This is a fairly new AD that is applicable here in Oz, but I am raising it here because the clock is ticking down on this one.
The compliance date is 01 Jan2018, but this means that it will involve any airplane that has an annual inspection after 01 Jan 2017.
Background info;
Two Bonanzas, (coincidentally, maintained by the same shop) had a failure of an elevator cable. This led to two defect reports, and a subsequent investigation.
The end result is that CASA have decided that ALL control cables with stainless fittings are suspect, and must be replaced EVERY 15 YEARS.
This applies to almost every airplane, irrespective of size, make, hours, or handling history. (How many B737,B747’s do Qantas have?)
The AD is here;
http://services.casa.gov.au/airworth/airwd/ADfiles/airgen/gen/GEN-087.pdf
For Mouse owners, this means all elevator cables, all aileron cables, rudder cables and trim cables. Depending on your mechanics interpretation of the word “primary”, this could also include interconnect cables, autopilot servo cables and others.
Apart from the cost of the cables themselves, (several AMU’s), the installation time is really significant and will add several more AMU’s to the total job. Remember, this is EVERY 15 years.
I don’t know what the flow-on effect will be with the FAA, but these CASA guys love to share stories with their brothers.
Sigh!