Citation Winter 2003

• The Value of Paint, Plan For Protection
• SB560-34-75 Required with RVSM Service Bulletins
• Don’t Make Two Trips for ELT, RVSM & TAWS

The Value of Paint, Plan For Protection

— George Bajo

Our current economy is a catalyst for the exchange of aircraft and new paint is often a differentiator in the decision-making process. If you are considering buying or selling an aircraft, consider the condition of its paint. An aircraft kept in a quality coat of paint is less likely to develop corrosion. For this reason, aircraft should be stripped, inspected and repainted by a reputable aircraft paint facility every five to seven years.

Paint technology has improved considerably in recent years. The new High Solids (HS) primers and paint have evolved into excellent products with proven performance on all surfaces, including composites. Flexible agents in HS paint and primers, combined with skilled paint technicians, ensure a longlasting, top-quality finish and maximum protection for your aircraft.

Also consider that inferior or old paint can cause electrical problems affecting comm radios and navigation receivers. In addition, many aircraft manufacturers’ “continuing maintenance instructions” for RVSM aircraft stress that the paint around the static ports needs to be kept in “new condition” with no paint chips allowed to disrupt the airflow over the static-sensing areas, which could cause altitude errors.

SB560-34-75 Required with RVSM Service Bulletins

— Joe Austin

If you fly a 560, Cessna has stated that service bulletin SB560-34-75 should be done at the same time as the applicable RVSM bulletin (the service bulletin numbers for RVSM are SB560-34-97 for units 1 to 259 and SB560-34-79 for units 260 to 525). The additional bulletin increases the diameter of the static port holes to .191" instead of the original size of .125" and requires a static port adapter from Nav-Aid to fit the larger static port holes. SB560-34-75 also requires replacement of the static port external doublers with stainless steel doublers. The port doublers should be polished as directed in the bulletin.

SB560-34-75 currently states that it should be done in conjunction with SB560-34-79 through unit 560-490 but it does not state that it should be done with SB560-34-97. Cessna is aware of the text problem and is working on a revision. If you have already had the RVSM bulletins completed on your aircraft, you should also now complete SB560-34-75. This bulletin does not make your plane noncompliant for RVSM requirements, it is more of a "problem preventative" bulletin than a compliant/noncompliant situation, but it is highly recommended by Cessna.

Technical Tip: Extreme care should be used when enlarging the holes to .191". The holes should be 90 degrees to the fuselage and not angled one way or the other. A piloted reamer would work well for this task.

For more information, please contact Joe Austin at 800.525.2376 or Ed Johnson at 800.228.4277.

Don’t Make Two Trips for ELT, RVSM & TAWS

— Dennis DeCook

There are three avionics mandates that are quickly approaching:

• ELT–January 1, 2004
• RVSM–December 1, 2004
• TAWS (EGPWS)–March 29, 2005

There are approximately 7,500 aircraft worldwide that still need these upgrades. We believe that operators will save money, downtime and a possible AOG situation by following an “early compliance” approach .You can beat the last minute crunch by completing these mandates during scheduled maintenance.

Contact Dennis DeCook for more info at 269.969.8418.

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