PA31 Wing spar AD

[DTE]

"Don't the guys at GippsAero at Latrobe Valley already do some sort of wing life extension program on the PA31. Some body down there once told me that they had modded more than half the OZ PA31 fleet."

Yes, I was at GippsAero a couple of weeks ago and they have a PA31 there currently undergoing the 'mod'.

Cheers

Owen

[43Inches]

IIRC, Embraer nows owns the tooling and licences for the PA31 line and have / still do turn out Chieftains et al in Brazil..... They call them by the Piper model numbers, 1020 and 1040 I think.

Piper outsorced construction of PA31 to Brazil (NEIVA) Columbia and Argentina, the Brazillian ones were renumbered as EMB 820. There was a conversion called the Caraja which was PT6 powered. South American produced Pipers can not be registered in the USA, therefor they are valued a lot less. This clause is listed on the TCDS and is governed by the aircrafts serial number.

The T-1000 series was developed by Piper for use by commuter airlines, these were produced in the USA. The T-1020 is a Chieftain with reduced weight and a basic 11 seat layout. The T-1040 is a Hybrid Chieftain/Cheyenne with turbine engines.