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G109B AD Update 1/9/13
Please see attached an approved Global AMOC for an alternative inspection method and an additional 3 month time extension to FAA AD 2012-10-11, paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(1)(iii). This AD affects Grob Model G 109 and G 109B powered sailplanes. The current compliance due date of paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(1)(iii), based on a previous Global AMOC, is January 09, 2013. The requester of the Global AMOC, Mr. Ron Schwenninger, has given his permission for this letter to be posted online for the benefit of all operators. It will be posted to the www.regulations.gov website although it may take a few days to actually appear. I appreciate any help you can provide to get this information disseminated to the sailplane community through the normal channels of the SSA.
Thanks and Best Regards,
Jim Rutherford
Aerospace Engineer, Project Support Branch, ACE-112
Small Airplane Directorate, Kansas City, MO
Federal Aviation Administration
Office: 816-329-4165
Email: jim.rutherford@faa.gov
the AMOC letter dated 1/9/2013 is here.
Posted: 1/9/2013
Update (1/4/13) to Grob G109 AMOC request
Update from the FAA as of January 4, 2013
See additional update of January 9, 2013.
Please see attached the reply letter to the previous request that the FAA consider eliminating the requirements found in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(1)(iii) of AD 2012-10-11. This AD affects Grob Model G 109 and G 109B powered sailplanes and has a revised compliance due date for the two noted paragraphs of January 9, 2013. The FAA has completed this review and has determined that the requirements will need to be accomplished as specified in the AD in order to address the unsafe condition. The person who made the request, Mr. Ron Schwenninger, has given his permission for this letter to be posted online for the benefit of all operators. It has been posted to the www.regulations.gov website although it may take a few days to actually appear. I appreciate any help you can provide to get this information disseminated to the sailplane community through the normal channels of the SSA.
Thanks and Best Regards,
Jim Rutherford
Aerospace Engineer, Project Support Branch, ACE-112
Small Airplane Directorate, Kansas City, MO
Federal Aviation Administration
Office: 816-329-4165
Email: jim.rutherford@faa.gov
update letter is available here.
see earlier blog article dated 10/5/12 for additional information.
Posted: 1/4/2013
Charlotte Board Mtg Actions 10-20-2012
Directors convened in Region 5 to address the ongoing business of SSA. Travel weather in and out was pleasant, and discussions passed quickly and congenially. Thirteen directors were present, absent were Hankes, Lubon, Greenfield and Compton.
Primary points of action were:
New officers were elected for 2012. Richard Maleady will serve as Chair. First Vice Chair will be Gerry Molidor. Frank Whiteley and David Pixton will continue as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. The balance of the Executive Committee is Vice Chairs David Pixton and Ken Sorenson. Directors at Large for 2013 will be Howard Banks, Richard Maleady, David Pixton, Renard Rozzoni, Ken Sorenson, Peter Smith. The Board thanked retiring Directors Black-Nixon and Compton for their service.
Treasurer Pixton reports our ongoing solvency and stability with small increases in membership. Audit report for 2011 was delivered, and contract for the 2012 audit will be let to Johnson & Miller. Noted were the increased commitments to Growth & Promotions Committee efforts, Let's Go Gliding, web page integrations between SSA and SSF, pledge to a scientific project, impacts of a potential new membership category, and potential outsourcing of the merchandising function through a licensing program. The final 2013 budget will be approved at the Winter 2013 meeting on February 23, location yet to be determined.
The SSA Foundation reported positive values from our investments, and adopted a revision to the investment policy to reflect updated legislation changes. Pete Brown and Phil Umphres were elected to continuing Trustee positions.
In Contest interests, the 2013 sites were approved as presented; the carryover of excess sanction fees above costs will be recorded as a footnote on SSA's financial reports for member transparency; the polling process and Rules committee will meet in November; the US Team Committee Chairmanship has been transferred to Rick Walters. Sean Franke joins the Club Class Committee. The WGC2012 will close as a financial benefit to SSA after last expenses disburse in November.
