Bill, Once again, I agree. You make a reasonable argument, but one that I doubt very much the FAA will buy unless we get this to a hearing with attorneys in front of an administrative law judge. If that's where this is eventually headed, you should be our #1 expert witness.
We will at least find out what in in the FAA Airworthiness file for the mishap aircraft. I ordered the CD. Probably nothing there and may arrive after the October 7th comment period. But for $10, it is well worth it to narrow down our focus. Just like calling Mr. Hannum, the previous owner. We should have known he was still alive and called him weeks ago. Kudos to Prof Ed for following up on my suggestion. The more we know, the more possibilities we can eliminate or confirm. We may have some differences of opinion on how this will play out, but we're working toward a common goal. Best, Dave --- In [email protected], ebengui...@... wrote: > > > > > Hi Prof. Ed, > > If the coupe ever had bucket seats, the spar cap would still have the > installation holes. > > If the FAA CD contains a 337 showing bucket installation, and the holes > are in conformance with that 337, then the holes were not > "unauthorized". > If the mechanic installed bucket seats with a log book entry, that > would likely comply with common practice since the mid-fifties. If the > log books are missing (or some are missing), it is inappropriate > speculation to conclude that a bucket seat installation was > "unauthorized maintenance". If the patter of holes in the failed spar > substantially conform to those necessary for the installation of bucket > seats by either the Forney, Alon or M10 factory installations, the > existence of such holes has been reviewed and approved by the FAA. > Absent some clear and convincing showing to the contrary, holes in > general conformance with such review and approval should not be > presumed to indicate "unapproved maintenance", not should they be > considered as the cause of wing structural failure absent clear and > convincing evidence that such is true. > > Regards, > > WRB > > -- > On Sep 29, 2009, at 09:36, ebengui...@... wrote: > > > > > > > Hi again, > > I just spoke to the owner of the Sebring aircraft. > > He said, > > "My Ercoupe did not have bucket seats. it had regular straight back > > seats." > > Prof. Ed > > > > > > >
