Are gear and fuel tank SB mandatory?

[Piper J3]

I'm considering buying an early S/N flying RV-12. The gear and fuel tank SB's are not completed. Are these mandatory?

[AlphaCharlieBravo]

http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/service-rv12.htm

Hopefully you can read here and decide.

[gfb]

Mandatory? Maybe. Smart to do? Yes.

How could it possibly be argued not to do them?

[rvbuilder2002]

If you mean in a regulatory sense with the FAA? No they are not. At least not directly. (They are mandatory for an S-LSA RV-12)

But.......

When it comes time for someone to sign off the condition inspection by certifying that the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation, if an uncompleted SB ends up having an influence on the outcome of an accident, the FAA may have have a different view point on whether it was in a condition for safe operation or not.....

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

.................When it comes time for someone to sign off the condition inspection by certifying that the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation, if an uncompleted SB ends up having an influence on the outcome of an accident, the FAA may have have a different view point on whether it was in a condition for safe operation or not.....

....and also your insurance company.

But just for common sense reasons - why wouldnt you want to have the stongest and safest airplane possible? If the airplane is a good deal, that is it is well built, low time, shows no signs of abuse, and the price is fair, then buy it and apply the mods. They are not that onerous to install.

[Johnnybgoode]

I assumed he was asking, not b/c he didn't want them completed but from a negotiating standpoint...
Can't we assume everyone wants the "safest" airplane out there?
Patrick

[Mich48041]

The biggest reason for complying with service bulletins is to limit liability in case of an accident. Suppose that the landing gear strikes an obstacle during a forced landing. The landing gear will twist the heavy center channel which will rupture the unmodified fuel tank. If your passenger gets severely burned in the resulting fire, you could be sued for a very large sum. Of course the insurance company will not pay because the service bulletin was not complied with.
An option to modifying the original fuel tank is to purchase a new upgraded one from Van's. Negotiate the purchase price of the airplane to offset the cost of required upgrades.

[PilotBrent]

do a search and find the pictures of the tank that split open after a hard landing (I think it was the accident when the pilot became distracted with the canopy on takeoff) Tank ruptured, fuel spilled all over him. Fortunately there was no fire or it would have been fatal. That picture of the fuel tank broken open was all I needed to see to be motivated to make the modification.

BTW, the canopy switch mod is another one that is worth doing based on that accident...

[cactusman]

Originally Posted by Piper J3

I'm considering buying an early S/N flying RV-12. The gear and fuel tank SB's are not completed. Are these mandatory?

No.

But if you plan to do the course for LSA Repairman so you can do your condition inspections annually, there is nothing stopping you from doing these SBs.

Van's sells the kits for these and my guess is the total cost is less than $100 in parts.

Time is an issue, but my guess is these are both negotiable points on the purchase.

[Mel]

Anyone can do maintenance, repair, service bulletins, and even modifications on an experimental aircraft. The repairman certificate only authorizes the condition inspection.