Installing a major mod

[QDMQDMQDM]

Here's a question for you technical types. Just presuming I could raise the £10K at some point to purchase a set of retractable hydraulic wheel skis for the Super Cub, how would I best go about getting them installed?

I could buy a set of US Wipaire skis with an STC. Alternatively, I could buy a non-STCed Swiss set, which are apparently better, but approved only in Switzerland. How much difference would it make to the CAA to have an FAA STC already in place?

Also, if I bought the Swiss set could I have them installed in Switzerland by the Swiss engineers who make them and then fly back to have the aircraft assessed by the CAA? I am guessing that this would not be possible, although makes the most sense.

As I say, this is hypothetical at the moment, because I have not yet been able to persuade my wife to go on the game to fund my aviation exploits. I live in hope, however.

QDM

[A and C]

The last time we talked to the CAA about major mods the cost was IRO £300/ hour for them to look at it............... looks like it,s unoin street for your wife !.

[Aerobatic Flyer]

Hi there,

It probably doesn't make anyone do the paperwork any quicker, but Ercem skis are approved for Super Cubs in France.

Logic says that if the skis are approved for an aircraft on a full C of A in one JAA country, they should be approved on exactly the same aircraft on a C of A in another JAA country..... n'est-ce pas? ;)

Sorry. I'll stop being facetious.:(

[Genghis the Engineer]

Assuming that it's the non-STC'd version...

For a major mod application, it needs to go direct to CAA Gatwick but via an "approved company", there aren't all that many of those - but if you are really keen contact me privately and I can probably help.

I don't have the charge scheme to hand, but it's of the order £400 minimum charge which gets you 3 man-hours of effort from CAA. If your company is good, that should be enough, if not, expect to pay around £130/hr after the first 3 hours.

The submission will need to include design details (drawings, etc.) and a compliance report with the relevant certification standard (probably BCAR Section K in this case) and test reports (assuming it's been tested by someone somewhere, or that testing was carried out under the applying company's flight-test approvals).

It's likely that CAA will have some questions about this, so expect a few weeks delay and a few hundred quid in fees whilst this is sorted out with your consulting approved company. Then they'll issue a "Draft Airworthiness Approval Note" allowing somebody from the CAA regional office to come and inspect the items. They are generally only checking that the bits are the same as were declared in the original application.

Once that's through, the full "Airworthiness Approval Note" or AAN is issued. This gives you full approval - it's likely only to be a one-off for your aeroplane alone UNLESS the supplier of bits had a JAA production approval (POA) in which case it could be a generic approval for all of type.



That's the position right now, and frankly it's not worth the hassle since there's nowhere to use skis in the UK. If there were, buying a cub on a permit, and putting the application through the PFA will save you several thousand quid and a lot of grief.


In theory, once EASA happens in the next year or two, a French approval will become an EASA approval and should then be accepted automatically in the UK. Whether it'll really happen this way is frankly anybody's guess at the moment.


Seriously however, if you really want to do something like this to an aircraft with a UK CofA, drop me a line and I can probably sort you out via an approved company of my close acquaintance. It will cost you a lot of money, but it is possible. If it's on a PFA permit, you might find it still pays to hire a suitable consultant, but you'll miss out on the CAA fees.

G

[QDMQDMQDM]

Thanks a lot, all. Very useful.

So, Genghis, what if it is STC approved, or it is a pair of AF's Ercem, French-approived skis? Does that make it easier?

[Genghis the Engineer]

It should do, but occasionally doesn't.

If there's an STC from an overseas authority that CAA considers competent (which does include the US and, against all odds, the French) then they should only be doing a check on the basis of approval and so long as there's nothing odd about it approval should be pretty much automatic once you've translated the paperwork into English for them.

They'll still charge the £400 fee, and occasionally some pillock overseas decides that they won't trust the CAA with copies of their approval reports to check (which I think was the reason for the much publicised German silencer business) - in which case yes, you're back to square one. Always worth asking that question before parting with any cash!

G

[QDMQDMQDM]

Thanks, Genghis.