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Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:57:21 -0400
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From: "John Barrett" <2thman@cablespeed.com>
Subject: re: In the News today
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What is referred to is most likely the NTSB's advice to the FAA =
concerning
the Zodiac CH-601XL, an SLA that has had several breakups and numerous
deaths presumably due to flutter.

Below is a couple of paragraphs from the Avweb news site.

**************


NTSB ASKS FAA TO IMMEDIATELY GROUND ZODIAC CH-601XL AIRCRAFT
In an unusual move on Tuesday, the NTSB issued an "urgent safety
recommendation" asking the FAA to prohibit further flight of the Zodiac
CH-601XL, which has been involved in six in-flight structural breakups =
since
2006. The board cited four accidents in the U.S. and two in Europe in =
which
a CH-601XL broke up in flight, killing a total of 10 people. According =
to
the NTSB, there is a problem with the airplane design that makes it
susceptible to aerodynamic flutter -- a phenomenon in which the control
surfaces of the airplane can suddenly vibrate, and if unmitigated, can =
lead
to catastrophic structural failure. The NTSB wants the U.S. fleet =
grounded
until the FAA can determine that the problem has been solved. "The NTSB =
does
not often recommend that all airplanes of a particular type be =
prohibited
from further flight," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker. "In this
case, we believe such action will save lives. Unless the safety issues =
with
this particular Zodiac model are addressed, we are likely to see more
accidents in which pilots and passengers are killed in airplanes that =
they
believed were safe to fly." More...
FAA AND INDUSTRY RESPOND TO NTSB ZODIAC CONCERNS
The FAA is already looking into concerns about all versions of the =
Zodiac
CH-601XL aircraft, which were raised at an industry meeting back in
February, FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown told AVweb on Tuesday, but she
added that the agency has no immediate plans to call for the airplanes =
to be
grounded. "The manufacturer already has told owners to check the aileron
control cable tensions," she said. The FAA has formed a special review =
team
with members from the FAA and the industry to investigate the problem. =
Brown
added that the FAA has told the ASTM that it should conduct a review of =
its
LSA standards regarding aerodynamic flutter. The CH-601XL airplane is =
sold
in a kit version by Zenith Aircraft, which is run by Sebastian Heintz, =
and
is also sold as an S-LSA by AMD (Aircraft Manufacturing & Design), which =
is
run by Matthew Heintz. The CH-601XL was certified as an S-LSA in 2005. =
In
the six accidents cited by the NTSB, two of the aircraft were =
experimental
amateur-built (one in California and one in Utah), one in California was =
an
S-LSA manufactured by AMD, and one in Florida was an S-LSA built by the
Czech Aircraft Works. The other two crashes were in the Netherlands and =
in
Spain, and it is not clear what version of the aircraft was involved. On
Wednesday, Zenith Aircraft posted a notice online stating that the =
company
first learned of the NTSB's safety recommendation on Tuesday, when the =
press
release was issued. "We continue to believe wing flutter will not occur =
if
the control cables are adjusted properly," the notice reads. More...


Regards,

John Barrett, CEO
Leading Edge Composites
PO Box 428
Port Hadlock, WA 98339
www.carbinge.com
=A0=20