American Champion Aircraft Corporation

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New Metal Spar Wings FAQ

-Can I just buy the spars and put them in?

In a nut shell, No.  Picture trying to replace a rectangular wood beam with an I-beam.  The parts just do not mate properly for an item important to the structure of the aircraft.  The metal spar wings required all new ribs tank supports, and drag truss parts to be assembled.  So, the metal spar wing only shares a small handful of parts with the old design.

 

-Can I buy it as a Kit?

Technically you could buy each piece and build a new wing yourself.  However, its much less expensive to let us assemble it.  It is a rather large assembly at a reasonable price.  Keep in mind that price is entire wings, assembled and covered with all new parts.

 

-What is the other metal spar wing kit on the market?

Basically it is an STC that replaces the wood spars with metal spars.  To allow the proper fit, many spacers are used to get the assembly to hold together.  Consult the "Engineering Reasoning" link for explanation as to why this is normally not a good practice.

 

-Are there any AD's on the wings?  Are they complied with?

All AD's are required to be complied with before they can leave the facility.  This is a FAR requirement.  There are no AD's on the current production wings.  There was an AD on the strut attach fitting in 1996, requiring replacement of the fitting with a new design.   This was, of course, resolved immediately, and all wings since came with the new design.

 

-Ok I put them on, what is my approval basis?

These wings are similar to a STC, but act more like a replacement part.  So an entry should be made similar to this:

"7-???? wings and 5-??? struts were installed per 7-???? installation drawing"

Both items are FAA approved data through our drawing list.  The installation print will be provided with the wing delivery.

 

-How do I get the gross weight increase?

First, you need to buy the wings and put them on.  Wings then come with the proper paperwork you will need.  This paperwork is simply a new flight manual or supplement.   That's all you need.

 

-What does ACA do with the returned wood wings?

We disassemble them.  The aluminum is recycled.  The wood has been known to make a nice set of bunk bed frames or a pleasant banana tree.  We don't reuse any of the parts.  Mainly, the return of the wings takes these items off the market.