I understand that with the information provided by Wm Bayne, John Wright, and the group, that in a meeting held today by Univair and Mr. Caldwell, this was straightened out; recognizing the real concern and probable cause was EXCESS control system play. I suspect we will shortly see a Service Bulletin / Memo, followed by an AD requiring inspection and repair of all "out of spec control systems" prior to further flight; referencing all previous Service Bulletens, Memos and control system ADs, etc., previously issued on all coupes. Thanks are due to Wm Bayne, John Wright, Univair Engineers, Mr Caldwll, and to all who participated. As this spar failure was a negative G failure, the strength of the spar is probably less of a concern. However if you have extra non-approved holes in the spar and/or spar caps, you probably need to have your mechanic review and obtain authorization for them. I suspect that the limited response from Univair has been due to pending legal action concerning this sad incident. Learn all you can about your coupe, obtain al the manuals, STC's, and Bulletins/Memos. Read them andreview them with your mechanic. It is cheap insurance for a healthy, and a safe Airplane. Keep Coupes Flying - Safely ! Fly Safe - Have Fun
Harry Francis N93530 ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected]; [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 3:32:09 PM Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Cart before the horse I'm kind of confused at what's going on! It all doesn't seem to make too much sense. Are we looking into why the Ercoupe had an inflight brake up at Sebring, FL- or are we trying to find a fault with the spar without any justifiable proof. if indeed it was the spar that caused that crash. Will somebody please set me straight or am I missing something? Thank you, Prof. Ed
