SAIB CE-06-58

SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

CE-06-58 August 11, 2006 http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/ This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin advises you of an airworthiness concern on the following Schempp-Hirth sailplanes:

Model Serial Number Nimbus-2C 166, 177 through 181, 185 through 236 Mini Nimbus-HS7 All Mini Nimbus B All Mini Nimbus C All

Background

During a daily check after assembling a Mini Nimbus C, a failure in the flap actuating circuit was found. The lever at the torsional flap drive in the fuselage failed at the weld joint. Failure is attributed to the current design of the flap drive joint.

Schempp-Hirth responded by issuing Technical Note No. 286-35/328-13, which provides instructions for reinforcing the flap drive to strengthen the flap drive mechanism.

The German airworthiness authority issued AD-2005-239 to mandate compliance for German operators.

Note: The Nimbus-2C and Mini Nimbus C are not type certificated in the United States and therefore do not meet the criteria for mandatory action. We do not issue ADs for sailplanes without U.S. type certification.

However, these models are currently operating in the United States with an experimental airworthiness certificate.

Recommendation

We recommend you do the actions of the stated Technical Note upon receipt of this bulletin.

For Further Information Contact

Gregory Davison Glider Program Manager FAA Small Airplane Directorate 901 Locust Street, Room 301 Kansas City, Missouri 64106 Phone: (816) 329-4130 Fax: (816) 329-4090 Email: Gregory.Davison@faa.gov

SCHEMPP-HIRTH Flugzeugbau GmbH Postfach 14 43 Krebenstraße 25 D-73222 Kirchheim/Teck Germany Phone: 49 7021 7298-0 Fax: 49 7021 7298-199 Email: info@schempp-hirth.com

Technical Note information is available at:

http://www.schempp-hirth.com/