Heliport...I went to faa.gov and checked for AD's in both Emergency and Past 60 Days catagories and came up empty handed.

Seems a strange thing.

What has the check "A" got to do with weight and balance?

If it's a secret, it shouldn't be!

Sorry When I say Check A it's more of a engineers check A ( totaly irelavant to a pilots check A)

More of a certificate of release to service for one day

I am from Missouri.....the "Show Me" state!
 

Heliport,

It would seem there would be lots of response to such a situation....here and other web sites.....but other than the original post....there seems to be no smoke signals from any fires showing.

But then....maybe there are not all that mamy 350/355 aircraft with autopilots out there to be affected.

"Sorry When I say Check A it's more of a engineers check A ( totaly irelavant to a pilots check A)"

??

Is there a difference? There isn't on the aircraft type I fly and hold a check 'A' qualification for. We use the same checklist as the engineers.

My sources tell me that it originated from a faxed warning from Eurocopter concerning a cracked vibration absorber. Requires checking daily by an engineer due to the need to take the belly panel off.

news to me my company operates both and they where both flying today as where a number of other 350/355s.

If the belly panels had hartwell latches could the pilot carry out inspection ?. If i recall correctly if the panel can be removed and installed without the use of a tool then an engineer is not required, is this correct . If it is a cracked vib absorber then to me it sounds like an isolated installation problem , I recall the sfim/sagem system had one of the computers mounted adjacent to the vib absorber. Can't see how a W and B problem would cause damage to the vib absorbers .

Eurocopter issued an alert telex on 9th June to inspect the right hand cabin anti-vibration damper. The inspection has been included in our Daily Mandatory Inspections. All the pilot does is drop the right hand side of the belly panel to check the damper. If it breaks it could foul the trim actuator. Our engineers showed us in a few minutes what to look for. No fuss, no drama, no grounding.:ok:

VH....but if it breaks in flight then what? Possible for it to foul the control linkage and thus be a bit bothersome?

Sasless;

You are absolutely right. Sorry, I meant no trouble about groundings or complex inspections. If it did break in flight it could cause a serious buttock clenching moment. I haven't heard if this fault has actually happened or whether someone has realised the possibilities and reacted accordingly, if so good on them.

VH

If this slight irregularity is of enough concern to require a daily visual inspection....one would assume the FAA, et al....would be issuing an Emergency AD on the issue. Another argument for operators to buy bare bones helicoters....see what happens when you add fancy avionics...nothing but extra costs and inspections!!!

SASless, you used to complain about barebones aircraft flogging around the patch at night, now you say that barebones aircraft are better (is that a gotcha?)

Nick,

Sorry old boy...that is not a gotcha....just another chorus of the same refrain.

I said....yet another excuse for operators to argue against buying the fancy kit....citing the increased costs of yet another inspection.

If the aircraft did not have the servo....and the chance of interference with it....would it be a "daily" visual inspection vice a periodic inspection as are a multitude of other things?

A question is begged here....did the engineers drop a clanger on this one by not anticipating the conflict?

Just revising for my 355 OPC next week and the anti vibration resonator is not part of the autopilot. It just reduces vibration around the cabin floor area. The aircraft has to be checked once a day by a qualified engineer (not the crew) and details are available from macs

Yes, the problem is that the antivibrator could detach and fall onto an actuator. The check is a one-off, and not required daily.

thats not what I have heard from 3 different owners now as they all have to get it checked off by an engineer daily

For us barebones chaps, What kind of device is the AntiVibrator, how and where is it connected and what effect does it have in real life?

TFS

squirrel: pm me, have some very detailed jpegs of the anti vibe weights if your interested.
dr