We should all be aware of the certain issues facing Helio's in the aging aircraft syndrome. Most of the fleet is over 30 years old. The reason for this is as complex as the airplane itself, cause and circumstance was completely upon the operators flying into unknown territory, where, wing failure was eminent. High weight, high altitude, high cruise, and flight in moderate to severe turbulence resulting in complete destruction of the airplane. All models of Helio are affected by the AD, except for the 800/700 airframes built by Helio Aircraft LTD. from 1983-84.
I recently spoke with a well known Helio re-builder who we all know, and his theory is this: "All airplanes that are 20 years old should have mandatory wing pull and inspection" .. I can recall the recent Beech T-34 scenario where that fleet was temporarily grounded by the FAA.
If we have another Helio wing failure, count on the fleet being grounded. Inspection of the wing was originally set at 3000 hours, that my friends should now occur at 1500 hours.. Commercial operators will be the hardest hit, especially those of you who have aircraft on 135 certificates. We need to get everyone here on the same page and come with a contingency plan to address this pressing issue. JAARS intentionally inspected their entire fleet and found some discrepancies with 3 airplanes, none of those were high time airplanes. Remember the fix will have to be consistent with FAA policies, procedures, and aircraft repair..
