In the wake of its announcement of an AD on its Cessna 210, 210T and 210P models, Cessna has announced that it is expanding its mandatory inspections to its 100-series airplanes (from the Cessna 120 to the Cessna 195) that were manufactured between 1946 and 1986 (the latter date being when Cessna suspended its single-engine piston production). The program of mandatory inspections, which debuted last year, is designed, the company said, “to identify any serious corrosion or fatigue damage present, and if there is, get the airplane out of service and repaired."
The program will mandate inspections on airplanes based on their age and/or total time.
To give a ballpark idea of the kinds of times that begin to concern Cessna and the FAA, mandatory inspections on Cessna 210s are required of all airplanes with 5,000 hours total time within 25 hours; those with 10,000 or more hours are subject to immediate external visual inspection and then, if no cracks are found, an internal inspection within five flight hours. The inspection process, done visually, is estimated to cost a few hundred dollars, that is, unless cracks are discovered. Then it will cost much more, though how much more remains to be seen, as a fix for lower spar cap cracks has not yet been approved. The 210 AD will affect more than 3,500 airplanes; the 100-series AD could potentially affect tens of thousands.
Cessna has produced a Youtube video to explain the process.
Read Robert Goyer's take on the suspicion surrounding the inspections here.
