The bulletin
Text extracted from the PDF.
FAA Aviation Safety
SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS
INFORMATION BULLETIN SUBJ: Exhaust Turbochargers; Announce the availability of the “Best Practices Guide for Maintaining Exhaust System Turbocharger to Tailpipe V-band Couplings/Clamps” SAIB: CE-18-21 Date: July 13, 2018 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.
Introduction
This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) is written to announce the availability of an industry and government developed best practice guide (BPG). The BPG is titled:
“Best Practices Guide for Maintaining Exhaust System Turbocharger to Tailpipe V-band Couplings/Clamps”
Background
The BPG presents a summary of one of the recommendations developed during the national industry and government V-band Coupling/Clamp Working Group effort. The BPG presents the “best practices” necessary to ensure airplanes equipped with turbocharged reciprocating engines fitted with turbocharger to tailpipe v-band coupling/clamps, remain in their original type design configuration. It will also help effectively manage the risk associated with the use of v-band coupling/clamps in this application.
Recommendations
The intent of this SAIB is to announce the availability of the “Best Practices Guide for Maintaining Exhaust System Turbocharger to Tailpipe V-band Couplings/Clamps”. Our intent is that the BPG be a living document, subject to periodic update as data becomes available. We recommend that the public review the information presented in the BPG and apply those best practices to assist in the maintenance, inspection and continued care of turbocharged reciprocating engine powered aircraft products. However, it should be noted that if there are any discrepancies between the BPG and/or any airworthiness directive (AD) or design approval holder (DAH) Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA), the AD or DAH ICA’s take precedence.
The BPG can be found at the following link, and numerous aircraft DAH and type club websites:
https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/small_airplanes/cos/aging_aircraft/med ia/maintaining_exhaust_system_best_practices.pdf.
We also recommend that you periodically check the above link to refresh the data since the BPG is a living document and will be updated from time to time.
2 If any service difficulty issues arise in the use of turbocharger to tailpipe v-band couplings/clamps, it would be beneficial if the following Joint Aircraft System Component (JASC) codes were used when submitting that data in the FAA Service Difficulty Reporting System (SDRS) database:
• 8100: Exhaust Turbine System (reciprocating), or
• 8120: Exhaust Turbocharger
For Further Information Contact
Jeff Janusz, Aerospace Engineer, 1801 Airport Road, Rm. 100, Wichita, KS; phone: (316) 946-4148;
fax: (316) 946-4107; e-mail: jeff.janusz@faa.gov.