Thread: Stabilator SB

I hope this clears up some time line confusion on the Stabilator SB.
If your annual was due after the SB was published (Nov 30th) or is due right now you have up to 3 months to get this work done. So by the end of Feb. If you are due for your annual in March it is due by then. If your annual is due in June it is due by then. If it is due in Sept. it is due by then. If you have the vibration they are talking about then you have 4 weeks from the issuance of the bulletin. If you pass your time line then you are grounded and not airworthy until the work is done. Bottom line is don't procrastinate till the last minute because things may come up. There are approximately 87 planes to do. There are 6-7 service center authorized to do this work. A list of them will be sent very soon. Most of them are our distributors. If you are going to ship it then the document that tells you how to build the container is on the FD website just below the stabilator SB. If you ship you may be down a total of three weeks due to shipping back and forth plus the repair time. You can make an appointment and fly in to some of the service centers. I am flying into Lone Mountain in Las Vegas for three days to get mine done.

The SB says that the affected S/Ns are 06-09-01 through 07-05-03 "plus aircraft that do have a trim tab balancing weights [sic] but do not have pre-formed stiffeners suppoer each individual trim tab hinge point." I'm not sure taht that description means. Help?

Doug

Hi Doug,

Just worry about the aircraft serial number. For the most part it covers CT's made from Sept. 2006 to May 2007. About 8 months worth of CTSW's.
If you take the tape off the trim tab and use a flash light you can see in the crevice between the stab and the trim tab. If when looking in there you will see counter weights that protrude back into the stab off the trim tab. If it is just a cut hole these go into then you need the stiffener. If you see the hole, but have beefed up supports on one side of each hole you do not. There are 4 such holes.

To mine have already been applied. in February 2009. I had some strong vibrations over 120 knots. Now everything is fine.

Will the crated stabilizer ship UPS or does it have to shipped Motor Freight? Looks like shipping will be expensive.

Hi Tip,

It can't go regular UPS as it is to big. It can go UPS freight, FedEx freight or a Freight company. You might have to call each and see the particulars and prices.

Roger Lee -- I'm curious as to why you are going to Las Vegas and not doing it yourself. Could it be the vague last sentence in Section 1.6 "..... with experience in composite repairs. ..."

I've been through this. I wanted the FD West shop in Oregon to be able to do the SB. Turns out they can't, even though they do alot of composite work on Columbias and Cirrus, because they don't have the specific training put on by FD Germany. So, it's more than just composite experience.

You must be authorized through FD and specifically trained to do this work. It is being very quality controlled as it should be. FD's people came out and trained these authorized shops. Vegas is only a 4 hr. flight and a nice quick vacation. That said when my wife heard I was thinking of the Vegas option that sealed my fate. I was then told we was going to Vegas for my work. LOL LOL

I got the same fate Roger, though we will be making two weekends out of it, one for drop off, one for pickup. I think Cheryl just wants to show off passing by me in the Cirrus! We plan on going up the 16th of Jan, right after yours gets done. They can practice on your stab! (J/K)

Eric Swisher
Copper City Aviation Services