Post by montanapilot on Jul 31, 2018 1:26:52 GMT
I took my Astore to Air Core in Arlington, WA for its first annual. They are fabulous and I'm so pleased that I brought it to them (I'm from Northwest Montana). They found something today that could have potentially created a dangerous situation. I'm going to paste parts of 2 e-mails that I sent to Josh at Tecnam that will explain what they found.
Josh is going to advise the factory about this and he's going to include it in the Tecnam US assembly process.
Josh-
I want to let you know about a potentially dangerous item that Jim Scott discovered today during the annual on my Astore. It's something that might also be an issue for other Astore owners.
The bolt that's attached to the bottom of the rudder was loose to the point of almost being ready to fall out. It''s the bolt that bumps against the rudder stops. The bolt head wasn't even hitting the rudder stops - just the threads of the bolt.
Had the bolt come out, it could have easily dropped into the little pan under the assembly and that could have jammed the rudder all the way in one direction.
This is my first annual, and nobody else has worked on that part of the airplane, so the problem is either that the bolt somehow worked its way loose, or, most likely, it was not tightened during the assembly at Sebring or at the factory in Italy.
I knew that you'd want to know about this, Josh, and might want to advise other Astore owners.
It was the "chrome" colored bolt, it is an Allen cap bolt with a jam nut on it.
Josh is going to advise the factory about this and he's going to include it in the Tecnam US assembly process.
Josh-
I want to let you know about a potentially dangerous item that Jim Scott discovered today during the annual on my Astore. It's something that might also be an issue for other Astore owners.
The bolt that's attached to the bottom of the rudder was loose to the point of almost being ready to fall out. It''s the bolt that bumps against the rudder stops. The bolt head wasn't even hitting the rudder stops - just the threads of the bolt.
Had the bolt come out, it could have easily dropped into the little pan under the assembly and that could have jammed the rudder all the way in one direction.
This is my first annual, and nobody else has worked on that part of the airplane, so the problem is either that the bolt somehow worked its way loose, or, most likely, it was not tightened during the assembly at Sebring or at the factory in Italy.
I knew that you'd want to know about this, Josh, and might want to advise other Astore owners.
It was the "chrome" colored bolt, it is an Allen cap bolt with a jam nut on it.
