All,
The reason the "spinner topic" has been "beat to death so many times" is that
it has not yet been conclusively resolved. I shall attempt once again to do
that so we shall not forever continue to "beat a dead horse".
We were all new to the Ercoupe (et al) once. At that time our limited "frame
of reference" was insufficient to separate good information from
misinformation. We need to inform these people, not confuse them.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to muddy
clear water for others in the process. The process is not a democratic one, in
which strong opinions prevail over actual pertinent facts. Accordingly, the
facts should speak for themselves.
FAR Section 91.7(a) states: "No person shall operate a civil aircraft unless
it is in airworthy condition...".
The FAA interpretation of "airworthy" is in Order 8130.2D, Fig. 8-1, which
refers to Title 49 Section 44704 (c) and CFR part 21. The statutory language
requires that:
"The aircraft must conform to its TC (type certificate). Conformity to type
design is considered attained when the aircraft configuration and the
components installed are consistent with the drawings, specifications,
and other data that are part of the TC, and would include any STC and
field approved alterations incorporated into the aircraft."
An Ercoupe without a spinner is NOT AIRWORTHY because the spinner drawing and
all production drawings depicting the aircraft with the spinner installed "are
part of the TC" to which conformance is mandatory. There is no more
authoritative document in relationship to a particular airplane than its type
certificate.
An Ercoupe with a skull cap (or other non-standard spinner) whose installation
in place of the original is not properly documented as a "field approved
alteration" is similarly NOT AIRWORTHY!
ERCO's manufacturing process was never itself approved by the CAA. Instead,
ERCO employed certain persons authorized by the CAA to flight test each plane
and personally certify that it conformed in every respect to the applicable
type certificate before the Airworthiness Certificate could be issued. The
ERCO Equipment List that was submitted to the CAA for every Ercoupe lists 24
items as "STANDARD - Installed on all Airplanes". The spinner is item no. 22.
Regards,
William R. Bayne
.____|-(o)-|____.
(Copyright 2009)
--
On Sep 1, 2009, at 15:09, Bob Swinney wrote:
>
>
> Amen........
>
> --- On Tue, 9/1/09, kgassert <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> From: kgassert <[email protected]>
>> Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Skull cap spinner
>> To: [email protected]
>> Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 1:50 PM
>>
>> Sorry but the parts catalog is just that, a parts catalog with a list of
>> parts and where they are applicable. Applicable, not mandatory. The
>> mandatory stuff is in the TC and equipment list. This spinner topic has been
>> beat to death so many times you can read about it in the archives for hours.
>> How many of you guys have your sun shade and glove boxes??? They are in the
>> parts manual you know. How about those little chrome trim strips on the
>> panel. Need any more examples?
>>
>> Kevin1
This is a great explanation, my question is " what exactly
is the legal spinner " What does item 22 look like,
and if it is available, where and at what cost.
Thanks
RQS
From: William R. Bayne <[email protected]>
To: ety List <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 5:25:18 PM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Skull cap spinner
