Older Cherokee owners

I see another AD affecting the pitch control system in the very near future.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, one out of thousands broke, so it has to be a big problem.
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One broke and reportedly they found a crack in another aircraft on the same field.
 
That's two . . . at the same airport. If I owned a Cherokee or any plane that uses that same yoke mechanism I'd damn well pull it off and out and put some doublers on it or other metalwork to strengthen it. I'm amazed that an emergency AD hasn't already been issued.
 
Cessna has a similar problem. In some airplanes, the windshield can leak and water can get into the upright part of the control tee, collect in the bottom and rust it out. An SB asks for a hole to be drilled right near the bottom and the inside checked for water or rust flakes.

Old airplanes are fun.
 
I think I'd move my airplane to another airport. Probably one a little warmer and not in Canada.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, one out of thousands broke, so it has to be a big problem.
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One of the comments to the article reads:

It is not usually "foot-dragging by authorities" that keeps serious maintenance and design flaws from being addressed in the USA: it is usually the corrupt, self-serving, "hell no" right wing 1%er oligarchs that run AOPA and oppose nearly every AD ever issued rather than being forced by the government to spend another dime of their millions.
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Somehow, I never pictured you as being one of that type ( :stirpot: ) :D :D
 
Pulling the column won't be trivial. Inspecting in place is even a bit of a problem. Have to pull the radios and trays I'd imagine.
 
They might want to try an SB ,before they start mandating a fix.
 
Clark1961 said:
Pulling the column won't be trivial. Inspecting in place is even a bit of a problem. Have to pull the radios and trays I'd imagine.
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Maybe they'll just ground the entire fleet, thus forcing the sale of more non-corroding plastic airplanes with red handles, and goosing the moribund new airplane economy. :p

A new replacement part from Piper installed is going to cost as much as some of these airplanes are worth, and a used part runs the same risk as the one already in place. Oh joy!
 
GRG55 said:
Maybe they'll just ground the entire fleet, thus forcing the sale of more non-corroding plastic airplanes with red handles, and goosing the moribund new airplane economy. :p
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Because plastic airplanes don't contain metal parts that corrode which may cause a similar failure...
 
steingar said:
I'm not, but the FAA seems big on onerous ADS based on little anecdotal evidence. And like the man said, you've got a spare anyway.
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No spare. The single column is attached to both yokes.
 
It doesn't say in the article exactly how "old" that Cherokee was. Mine was built in '69.
 
don't forget this little bit of information in the article " some local maintenance engineers removed the control column from an unflyable Cherokee of similar vintage and found a crack in the same place using magnetic particle imaging." so was it un-flyable do to hitting the ground and did that have anything to do with the crack. one out of thousands, yea, that deserves a very costly AD.

bob
 
Does anyone know what years/models share that control column?
 
If we could get some more info on this it might be useful- like what year was this plane and how many hours? Did it live it's entire life as a trainer? Those may not be totally relevant but that picture of the snapped-off section sure does give me the willies. I guess if this were to have happened in mid-air, you would have to fly with trim and rudder only? Sounds like not much fun.
 
I have to wonder how many millionaire corrupt, self serving, "hell no" right wing 1%er oligarchs own an old Cherokee... :D :D


It is not usually "foot-dragging by authorities" that keeps serious maintenance and design flaws from being addressed in the USA: it is usually the corrupt, self-serving, "hell no" right wing 1%er oligarchs that run AOPA and oppose nearly every AD ever issued rather than being forced by the government to spend another dime of their millions.
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Someone defining "old" in the context of this problem would be relevant to my interests....
 
 
Over at avcanada someone says this is a 1977 Cheroke with 21000 hours in primary instruction.
 
I also read the plane had 21,000 hrs. I have a 1966 180c. I specifically looked for low airframe and engine hrs. Mine just went past 3000 hrs and the engine has about 130 hrs.
 
3393RP said:
I have to wonder how many millionaire corrupt, self serving, "hell no" right wing 1%er oligarchs own an old Cherokee... :D :D
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That guy is just a jackass troll.
 
I had a friend do a DPI on my PA-28-151, just for peace of mind and it was free. Took a little over an hour, no cracks found.
 
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