V-band clamp

[Pinecone]

7 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

An amoc to install an appropriate sized, high quality auto clamp with recurring inspection until parts are available would be ideal. 

Heck, with the price of the auto clamps, I could live with replacing them ever 100 hours or some interval.

[Ragsf15e]

21 hours ago, PeteMc said:

Try calling.  Usually once you get to a person, they'll either transfer you to the right person or actually follow up to get the info to the right person. 

 

(Re: AOPA) I did call. Even got a real person!  However they refused to talk to me about it until I became a member (again).  I didn’t feel like going that route.

Edit: they did respond to the email I sent!  Below:

Hi Drew
 
Our government affairs folks are fully aware of the lack of v-band clamps and it has come up in high level meetings. We are not blind to the issue in any way and are coordinating with the FAA to explore extension options.
 
Best,
 
Carlo
 

Carlo Cilliers
Aviation Technical Specialist

[Ragsf15e]

I had a nice chat with the FAA rep named at the bottom of the AD.  I had sent an email to him and the AMOC email asking if there had been any approved AMOC requests yet so I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel if someone had already done the legwork.  He got back to me on the same day.  He said he's been fielding a lot of calls and they are aware of the supply issues.  They are having internal discussions about what they can do if the parts do not become available.  He recommended that I hold off on submitting an AMOC request to extend the timeline through additional inspections (say each 50 hours) until it gets closer to July as the FAA folks might come out with something themselves since they are aware of the issue.  While it didn't give me the perverbial "warm fuzzy", my discussion with him and the response from AOPA lead me to believe there's not much more I can do for the time being, so I will try to let it rest and see where we end up. 

One surprise I've had was that I never received a response from GAMI.  There are a bunch of posts on BT in 2023 and early 2024 where they were working on getting a clamp approved, but not much since.  Not sure what happened with that effort, but it would be nice to have an additional supplier.  I believe the spot welded clamps should be replaced ASAP, so I'd like to do that, but I don't think it requires ground the airplane in the short term until parts are available.

[PT20J]

4 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

One surprise I've had was that I never received a response from GAMI.  There are a bunch of posts on BT in 2023 and early 2024 where they were working on getting a clamp approved, but not much since.  Not sure what happened with that effort, but it would be nice to have an additional supplier.  I believe the spot welded clamps should be replaced ASAP, so I'd like to do that, but I don't think it requires ground the airplane in the short term until parts are available.

You could contact George Braly directly. I've always found him responsive: 

gwbraly@gami.com

(580) 421-5645

[shawnd]

24 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

I had a nice chat with the FAA rep named at the bottom of the AD.  I had sent an email to him and the AMOC email asking if there had been any approved AMOC requests yet so I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel if someone had already done the legwork.  He got back to me on the same day.

Despite the luke warm response, this is promising in my opinion. At least they are aware and working on something. We now know that they didn't release the AD and moved on to better things.

[Pinecone]

14 hours ago, PT20J said:

You could contact George Braly directly. I've always found him responsive: 

gwbraly@gami.com

(580) 421-5645

or @George Braly

 

[Pinecone]

14 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I believe the spot welded clamps should be replaced ASAP, so I'd like to do that, but I don't think it requires ground the airplane in the short term until parts are available.

I don't agree that they ALL need to be changed ASAP.  AFAIK ones that failed (cited in the AD) would have failed a reasonable inspection.

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, Pinecone said:

I don't agree that they ALL need to be changed ASAP.  AFAIK ones that failed (cited in the AD) would have failed a reasonable inspection.

Possibly, but I read the engineering report cited in the AD and I think the inspection process was just a way to buy industry some time to produce the riveted ones.  The clamps corrode during use based on their exposure and the very difficult environment they are exposed to (high heat, water, vibration).  The spot welds provide a weak spot where cracks can form.  Depending on the inspection procedures, taking it on and off to look at makes it worse.  I think all that could happen between inspections or be pretty tough to see.  If I knew mine was in the “less than 500 hours” category, I’d be happy with it, but it’s in the “unknown” category.  Is it 35 years old? I would replace it now if I could.  There’s also the fact that failure can be fairly catastrophic, so even a low/middle chance is bad.

[Pinecone]

The pictures used to support the AD seemed to be in the range of, that looks BAD.

[Ragsf15e]

17 hours ago, PT20J said:

You could contact George Braly directly. I've always found him responsive: 

gwbraly@gami.com

(580) 421-5645

As you said, George replied pretty quickly to an email.  They have designed a clamp for most applications, tested it, and “shared the test results” to the FAA.  Unfortunately it’s not approved or in production yet.  I don’t think we should count on it being ready to purchase by July.

