Falcon Fall 2006

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• Falcon 900, 2000 Pylon Lights
• Collins Mode S Transponder Service Bulletin
• F-50/50 Emergency Exit Access

Falcon 900, 2000 Pylon Lights

— Mark Goertzen

If you are having problems with burnt out pylon light bulbs along with overheated light lens on your F900 or F2000, Duncan Aviation has recently been installing a 28V LED High Intensity replacement bulb in place of the 1683 bulbs presently installed. This cost effective mod has been approved as a minor change through Duncan’s Engineering Dept. These bulbs have a scheduled 10,000 hour life, run cool to the touch and are not prone to filament vibration breakage. No changes are necessary to the aircraft wiring as these LED bulbs draw 80% less current then the original. Contact Mark Goertzen in Lincoln at 800.228.4277 ext. 1511, Ron Grose in Lincoln ext. 1640 or Kevin Bornhorst in Battle Creek at 800.525.2376 ext. 8482 for more information.

Collins Mode S Transponder Service Bulletin

— Joe Spring & Dave Pleskac

Rockwell Collins has announced the pending release of a new Service Bulletin TDR-94D Mode S Transponder addressing the interface between the Collins TDR-94D and the Honeywell AZ-810 Air Data Computer to allow for Enchanced Mode S capability. Currently, Label 102 for the Selected Altitude Downlink Aircraft Parameter (DAP) is not available with the TDR-94D/AZ-810 combination. The pending modification will take the TDR-94D to a -207 status. Enhanced Mode S compliance will go into effect March 2007 for all Eurocontrol flights.

F-50/50 Emergency Exit Access

— Sonny Patel

During the interior inspection or refurbishment we have found anomalies with the existing cabin forward-facing seats located aft of the emergency exits (mainly the LH seat). These seats have been function tested to have full movement capability which allows the seat to track forward, swivel into the aisle, and recline the seat back against the emergency exit hatch. Since the exit hatch pivots inboard to open, the seat can be placed into a position in which the emergency exit hatch cannot be opened. This situation does not comply with the FAA regulations.

The FAA has deemed that all cabin seat positions must comply with the 14 CFR Part 25 regulation 25.813 titled “Emergency Exit Access.” There is additional guidance for this regulation in AC 25-17 “Transport Airplane Cabin Interior Crashworthiness Handbook” and in FAA policy memos dated in 1991 & 1992. These regulations and memos state “the seat should have a positive design feature that prevents them from being moved into positions which render an exit unopenable”. This allows rescue personnel to enter the aircraft if the occupants are incapacitated.

To comply with these regulations and policies, Duncan Aviation has performed a simple seat modification on the forward facing seats that removes the swivel pin from the seat mechanism so the seat back cannot swivel into the projected opening of the emergency exit hatch. This modification is identical to the modification performed by Dassault Falcon Jet as documented in their STC drawing F50-51134.

We recommend operators check these seats to ensure the emergency exit is not blocked. Contact Ron Grose in Lincoln at 800.228.4277 ext. 1640 or Kevin Bornhorst in Battle Creek at 800.525.2376 ext. 8482 for more information.

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