Applies To:

RamAirs assembled between 10/19/93 and 12/19/93.

Background:

Recently it was discovered that a RamAir 154 manufactured in November of 1993 had improperly fabricated rear leading edges. The clevis pin which locates the 48mm innersleeve was mislocated, and the innersleeve itself was of the wrong length. We need to determine if this fabrication error was an isolated incident, or if other gliders were made with the same fabrication error. We have compiled a list of all RamAirs manufactured over the 60 day period from one month before this glider was made until one month after. Enclosed with this bulletin is a list of all such gliders which were sold by your dealership. We are asking you to contact the owners of these gliders, and either have them inspect the gliders themselves and report to you, or bring the gliders to you for inspection. The inspection process itself is very simple, and should not take more than five minutes. It does not require that the glider be set up or removed from the bag. Should we find that this was not an isolated incident, we will expand the inspection to include a broader range of manufacturing dates.

Inspection Requirement:

Refer to the diagram below. The clevis pin which secures the 9" long 48 mm innersleeve inside the front end of the 50mm rear leading edge spar should be located 0.5" behind the point where the 50mm rear leading edge exits from the rear of the 60mm front leading edge. (Shown in the diagram is a left leading edge - the nose of the glider is to the right - the right leading edge would simply be a mirror image.) The diagram depicts two clevis pin locations - the forward one is correct, while the rear location is incorrect. The glider will have one or the other, but not both.

Inspection Procedure:

1) Lay the glider on the ground in the bag, zipper up, and unzip the bag full length.

2) Feeling through the bottom surface panel of the sail, along the inside of the leading edge, find the point at about six feet forward of the tail end of the glider, where the leading edge steps down from 60mm to 50mm in diameter.

3) At this point, you will be able to feel the clevis pin and the small safety ring which secures it. It should be located immediately (1/2") aft of the step down from 60mm to 50mm. If instead it is located at approximately 3" behind the step down junction, then the rear leading edge is improperly fabricated, and needs to be corrected.

Documentation Procedure:

Please inspect or have your customer inspect each leading edge on each glider listed on the enclosed list. Please mark the list next to each glider indicating that the glider is "OK" or "Incorrect", and indicate whether it was "Dealer" or "Customer" inspected. If you find any gliders which are improperly made, please notify us immediately by telephone. Please return the list of gliders to us by mail with each glider verified as having been inspected.

We apologize for any inconvenience this recall may cause you or your customers, and we thank you in advance for your help.