Originally Posted by
paco
Wrench1 - that's Airbus's belief! Apparently those springy tabs on the rear of the skids must be very precisely positioned.
Ha. How typical. However, when the technical guys showed up back then they weren’t as “positive.” As we both know French helicopters never fail, they sure were in a hurry to change the inspection criteria on the springs and shocks from on-condition to a specific interval of checks. As I recall none of our 350/355 parts passed any check at all except for several new E models we had.
FYI: it wasn’t the springs that had a specific position but the shocks on the forward x-tube that did. However, it wasn’t the position check the shocks failed instead it was the extension timing check under load that failed. Should have been 10 seconds or so but most measured at zero seconds. The springs failed by flattening over time instead of having a permanent deflection and were worn thin.