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LATEST ON TCM CRANKSHAFT INSPECTIONS...
Early last week, Teledyne Continental Motors issued Critical Service
Bulletin CSB 99-3 mandating ultrasonic inspection of all TCM 470-, 520-
and 550-series crankshafts manufactured during 1998.  The biggest
surprise is that the number of affected crankshafts has increased from
2,200 to more than 3,000.  TCM will reimburse up to $700 for the
disassembly and reassembly of normally aspirated engines -- up to $900
for turbocharged engines -- and will provide the ultrasonic inspection
at no charge.  At week's end, the FAA issued Priority Letter
Airworthiness Directive 99-09-17 to give the force of law to CSB 99-3.

...WILL BE COSTLY FOR TCM, PAINFUL FOR OWNERS
Owners worry how long their airplanes will be out of commission awaiting
inspection.  Given that TCM presently has only 10 designated inspectors
to cover the entire United States, some quick arithmetic suggests that
it could take as much as six months to inspect the more than 3,000
affected engines.  AVweb advises affected owners to contact TCM as soon
as possible to get in line for the inspection.  Taking the aircraft to a
major metropolitan repair facility might also be a smart move, since
shops with lots of aircraft to inspect will undoubtedly receive top
priority.  TCM's John Barton told AVweb that the company was working on
a plan to recruit and train additional inspectors and to obtain more
ultrasonic testing equipment for them to use.  We'll keep you posted.

  NOTE: The full text of TCM CSB 99-3, in both HTML and PDF formats,
  plus a synopsis, FAQ, and link to TCM's online contact form, is
  available on AVweb's Newswire this week.
(<http://www.avweb.com/toc/newswire.html>)

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