Airworthiness Directives

[thomas1142]

Does an AD that was issued prior to your aircraft manufacturing date still apply? 
 

Such as AD 85-24-03, Fuel Contamination, issued in 1985 apply to a Mooney manufactured in 1997.

[PT20J]

In general, it depends on the AD wording, the serial number of your airplane, and what has been previously done and logged. 

Specifically for AD 85-24-03, the text requires one time inspection and repair of fuel tanks on airplanes within a specific serial number range that may have left the factory with drain holes plugged with sealant.

It also requires the same inspection and repair if the tanks have been resealed in the field.

It further requires annual inspection of the Shaw fuel caps.

 

[EricJ]

6 hours ago, thomas1142 said:

Does an AD that was issued prior to your aircraft manufacturing date still apply? 
 

Such as AD 85-24-03, Fuel Contamination, issued in 1985 apply to a Mooney manufactured in 1997.

ADs generally have an applicability statement that determines which aircraft it applies to.   In this case it says:

Applies to Models M20B, M20C, M20D, M20E, M20F, M20G, M20J, M20K, and M22 (all Serial Numbers (S/N)) airplanes certificated in any category.

So, if your airplane is any of those models, with any serial number, it applies.   The next important part is the compliance statement, which tells how to comply with the AD and when or if it might recur.    You can check the logbooks of your aircraft to see if or when it was done and whether any of the conditions for recurrence may apply.

 

[tony]

On 5/3/2024 at 4:31 PM, thomas1142 said:

Does an AD that was issued prior to your aircraft manufacturing date still apply? 
 

Such as AD 85-24-03, Fuel Contamination, issued in 1985 apply to a Mooney manufactured in 1997.

what's supposed to happen is the OEM has to make the fix in the factory (design change) in order to maintain their production certificate.  New aircraft coming out of the factory are not supposed to get an airworthiness certificate with an outstanding AD.  

[RangerM20]

That isn't quite true.  You can have a brand-new airplane with outstanding AD's on it.  For example, back in the 70's, Cessna had exhaust failures on some of their big twins.  Until a fix was designed, the current production was delivered with an AD for recurring inspections for the exhaust.  

[N201MKTurbo]

1 hour ago, RangerM20 said:

That isn't quite true.  You can have a brand-new airplane with outstanding AD's on it.  For example, back in the 70's, Cessna had exhaust failures on some of their big twins.  Until a fix was designed, the current production was delivered with an AD for recurring inspections for the exhaust.  

That AD is still in effect BTW.

[redbaron1982]

I guess the only thing that is required is for the airplane to have complied with all the ADs requirements at the moment it leaves the factory. 

But if the AD has a recurring inspection as a compliance method, then the owner will have to continue performing the inspection on the required interval. 

[N201MKTurbo]

6 minutes ago, redbaron1982 said:

I guess the only thing that is required is for the airplane to have complied with all the ADs requirements at the moment it leaves the factory. 

But if the AD has a recurring inspection as a compliance method, then the owner will have to continue performing the inspection on the required interval. 

When there are parts in a plane that wear out. And they are already covered by by an AD, it would be a lot of work to include the AD requirements in an ICA and then petition to get the AD changed to reference the ICA. It seems kind of redundant to accomplish the same thing.

[N201MKTurbo]

2 hours ago, redbaron1982 said:

I guess the only thing that is required is for the airplane to have complied with all the ADs requirements at the moment it leaves the factory. 

But if the AD has a recurring inspection as a compliance method, then the owner will have to continue performing the inspection on the required interval. 

Welcome to aviation.

[N201MKTurbo]

Just remember, these ADs are there to save our butts, but some times they are a pain in our butts.