SSA is seeking to strengthen the link with the Civil Air Patrol, and work will continue on creation of a membership category for cadets. Youth activity at KidVenture in Oshkosh was vigorous, and a request to further develop display/networking /promotional efforts at AirVenture will be supported for 2013.
Soaring Magazine was discussed. Content is improving, and SSF has tagged Directors to each submit an item to SSF about in-flight decisions creating a good outcome. Updating of Affiliates/Divisions and SSA ads should be improved for interest and value. Editor Coyne has assumed ad sales duties, while billing of ads remains a staff function. We still struggle with eliciting good content for Soaring and for ssa.org. Better integration of web content and linking between SSA and SSF will be a 2013 project.
SSA.org and the Sailplane Tracking Committee have an energized volunteer working on improvements for more real-time access from ID links. What began as a safety or rescue link clearinghouse has evolved into single or multi-pilot live tracking development. The outflow of this effort may create more promotional-informational-entertainment aspects for soaring publicity.
Regulatory actions and responses were discussed under Governmental Liaison reports. SSA has commented to the NPRM docket on jet-powered gliders. SSA is pursuing DC-level clarifications on ramp check policy, asking for a standardization of Program Letter verbiage for Experimental Airworthiness gliders, and SSF is tracking the publishing update on the Glider Flying Handbook with Airmen Certification. Response was made to an incident of inappropriate DHS and local law enforcement action for overflight of a nuclear reactor in July 2012. Despite several interactions between SSA, FAA and EASA, no further action from EASA has prevented FAA action on Blanik L-13 airworthiness.
The Board accepted the conclusions of the report submitted by the Relocation Task Force, which compared Chemung County/Harris Hill with Hobbs as a headquarters location. The Task Force reported there was no financial incentive to relocate to New York. The Board will take no action on relocation at this time.
The evening was concluded at the NSM's Barnaby Lecture. Speaker Greg Cole outlined the progress of Windward Performance and his development of several distinct sailplanes, to suit different niches in soaring. The development of the DuckHawk and her racing success in 2012 was celebrated. An outline of the goals of the Perlan, a specialty-built design for high-altitude science research, and her construction and testing was educational.
Members are always welcome to attend Board meetings. The next meeting will be on February 23, 2013. Contact the Hobbs office for the location information.
C. Brickner, Region 12 Director
Posted: 10/23/2012
Blanik L-13 update
Blanik Update - October 22nd
The SSA contacted the FAA over the last several months to obtain updates on the status of approving the Blanik L-13 STC approved by EASA last year. A summary of the FAA’s response (September) to the latest request is as follows:
Six issue papers were generated for the Blanik L-13 STC:
G-1 Certification Basis
G-2, Determination of Compliance
A-1 Structural Substantiation
M-1, ICA / Maintenance Manual Supplement Review
M-2 Non Destructive Test Procedures
M-3 Review of Preparation, Modification and Installation Instructions
The A-1, M-2 and M-3 papers are currently with EASA
The M-1 paper is in the AEG office (these are the folks that review manuals for maintenance and pilots operation,. they are a Flight Standards office) (Update 9/28, This paper is now with EASA)
The G-1 and G-2 were sent to EASA in September.
Once EASA has reviewed the papers the FAA and EASA will have a teleconference to review.
Short answer is no change for the current owners/operators.
The FAA is not planning on taking any action on the existing AD and or the STC until they get responses back from EASA.
Posted: 10/22/2012
Update (1/4/13) FAA approves AMOC for Grob 109
Update from the FAA as of January 4, 2013
Please see attached the reply letter to the previous request that the FAA consider eliminating the requirements found in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(1)(iii) of AD 2012-10-11. This AD affects Grob Model G 109 and G 109B powered sailplanes and has a revised compliance due date for the two noted paragraphs of January 9, 2013. The FAA has completed this review and has determined that the requirements will need to be accomplished as specified in the AD in order to address the unsafe condition. The person who made the request, Mr. Ron Schwenninger, has given his permission for this letter to be posted online for the benefit of all operators. It has been posted to the www.regulations.gov website although it may take a few days to actually appear. I appreciate any help you can provide to get this information disseminated to the sailplane community through the normal channels of the SSA.
