Falcon Summer 2007

• Falcon 50/50EX Inspection of Thrust Reverser Door Hinge Fittings
• Falcon 900/DX/EX & 2000/EX Possible Loose Screws in Fuselage Fillets

Falcon 50/50EX Inspection of Thrust Reverser Door Hinge Fittings

— Mark Goertzen

The next time you are performing a “4A” inspection (1200 hours) of your Falcon 50/50EX, note that operation codes 783001 and 783006, listed in Chapter 5-10, may be due depending on the results of the inspection accomplished by Dassault service bulletin F50-434. This service bulletin has you perform a visual/eddy current inspection of the hinge fittings of both thrust reverser doors using the criteria in Vought Aircraft Industries (formerly Grumman Aerospace) service bulletin PMNTR-SBDP02-01 which lists four possible scenarios following the inspection:

1. Any cracks found or the fitting thickness is <.290” is cause for door fitting rejection.
2. Certain machining marks that can be blended with no further inspection needed.
3. Certain machining marks that can be blended with a reinspection at the “4A” (1200 hour) inspection, thus the Chapter 5-10 requirement and the “Note”.
4. No discrepancies found, no further inspections required.

Please note the Vought Aircraft Industries service bulletin states a “B” inspection (1500 hours) as the reinspection interval, if needed, but Dassault has shortened this frequency to the “4A” inspection which is reflected in Chapter 5-10 requirement. This inspection is to be performed on aircraft serial numbers 2 thru 317 as directed in the Dassault service bulletin.

Please 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.

Falcon 900/DX/EX & 2000/EX Possible Loose Screws in Fuselage Fillets

— Ron Grose

A F900EX and a F2000EX recently experienced damage to the engine fan blades. In both cases the FOD originated from a screw that came off from the fuselage fillets. This information can be found in F900 SNF 86, F900DX SNF 11, F900EX SNF 50, F2000 SNF 62, F2000EX SNF 15, and FSA 53-50-02 for all models. The F900EX EASy and F2000EX EASy aircraft are subject to this problem also.

Duncan Aviation technicians have found many cases of the fuselage fillet screws being the improper length. The best way we have found to inspect the screws for the proper length is to remove the smaller panels in the fillets and use a mirror and flashlight to inspect the screw threads. The screw threads should protrude through the nutplates a minimum of one thread.

Since these large fuselage fillets are not removed until the “C” inspection (6 year), we have found a few aircraft where the screw length has been too long also. In this case the screws protruded through the nutplate causing damage to the fuselage skin. This could lead to a costly repair if the skin is severely damaged.

We want to remind you to check that the proper length screw is installed when installing these fillets. This will eliminate unnecessary costly repairs.

For more information please 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.

( Return to top )