AD 2023-09-09

[Pinecone]

I had a couple of discussions of this with Frank Crawford of Mooney at Mooney Max along with a few others.

Several stated that some mechanics have WAY over tightened the clamps.  If you look at the AD inspection instructions, one thing they look at is the flatness of the outer band.  You would have to seriously over torque them to cause that band to deform.

The good news is, Mooney is thinking about setting up to make these clamps.  Not just for Mooneys, but for all the aircraft effected by the AD.  It would be a good revenue source for them.   It you agree, maybe send an email to feedback@mooney.com  This email is monitored by the management team.

 

FYI, the riveted clamps are not better.  They are subject to a previous AD that only allows them to be torqued 2 times then they are trash.

 

[keithmiller]

Thought I might add what 2 different clamps look like . The clamp with the showing on my Acclaim is the good clamp not in the recall , the spot weld clamp is the one needing replacement 

[Pinecone]

There is a different AD on the riveted clamp.  It is only allowed to torque it twice.  Then it needs to be replaced.

So you need to make SURE you A&P knows to NOT remove the clamp unless there is a specific need. 

[hubcap]

33 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

Where did you find the two torque and scrap information ?

I thought the riveted clamps were already limited to 2 uses. I thought Frank mentioned that at MooneyMax.

[jetdriven]

We had a M20M with the original clamps.  20 years old.  Retorqued something like 8 times in the logs.  From what I remember a Mooney service letter says to replace them.  That doesn't make it mandatory but it's a good idea. 

[Jan B.]

12 hours ago, M20Doc said:

It shouldn’t apply to your F model unless you have a turbocharger.

I have a Turbocharger. Otherwise I would not have asked.

[hubcap]

So…does the AD create a “life limit” ?

[Pinecone]

You need to look at the IPC for the part numbers.

But, AFAIK, after the K, they have the riveted clamp subject to the Chapter 4 limitations.

[LANCECASPER]

On 7/9/2023 at 4:53 PM, jetdriven said:

We had a M20M with the original clamps.  20 years old.  Retorqued something like 8 times in the logs.  From what I remember a Mooney service letter says to replace them.  That doesn't make it mandatory but it's a good idea. 

The revision (red letters) to this says it is mandatory:

https://www.mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-283A.pdf

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said:

The revision (red letters) to this says it is mandatory:

https://www.mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-283A.pdf

Service Bulletins or Service Instructions aren't mandatory for Part 91 unless they're part of an AD, even if they have "MANDATORY" on them in big letters.    "Mandatory" SBs and SIs are meaningful for operators under other parts of the FARs, which is why they exist, but aren't mandatory under Part 91.

In this case the SB is not cited by the AD.    Given that the scope of the AD is pretty broad, it's not surprising that it doesn't cite any specific manufacturer SBs.

[jetdriven]

On 11/3/2023 at 11:42 AM, LANCECASPER said:

The revision (red letters) to this says it is mandatory:

https://www.mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-283A.pdf

His was a 2005 airplane, it left the factory compliant with the SB. It had riveted clamps, but, still. They needed to be replaced.