SAIB CE-06-59

SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

CE-06-59 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 Discus-2T 1 through 40 Discus-2cT 1 through 30 Ventus-2cT 1 through 179

Background

During an inspection, cracks were found in the steel tubes next to the welding seams of the engine pylon assembly. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued Emergency Airworthiness Directive number 2006-0227-E, dated July 26, 2006, to mandate corrective actions for owner/operators in the Agency’s member states.

Schempp-Hirth Technical Note Numbers 825- 38 (Ventus-2cT) and 863-13 (Discus-2T and Discus-2cT) provide instructions for inspection and modification of the engine pylon assembly.

Note: The Discus-2T, Discus-2cT, and Ventus-2cT 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 stated in the Technical Notes.

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 Krebenstraße 25 D-73230 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/