# SAIB CE-99-32R1: 

- Type: Special airworthiness information bulletin (advisory, not mandatory)
- Status: Current
- Revision: 0
- Issued: August 31, 1999
- Products: Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau JanusC, Janus CM and Janus CT
- Product type: Aircraft, Glider
- PDF: https://openairdocs.org/files/sha256/b7/3c/b73cf9741db66b35024bae581e06907f312ca6d046a3719ea407f1ac90a38303
- FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/805AB2F7F1A0B7328625721F0052EB2D.0001
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/saib/CE-99-32R1

## Text

**REVISED**

**SPECIAL**

**AIRWORTHINESS**

**INFORMATION**

**BULLETIN**

**REGULATORY SUPPORT DIVISION P.O. BOX 26460 OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA 73125-0460**

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

No. CE-99-32R1 August 31, 1999

SAIB’s are posted on the internet at http://av-info.faa.gov This is issued for informational purposes only and any recommendation for corrective action is not mandatory.

Introduction:

The purpose of this Special Airworthiness Inform ation Bulletin (SAIB) revises SAIB ACE-99-32 by adding appendices to technical notes listed below on Schempp-Hirt h Models Janus C, Janus CM, and Janus CT sailplanes and also revising the verbiage as follows:

• (Technical Note Numbers 295-27 and 809-15) For copies of technical notes and foreign AD, contact the FAA as listed below.

Background:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received a German Luftfahrt-Bundesamt Airworthiness Directive (AD) on the Janus model sailplanes listed above . These sailplanes are not type certificated in the United States (U.S.); therefore, the FAA does not intend to issue a similar U.S. AD. Disregarding the type certification issue, the safety issue referenced in this SAIB has been assessed as a potential safety problem that may occur on Schempp-Hirth Models Janus C, Janus CM, and Janus CT sailplanes.

Safety Issue:

There have been several occurrences of elevator flutter on the Janus C series type design sailplanes. The horizontal tailplane can receive severe damage from a high-speed flutter occurrence. This condition is a result of insufficient mass balance weight in the elevators.

Schempp-Hirth has developed Technical Notes 295-27 a nd 809-15 to mitigate this safety issue. The first action is to limit the maximum speed (Vne) to 86 knots, per Action 1 of the Technical Note. Actions 2 through 6 pertain to the installation of more mass ba lance weights on the elevators. The FAA recommends that you placard your sailplane, restricting the Vne per Action 1, before next flight. Furthermore, the FAA recommends Actions 2 through 6 be accomplished at a c onvenient maintenance time, typically within the next 6 months. The main safety issue is to reduce the Vne until the additional mass balance weights have been installed.

General Information:

The FAA provides this information as a courtesy to ope rators of the Schempp-Hirth Models Janus C, Janus CM and Janus CT owners/operators because this is a known safety issue. The FAA does not issue Airworthiness Directives for sailplanes that do not have a U.S. type certificate. This safety issue will not be tracked or enforced by the FAA. Furthermore, th e FAA will not use an SAIB to track all safety related items for non-type certificated products.

For Further Information Contact:

Mike Kiesov, Aerospace Engineer/Pilot, FAA, Small Airplane Directorate, 1201 Walnut, Suite 900, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; telephone: (816) 426-6934; facsimile: (816) 426-2169; email:

mike.kiesov@faa.gov.

## Registered aircraft it may concern (OpenAirDocs)

Registry models matched by make and model, the same way as ADs, most registered aircraft first.

- [Schempp-Hirth JANUS CT](https://openairdocs.org/model/schempp-hirth-janus-ct): 1 registered aircraft (airframe model)
- [Schempp-Hirth JANUS-CM](https://openairdocs.org/model/schempp-hirth-janus-cm): 1 registered aircraft (airframe model)
- [Schempp-Hirth K.G. JANUS C](https://openairdocs.org/model/schempp-hirth-k-g-janus-c): 1 registered aircraft (airframe model)

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