Squawk Box

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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American General AA-5A Cheetah
Poor Engine Performance
The aircraft owner reported the engine performance deteriorated during flight.A mechanic discovered the carburetor bowl was not attached tightly to the throttle body. Even though the locking-tab washers under the attachment screws were properly installed, the screws were loose. The gasket may have shrunk or the attachment screws were not properly tightened during installation, allowing excessive air to be dr…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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The FAA has approved Exxon Aviation Oil Elite 20W-50 for use in Lycoming O-320-H and O-360-E series engines as fulfilling the requirements of AD 80-04-03R2 – making it the third oil approved as an alternative method of compliance.

The AD was aimed at preventing excessive wear and oil contamination due to spalling of the hydraulic lifters. It requires operators to add a Lycoming-approved oil additive at each 50-hour oil change. In 1987, the FAA determined that Aeroshell Oil W…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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As the result of a fatal stall/spin accident in Canada, the FAA is issuing Airworthiness Alert 2720 for Cessna 150/152s manufactured after 1966. In July 1998, a Cessna 152 with a student and flight instructor failed to recover from an intentional spin. A 150/152 should recover from a spin by simply releasing the flight controls.

Examination of the wreckage showed the rudder jammed past its normal travel limit.

A 50-hour inspection was completed the day before the acciden…

At about 08:55 eastern time, an Arnet Pereyra Aventura II en route to a manufacturers display at Sun-n-Fun, crashed during climbout from Rockledge Airpark. The pilot was seriously injured. A witness said the aircraft was departing and was below 100 feet when he noted that its pitch attitude increased and it entered a 60-degree left bank. The witness said the aircraft stalled, snap rolled to the left, and descended straight down….

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Cessna Gear Fatigue.”

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The FAA has recently been advised that engine fuel strainers are failing at an increasing rate in new-production Cessna singles.

The manufacturer recommends maintenance personnel exhibit care when reassembling the threaded gascolator/fuel strainer standpipe into the fuel strainer housing after internal inspections of these components. The standpipe should be replaced if the standpipe threads are damaged or there is an insufficient number of threads. The current configurations…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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The FAA has issued a special airworthiness bulletin to inform owners of Artex ELT equipment of a potential hazard. The FAA says there have been reports of Artex 110-4 ELT battery packs venting and leaking acid. In one case, the battery case failed and a piece of it became lodged in the rudder control cable of the airplane, chipping the pulley.

Engineers have concluded that, as the airplanes descend, outside air occasionally breaks the seal on the battery box, allowing moi…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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A Vans RV-8 made a forced landing after losing engine power immediately after takeoff.

The accident investigation showed the fuel tank had 10 gallons in it, but the fuel pick-up tube was crimped just outboard of its threaded fitting, and the tube had rotated more than 180 degrees.

This resulted in the pick-up intake end of the pick-up tube being positioned midway between the top and bottom of the tank.

The pilot/builder reported that several weeks previous to the e…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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The Greensboro, N.C., Flight Standards District Office has issued a warning to owners and operators of Beech 58P Barons after a gear-up landing. The normal landing gear extension system failed and the pilot was unable to extend the landing gear with the emergency gear crank handle because it was jammed.The inspector discovered that the emergency landing gear extension crank handle jammed under the spar carry-through cover. The crank handle had been improperly stowed under the…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts.

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The FAA has issued a reminder to pilots operating aircraft equipped with carburetors that gascolator problems are common and generally result in engine failure in flight.

Gascolator inspection during preflight can easily detect and prevent the most common gascolator problems.

The gascolator contains a fuel filter screen and a sediment bowl that serves as a water separator. Usually a gascolator has a wire bail holding a glass or metal bowl in place. There are three primary gascolator malfunctions, each of which can lead to a loss of power due to interruption…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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Mechanics participating in the FAAs Service Difficulty Reporting Program have filed a number of reports that aircraft are still flying with improper seat belts.The belts, manufactured by Indiana Mills and Manufacturing, are subject to an AD issued in 1979 because they failed to meet specifications outlined by the technical standards order governing seat belts. Although the AD required the seat belts to be removed within 120 days of the effective date of the AD, mechanics are…