piano hinge

[Fred Whitacre]

The passenger door on my 250 has a piano hinge.
My mechanic says it is not faa approved. I searched
"piano hinge" on this site and see that some of us do
have doors with the piano hinge,and one person sent
a form 337 to ics.

Anybody know anything about this subject?

fred

[N3322G]

Hi Fred,

Welcome to the Forum. I see this is your first post here.

Looked you up in Pathfinder - we aren't too far from you. If you don't get an answer here and want a qualified second opinion, you can email an ICS Tech Director http://www.comancheflyer.com/NS/tq.php or if you are going to do business with a highly knowledgeable Comanche shop, call Clifton Aero - they are a bit south of Ft Worth at 7F7 http://cliftonaero.com/

I know there is a way to do this legally as I've considered it for my twin as I think it gives a better door seal without adjustments in the future. As I'm not a mechanic, I can't guide you but others who frequent this site are so hopefully they will post.

[Fred Whitacre]

Thanks Pat,

I'll try that website.

Fred

[N3322G]

Fred,

The website is this one - just a different section - from the Home Page click Tech Tab and go from there. I just gave you the hotlink to make it easy.

[Ray B]

Fred, If your log book does not show who installed the hinge you might try calling Webco as they may have sold the parts for the installation and can give some guidance. I to thought about this option when my top hinge was cracked and the only new one to be found anywhere at the time was 200 dollars! Ray B

[Fred Whitacre]

Thanks for the help.
The first thing I will do
is dig thru the last 50
years of the logbook, it very
well could be in there. My
mechanic gave me the impression
that the hinge was not faa
approved.

[Dave Fitzgerald]

[N3322G]

Dave,

Funny your should mention 7171P - that is where I saw it - didn't know Lucky had gotten that done. The aircraft raced in the events I ran a couple of times and then it was sold to another party.

[Charles Schefer]

You might do some digging into AC 43.13-1B. It deals with acceptable repair methods and "substitution of parts". The FAA recently pointed me in this direction related to replacing all of the nose cowl fasteners on my PA-30 with nut plates and screws. The AC is a long and comprehensive document but it may help in this context. You can download it from the FAA website.

- Charles