is not too complicated. Any > mechanic has already had enough training that if he can't work on an Ercoupe > then you need to call a shrink and see why the mech's IQ has dropped below > 70. It is actually no different than any other airplane, though some folks > on here seem to be convinced otherwise. It is aluminum, after all, and most > mechanics are still trained in fabric work, despite the common opinion. > Anybody can do practically eveything on their coupe if they can change they > oil in their car, or certainly if they can change their brakes. Maybe if > some folks on here ever did more than fun ego-boost work on their plane they > would know better! Glen Ward -- Ed Burkhead Peoria, Ill. Ercoupe N3802H, 415-D Never open an attachment with a ".exe" or ".com" or ".vbs" suffix. To be safe, turn off Microsoft's Visual Basic Macro execution option. Consider not using Outlook for mail - lots of viruses target its security flaws. __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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