Commonwealth legislation

AD/CESSNA 207/34 Amdt 1 - Horizontal Stabilizer Front Spar

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legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

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This Airworthiness Directive requires all Cessna 207 owners/operators to inspect the front and rear faces of the horizontal stabilizer front-spar centre section for cracks around the cut‑out, repair any cracks before further flight, and submit a defect report. It describes access options (fillet fairing removal, mirror/torch or borescope) and sets initial and recurrent inspection timing. The recurrent interval was increased from 100 to 110 hours to align inspections with scheduled maintenance, so operators and maintenance organisations bear inspection and repair costs.

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AD/CESSNA 207/34 Amdt 1 - Horizontal Stabilizer Front Spar

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AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

On the effective date specified below, and for the reasons set out in the background section, the CASA delegate whose signature appears below revokes Airworthiness Directive (AD) AD/CESSNA 207/34 and issues the following AD under subregulation 39.1 (1) of CASR 1998. The AD requires that the action set out in the requirement section (being action that the delegate considers necessary to correct the unsafe condition) be taken in relation to the aircraft or aeronautical product mentioned in the applicability section: (a) in the circumstances mentioned in the requirement section; and (b) in accordance with the instructions set out in the requirement section; and (c) at the time mentioned in the compliance section.

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Cessna 207 Series Aeroplanes

AD/CESSNA 207/34

Amdt 1

Horizontal Stabilizer Front Spar 9/2004

Applicability: All models of Cessna 207 aircraft.

Requirement: Visually inspect the front and rear faces of horizontal stabilizer front spar assembly centre section for cracks around the cut-out in the front spar web. Refer to Figure 1 below. Any cracks in the front spar web must be repaired before further flight, and a defect report must be submitted.

Note 1: Access can be achieved by the removal of the fillet fairing. The front face of the front spar is easily seen. The rear face may be seen via a hole in the upper surface of the horizontal stabilizer using an inspection mirror and torch.

Note 2: This inspection may require some experimenting with lights and mirrors to obtain some certainty in the results of the inspection. The inspection would be much easier to conduct with the use of a borescope.

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Figure 1

Cessna 207 Series Aeroplanes

AD/CESSNA 207/34 Amdt 1 (continued)

Compliance: a. For aircraft with less than 10000 hours time in service, inspect before exceeding 10000 hours total time in service, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 110 hours time in service.

b. For aircraft with 10000 or more hours time in service, inspect before 18 March 2002, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 110 hours time in service.

Background: Reports have been received of cracking of the horizontal stabilizer front spar on Australian registered Cessna 210s. Both front and rear spars must be serviceable for the horizontal stabilizer to carry ultimate load. The front spar forms part of the horizontal stabilizer’s primary load path, and loss of strength in this area could be catastrophic. As the 207 and 210 have similar horizontal stabilizer design, the same in service cracking may also occur on the Cessna 207 aircraft.

It should be noted that this Airworthiness Directive mandates an inspection requirement already stated in the manufacturer’s maintenance data.

Amendment 1 of this Airworthiness Directive is issued to increase the recurrent compliance interval from 100 hours to 110 hours time in service to allow the inspections required by this Airworthiness Directive to be aligned with scheduled maintenance.

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David Villiers

Delegate of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority 23 July 2004

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The above AD is notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 11 August 2004.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 AD/CESSNA 207/34 Amdt 1 - Horizontal Stabilizer Front Spar

AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

Cessna 207 Series Aeroplanes

AD/CESSNA 207/34

Amdt 1

Horizontal Stabilizer Front Spar 9/2004

Applicability: All models of Cessna 207 aircraft.

Figure 1

Cessna 207 Series Aeroplanes

AD/CESSNA 207/34 Amdt 1 (continued)

b. For aircraft with 10000 or more hours time in service, inspect before 18 March 2002, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 110 hours time in service.