[shawnd]

I am now on the order queue with 2 different sources, not sure if any will pan out before July but hoping for the best. One sourcing from Boeing has already stated Jan 2026 "but may come in sooner". 

[IvanP]

48 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

As you said, George replied pretty quickly to an email.  They have designed a clamp for most applications, tested it, and “shared the test results” to the FAA.  Unfortunately it’s not approved or in production yet.  I don’t think we should count on it being ready to purchase by July.

I hope that GAMI will get the approval for their clamp. The product looks much more robust than what we currently have in our planes. 

[Fix]

4 hours ago, IvanP said:

I hope that GAMI will get the approval for their clamp. The product looks much more robust than what we currently have in our planes. 

I guess GAMI has other priorities right now when their GAMI G100UL is under attack...
 

[IvanP]

29 minutes ago, Fix said:

I guess GAMI has other priorities right now when their GAMI G100UL is under attack...
 

Yes, there are some concerns about G100UL and Iguess that ther emay be some merit to them. I will not use this fuel because of the concerns brought up by other MS members and other aviators. Nevertheless, I love other GAMI products and wish them well in their endeavors to advance ganeral aviation. 

[shawnd]

12 minutes ago, IvanP said:

Yes, there are some concerns about G100UL and Iguess that ther emay be some merit to them. I will not use this fuel because of the concerns brought up by other MS members and other aviators. Nevertheless, I love other GAMI products and wish them well in their endeavors to advance ganeral aviation. 

I just hope they survive so I can install GAMI injectors. Still in the ToDo column on my shopping list 

[IvanP]

9 minutes ago, shawnd said:

I just hope they survive so I can install GAMI injectors. Still in the ToDo column on my shopping list 

I had those on my previous plane and was very happy with them. May install on the current one as well in due time. 

Edited February 6, 2025 by IvanP

[Marc_B]

5 hours ago, shawnd said:

I just hope they survive so I can install GAMI injectors.

What’s your spread currently?  I believe your engine came with TCM tuned injectors and often have a pretty tight spread. I’m 0.3-0.4 GPH spread out of the box. Other Marc’s M20K was close enough GAMI recommended against new injectors. 

[shawnd]

I did a run a while back, my first attempt: it was between 9.8 and 10.6. Since then there has been an IRAN so need to redo things - may or may not affect it. Definitely need to figure out a way to be smoother with turning the knobs.

[Marc_B]

@shawnd Once you’re up and running with the new equipment you’ll have to fly the profile again and do mixture sweeps slooooowwwwllllyyy down and then back up multiple times.  Reviewing data on Savvy it’s easy to use their automation to compute your spread  

https://www.savvyaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/savvy_pdf/Savvy-Flight-Test-Profile-Expanded.pdf

[Pinecone]

On 2/6/2025 at 11:21 PM, Marc_B said:

What’s your spread currently?  I believe your engine came with TCM tuned injectors and often have a pretty tight spread. I’m 0.3-0.4 GPH spread out of the box. Other Marc’s M20K was close enough GAMI recommended against new injectors. 

They won't sell me GAMIjectors.   I have tried.

My spread is too low.  TSIO-360-SB

[Fix]

Now Air Power changed delivery again: Estimated Availability: 6/3/2025

Wonder if they do this to get "more" pre-orders.

Have they delivered any V-Band Clamps from December as they "promised" or they just move delivery date forward?

[shawnd]

I placed my order in October with a delivery date of December. It has moved and when I called they said the order status was "Past Due". The lady didn't know of an ETA. 

[Ragsf15e]

3 minutes ago, Fix said:

Now Air Power changed delivery again: Estimated Availability: 6/3/2025

Wonder if they do this to get "more" pre-orders.

Have they delivered any V-Band Clamps from December as they "promised" or they just move delivery date forward?

I’ve only had mine ordered since early last month (when the estimate was for mid February).  June would be ok for me.  I wonder where they’re getting that date?

[Fix]

Good news!

My V-Band Clamp was sent Tuesday, March 4, 2025 from Air Power.

No confirmation e-mail or anything, I got a SMS from FedEx about a delivery and when I logged in and checked it says Shipped.

I placed my order:  October 8, 2024

I'll guess for you guys that are waiting, we now know they are shipping them out soon as they can.

[shawnd]

I will give them a call tomorrow and check. I also placed my order on Oct 8! Unfortunately online it says processing still.