Safety Note - Rudder Fin Post
There has been a recent incident whereby the rudder fin post fractured approximately 1cm below the boom tube at a point level with the first rivet holding the triangular piece of plywood. CFM Aircraft Limited, as well as the BMAA and the PFA have been informed. Until an official instruction is forthcoming, it is highly recommended that as part of the pre-flight check that the rudder fin be inspected.
CAA Mandatory Permit Directive
The directive requires all CFM Shadow Series B, C, D, Streak Shadow and Star Streak owners, to carry out an inspection of the rudder fin post before the next flight. It also requires all aircraft to be modified in accordance with CFM Aircraft Ltd parts and instructions before the next annual inspection.
It is however recommended that the modification be carried out as soon, as is practicable.
Shadow 'B' Series to 'C' Series Conversions
For those with 'C' series Shadows with Rotax 503 engines which were upgraded from 'B' series with Rotax 447 units, check that the slide on the carbs is opening fully. On a recent inspection it was found that this was not the case and meant that the engine was not developing full power. The cause is the splitter which was used to convert the single throttle linkage to the two required for the twin carbs not allowing sufficient movement. The remedy is replace the splitter with one which does. Available from Mainair. It may also be necessary to cut some of the fibrelam in front of the throttle lever to allow additional movement on the throttle lever although only just enough should be removed so as avoid stretching the throttle cable when the throttle is fully open.
Shadow Wheels - Applies to all Aircraft
In a recent incident, a Streak landed with a puncture and unfortunately went off the runway into a fence doing moderate damage to the nose of the aircraft and breaking the nose leg.
On inspection of the wheel it was found that there was a gap of almost 3mm between the metal half hub attached to the aircraft and the nylon half hub. The result was that the inner tube got into this gap and after many landing had been nipped ultimately resulteing in the puncture.
Inspection of a similar type of nylon hub also revealed a gap between the two parts of the hub.
The nylon hubs in question were those fitted to the earlier Shadows probably up until 1995.
It is therefore highly recommended that you check your wheels to see if you have the earlier type of nylon hub. The earlier hub is characterised by the fact that it has four large holes, and the four nuts holding the two half hubs together are set into the nylon hub (if you have had a puncture with this type of hub you will know that most often the nut turns in the nylon resulting in the need to drive a screwdriver in to stop it turning). If you discover you have a gap between the half hubs you will almost certainly need to replace the nylon hub with the later type or an aluminium hub. Contact CFM Aircraft Limited for details.
This page updated - 15th August 99'
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