Since Teledyne Continental Motors‘ February 12, 2009 voluntary cylinder recall announcement, the company has made “excellent progress toward the satisfactory resolution of the…issue for aircraft owners operating select 470, 520 and 550 series engines with affected cylinders,” said spokesman Mac Little on March 9.
TCM has ramped up cylinder production to meet the routine demand for replacement cylinders and for new engines, in addition to the TopCare 470, 520 and 550 cylinder demand necessary to complete the recall by December 31, Little said. Current daily cylinder production rates increased 100% to 120 complete cylinders per day. Since the recall announcement, 500 replacement cylinders have been produced and shipped to the field, specifically designated for the recall program, he said.
“To ensure the highest quality maintenance available, TCM is qualifying several domestic and international service centers to perform cylinder replacements. To date, TCM has contracted 14 domestic service centers to accomplish [the] cylinder replacements,” Little said. Negotiations with additional domestic and international locations are ongoing, he added.
Engine manufacturing has returned to the normal production rate after clearing the backlog created by the cylinder recall, Little stated. “TCM expects to have all backlogged engines completed and shipped by the first week of April. Factory new and rebuilt engines not affected by the cylinder recall remain at a 4-5 week manufacturing lead time,” he said.
For information: www.tcmlink.com
