503 to 582?

[Guest max1090for2]

Hi i'm just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on converting a certified drifter from a 503 to a 582 and keep it certified for training, and is it really worth it? Am i better off just buying a 582 drifter?

 

Thanks

 

 

[farri]

Keeping Certification.

 

Hi max1090for2,

 

Does anyone know,exactly,what the original certification requires,and where would we find the requirements?

 

Without knowing all of the facts,your question on certification is a difficult one to answer.

 

Any modification,however small must be approved by the authority that approved the certification in the first place so if any modifications have been made to the aircraft,without those approvals, then the certification would be meaningles.

 

On the question," Is it realy worth it"

 

It`s definitely worth going to the 582 for the extra power but it may not be financialy worth it if you can`t do the work yourself,you need to do the sums carefully as you would require a considerable amount of hardware also.

 

I started teaching with a certified,Austflight,wire braced,503 Drifter with a 2 blade woden prop,I quickly converted to a 582,E type gearbox with a 4 blade brolga prop with 17 degrees of pitch to get the extra power that is needed in a teaching situation,I ended up using 4, 582 engines all up, before I retired from teaching.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest TOSGcentral]

Just a couple of additional comments.

 

It is getting difficult these days to keep 95.25 style training going what with factories going down but still holding the type certificate etc etc.

 

AUF/RAAus or CASA did not keep the data records on the 95.25 type certifications and believe me I have hammered away to get them!

 

I have put in years of research and negotiation with AUF/RAAus on this subject and the bottom line is really this: If the factory originally produced and sold the aircraft with xyz modification in considerable numbers then it has to be assumed that there was engineering compliance that was approved. Particularly as the factories were subject to audit by CASA and this would have been then vetted by AUF/RAAus.

 

So if, for example a W/B Drifter that originally came out with a 503 later came out with a 582 then if you replicate the installation and weight & balance, get it signed off by a L2 or higher - then there should be no problem.

 

The Drifters and Thrusters are very close really. It is just that you like flying pussy cats and I like flying feral tigers and making them pussy cats :big_grin:

 

But I do have workable agreement with RAAus on what can or cannot be done with the Thrusters. That is certainly not carte blanche! I have been able to help a lot of people out with what they thought would be impossible but was easy. Similarly I have given some very blunt and negative advice to others on what they thought was simple and was really outside compliance limits.

 

For the two marques, as examples:

 

The Thruster was allegedly certified for the R912 motor. I was in on a bit of this and I do not believe that the required test flying was done for certification. So I will not have a bar of the things. Mercifully the factory is the only one allowed to install these engines so that has died a death and we have had no more.

 

With the Drifter there was the R618. I believe about 6 of these were allowed by AUF/RAAus but only on a one year permit to fly with the factory supposed to have completed certification. When that apparently expired with no new T/C a few owners got their fingers burnt!

 

Really, although I personally do not like them, the Drifter is a fine aircraft and should continue and, like Thrusters, there are a lot of them around still. Really what you need to do is do what I did and start a Support Group (I will give you what help that I can) but start getting independent records and research that are sustainable.

 

Aye

 

Tony