Thanks and Best Regards,
Jim Rutherford
Aerospace Engineer, Project Support Branch, ACE-112
Small Airplane Directorate, Kansas City, MO
Federal Aviation Administration
Office: 816-329-4165
Email: jim.rutherford@faa.gov
update letter is available here.
The FAA has approved an AMOC (Alternative Means Of Compliance) for Grob 109 AD 2012-10-11. The AMOC delays the period of compliance for paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(1)(iii) until January 9, 2013. Other provisions of the AD must be complied with "within 3 months after July 9, 2012".
The FAA letter approving the AMOC is here.
AD 2012-10-11 is here.
Posted: 10/5/2012
IAR Brasov Life Limit - update
Back in 1997, IAR-Brasov issued a service bulletin (ER-24) extending the life of the IS-28B2 2-place Lark glider from 20 to 29 or possibly 35 years. Many of those aircraft are now reaching the 35 year limit. Last year the current type certificate holder, S.C. Constructii Aeronautice S.A (Romania) indicated that they were working on extending the life limit (Service Life Extension Program – SLEP) for these aircraft beyond 35 years and would be submitting it to EASA and the FAA. Since then there has been no further contact with the public on this issue.
The SSA asked the FAA to obtain a status of the proposed SLEP and the FAA has forwarded the following message from EASA:
"We could get in contact with the CAA Romania today and I regret having to confirm that the TC-holder is in the process of bankruptcy. However there is a limited change that another company takes over the TCs. We have no unsafe condition pending thus we will wait some time in order to give the insolvency trustee a chance before we consider the aircrafts to be orphan."
We will pass on additional information as it becomes available.
Posted: 7/18/2012
FAA update on Blanik L-13 AD status
At the request of the SSA, the FAA provided a status update on their review of the STC submitted by AD&C to provide a means of compliance with Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2010-18-05. Their update is available here.
Information on the (not FAA approved) STC is available here:
http://www.aircraftdc.de/ENG/images/Blanik/Customerinfo_ADxC-DC-39-001.pdf
Posted: 2/3/2012
Blanik L-13 Update
The SSA Leadership has contacted the Small Aircraft Directorate (SAD) several times regarding the status of issuing an AD for the L-13. As a result of discussions at the recent Board of Directors meeting, the SSA expressed their concern over the pace of progress of approving a US version of the European AD and requested an update on the status from the Director of the SAD. The SAD plans to provide an update prior to the Convention.
Posted: 1/6/2012
Court Overturns FAA Clearance For Cape Wind Project.
For those of you fighting wind turbine projects, this may have a bearing.
Court Overturns FAA Clearance For Cape Wind Project.
The Boston (MA) Globe (10/29, Abel) reported the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled Friday that the FAA "failed to adequately review how difficult it could be for pilots to navigate over 25 square miles of towering wind turbines in often fog-shrouded waters of Nantucket Sound." The federal appeals court "rejected the FAA's ruling that Cape Wind's proposed 130 turbines, each 440 feet tall, present no hazard to aviation, a finding that helped form the basis of the US Interior Department's approval of the project last year after a decade of legal challenges and delays."
The AP (10/29) reported the court "overturned the Federal Aviation Administration's ruling that Cape Wind's turbines present no danger for local air traffic." The court "vacated the government's 'no hazard' finding and sent the case back to the FAA, agreeing with plaintiffs that 'the FAA did misread its regulations.'" FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the agency was reviewing the decision.
Bloomberg News (10/29, Goossens) reported Cape Wind Associates "don't expect the FAA to change its opinion about the impact of the project on air traffic. 'We're certainly moving forward and are confident FAA will reach the same determination' as it did in its first evaluation, Cape Wind communications director Mark Rogers said today by telephone."
