AD 85\24\03

[Tommy]

Came across an incident in Israel on Mooney Facebook Page and someone dropped this bombshell AD 85\24\03. I have no access to the AD but it looks like an inspection and quite possibly drilling new drain holes on the outboard fuel tank to avoid pooling of water. I couldn't find anything with search. 

Wonder if anyone can shed some light on this? How it's done and how much time needed?

Thanks everyone!

[Nokomis449]

In a nutshell, it says that IF you have your tanks resealed, you must make sure that water trapped on the "uphill" side of a rib has a path {hole) that allows it to flow downhill to the lowest part of the tank so that it may be sumped.  The holes are there from the factory, but apparently some repair work has covered them up, with the result that water can be trapped above the rib, and then travel down to the fuel pickup during flight.

[ArtVandelay]

AD 85-24-03 refers to Mooney Service Bulletin (SB) M20-230, dated 10 April 1985, which requires that all rib

drain holes within the fuel tanks be inspected for blockage by fuel tank sealant.

The rib drain holes allow fuel and any accumulated water to move to the lowest area of the tank where the wing-tank drains are located. A wing-tank drain is located on each wing root forward of the wheel wells.

[Guest paulie]

No biggie, remove a panel, check for the holes. If blocked take a drill bit and clear by hand.

[Tommy]

So it doesn't apply to never resealed plane?

[RobertGary1]

1 minute ago, Tommy said:

So it doesn't apply to never resealed plane?

Or never patched 

-Robert 

[carusoam]

Somebody posted drawings of the tank ribs recently...

There are two sets of holes.

The bottom set, allows fuel (or water) to move towards the pick-up. Helpful during flight.

The top set, allows air to move towards the vent.  Helpful during filling.

For some reason, People re-sealing tanks forget some of the details that are important to the job.

A third set of important holes are part of the fuel tank sampling drains.

The holes are pretty small...

Best regards,

-a-

[RLCarter]

@Tommy AD's can be found on the FAA's website HERE, Happy Searching 

[Tommy]

Cool, thanks! @RLCarter

1986 this AD!