Airworthiness Concerns

Yet, as with all airplanes as time marches on, wear and tear take a toll on the way various mechanisms work, and better designs often are available to replace them. That's especially true when it comes to the PA-28 fleet's sidewall-mounted fuel selector, the current design of which now is in its third generation. The original design-generation 1, or Gen1-did not have much in the way of a detent protecting against inadvertent repositioning, nor does it prevent over-rotation leading to unintended movement to the OFF position. These characteristics aren't the most desirable in a fuel selector assembly, especially since the component is mounted in the sidewall under the pilot's left knee, where it can be difficult to view.

Editorial Staff

Thursday, October 03, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is actively seeking industry input on several airworthiness concerns, including potential issues with Gen1 Piper PA-28 fuel selectors and latent failures in FreeFlight FDL-978-XVR ADS-B units, through its formalized Airworthiness Concern Process (ACP).
The agency is modernizing various aviation regulations, such as proposing updates for supersonic flight authorizations over the U.S. and implementing exceptions for ADS-B Out operation in specific scenarios.
The FAA has transitioned to mandatory use of the ICAO-standard flight plan format for non-military operations and is proposing significant airspace revisions for the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.

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Piper’s PA-28 Cherokee models have been more or less in constant production since 1964. While there have been a wide range of changes to the original two-seat design introduced back then-bigger engines, tapered wings, retractable landing gear and stretched fuselages-the same basic airframe and related components will remain in service for decades to come.

Yet, as with all airplanes as time marches on, wear and tear take a toll on the way various mechanisms work, and better designs often are available to replace them. That’s especially true when it comes to the PA-28 fleet’s sidewall-mounted fuel selector, the current design of which now is in its third generation. The original design-generation 1, or Gen1-did not have much in the way of a detent protecting against inadvertent repositioning, nor does it prevent over-rotation leading to unintended movement to the OFF position. These characteristics aren’t the most desirable in a fuel selector assembly, especially since the component is mounted in the sidewall under the pilot’s left knee, where it can be difficult to view.