The Wall Street Journal (10/29, Tracy, Subscription Publication) quoted Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers, who said, "The essence of today's court ruling is that the FAA needs to better explain its determination of no hazard. We are confident that after the FAA does this, that their decision will stand and we do not foresee any impact on the project's schedule in moving forward."
The Barnstable Patriot (10/29) called the decision "the first victory in a long string of courtroom defeats for opponents of the project, which has secured a host of regulatory approvals and local and state court cases over the last decade. 'At a bare minimum, it means it goes back to the FAA to start over and to adhere to their own policies and procedures and substantive analysis,' assistant town attorney Charlies McLaughlin said Oct. 28."
The Walpole (MA) Times (10/29) noted the court ruled that the FAA, "failed to supply any apparent analysis of the record of evidence concerning the wind farm's potentially adverse effects on (visual flight rule) operations."
The Boston Business Journal (10/29, ) said the ruling "focused in part on whether the FAA ignored its own regulations governing how close to structures planes should fly. In the case of Nantucket Sound, the court noted, flying below cloud cover during bad weather is of special significance. The FAA may ultimately find the risk of these dangers to be modest,' the court wrote, 'but we can not meaningfully review any such prediction because the FAA cut the process short in reliance on a misreading of its handbook and thus, as far as we can tell, never calculated the risk in the first place.'
Posted: 11/1/2011
Kitty Hawk BOD Mtg and Soaring 100
The Fall SSA Board of Directors Meeting is being held in conjunction with the Soaring 100 celebration in Kitty Hawk, NC. Friday morning, the Board gathered to consider annual awards to members for service, the 2012 proposed Budget, renewal of the broker agreement for the Group Insurance Plan, heard a recap of the good effort at AirVenture for youth recruiting and publicity, and received a slate of nominations for 2012 officers. Regional Director discussed local activities. The NAA participant recounted international events. The Board considered relations with the FAA on airworthiness and airspace and technology issues.
The dates for National Championships are affirmed for 2012 as
Sports Class: Parowan, June 20-29, 2012
Standard Class: Montague, June 26-July 5, 2012
18 Meter: Montague, June 26-July 5, 2012
Open Class: Minden, June 12 – 21, 2012
15 Meter: Mifflin, PA, May 13-22, 2012.
The 1-26 and the 13.5 M class plan on holding their 2012 contest together at TSA near Dallas, TX, July 16-22. Additionally, Sports Class: Mifflin, May 12-21, 2013 was also established for longer term planning.
Saturday's conclusion of the meeting should include election of 2012 Officers, affiliation by the League of Silent Flight, adoption of the 2012-12016 Strategic Plan, recommendations for consideration for the Soaring Hall of Fame, and other business.
The meeting is split over two days to allow Directors to enjoy the Soaring 100 activities and celebrations. East Coast pilots and families are encouraged to enjoy the wide range of activities for this commemoration of the first 9 minute 45 second soaring flight on October 24, 1911.
Friday will offer a postmark event at Jockeys Ridge State Park, the dedication of a National Landmark of Soaring, and a storytelling evening reception. Saturday will host a full day of exhibits, educational presentations and a fly-in ceremony of gliders to First Flight Airport. Rededication of the Barnaby Plaque and Barnaby Lecture by Darrell Collins will be a highlight. The evening holds a Ragtime Gala with music, southern cuisine and dancing at a nearby club.
Sunday the 23rd has a full schdeule of speaker's tracks, flying displays, youth activities and another glider fly-in at the National First Flight Park.
Activities are rounded up with the Soaring Centennial celebration on Monday, October 24, at 9:45 a.m. at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Exhibits, talks, and the Fly-In conclude at 3:00 p.m. Most events are free, with only park access fees into the Wright Brothers Memorial.
Further information is available from www.soaring100.com or www.firstflightfoundation.org.
C. Brickner
Posted: 10/21/2011
