SAIB CE-05-45

SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

CE-05-45 March 28, 2005 http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/ This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts you, owners and operators of Burkhart Grob sailplane models Club Astir II, Standard Astir II, Speed Astir II, and Speed Astir IIb, all serial numbers, that Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) has issued Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2003-238/2, dated October 16, 2003 (). This AD requires modification of the canopy jettison system for those airplanes registered for operation in Germany.

Note: These Grob sailplane models are not type certificated in the United States

Background

The College of Aachen (Germany) issued a research report showing that the existing canopy jettison system installed on the abovementioned gliders can be improved. Grob Service Bulletin numbers MSB306-37/2 and MSB320-08/2 detail this improvement for the above-referenced airplanes. These bulletins include procedures for the replacement of placards and the removal of the canopy jettison operating lever.

We do not consider this to be an unsafe condition, but a system improvement.

Recommendation

Foreign ADs are not considered mandatory actions on U.S. aircraft. We do not issue ADs for sailplanes that do not have a U.S. Type Certificate. However, we recommend all owners and operators comply with actions outlined in the specified service bulletins.

For Further Information Contact

Gregory Davison, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Small Airplane Directorate, Room 301, 901 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri 64106;

telephone: (816) 329-4130; facsimile: (816) 329-4090; email: gregory.davison@faa.gov

Grob Luft- und Raumfahrt, Lettenbachstrasse 9, D-86874 Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany;

phone: +49 8268 998139; email:

productsupport@grob-aerospace.de

Grob U.S. Representative: 1070 Navajo Drive, Bluffton, Ohio 45817; phone: (419) 358-9015;

fax: (419) 369-3331; email:

grob@grobsystems.com