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FAYETTEVILLE AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Maintenance, Flight Instruction & Rental

 

July 16, 1999
Mr. Craig Roberts
Nashville Flight Standards District Office
2 International Plaza Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37217

 

Dear Mr. Roberts,

This letter is in reference to aircraft N52749 Cessna 172P Serial number 17274599 owned and operated by Robert Scovill of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

I completed an annual inspection on this aircraft of August 27, 1998 which included sumping the wing tank drains, draining the carburetor bowl, tee fitting on the belly, and inspecting and cleaning the fuel strainer. No water or any other foreign material were present. Robert Scovill took delivery of the aircraft on August 28, 1998 for the return trip to Murfreesboro Tennessee. During this time I personally witnessed his preflight inspection which included sumping the wing tanks and the fuel strainer. No water was found at this time. Robert departed approximately 11:00a.m. on August 28, 1998. I received a phone call from Robert and he stated that he had an engine failure and made a forced landing in a field north of the Shelbyville Tennessee airport with only minor damage to the aircraft.

Phone calls were made to the Nashville FSDO, and to Flight Service to cancel Robert's flight plan. I loaded tools and quickly departed to the Shelbyville airport where I picked up Robert and went to inspect the aircraft. We arrived at the aircraft along with George Erdel of the Nashville FSDO. We started the aircraft engine and performance was well within limits. I drained the wing sumps, fuel strainer, and the tee fitting on the lower fuel system. No water or foreign material was found. I also inspected the induction system, exhaust system, and ignition system. No defects were noted during these inspections. Several ground operations of the engine could produce no discrepancies. As a safety measure, I added a small amount of alcohol to each wing tank fuel system.

Robert taxied the aircraft to a takeoff point in the field, at this time the engine began to run roughly. I sumped the wing tanks again and at this time I removed approximately 10-14 ounces of water from the fuel system which I suspect was dislodged by repositioning the aircraft for

 

37 Airport Road · Fayetteville, TN 37334 · Phone (615) 433-1960 · Fax (615) 433-3020

 

 

 

FAYETTEVILLE AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Maintenance, Flight Instruction & Rental

 

 

takeoff. The wings were rocked and the aircraft was taxied on the rough terrain until no water could be removed from the fuel system. Robert then flew the aircraft from the field to the Murfreesboro Tennessee airport without incident.

We complied with Cessna Service Kit 182-100 in October 1998 which provides additional drain sumps in the wing fuel tanks. I felt this action would eliminate any possible problem that may exist, however, Robert has had trouble with the engine performance since the installation of this kit. I suspect the wing tanks are not in a condition that water can be sumped from the drains under normal operations.

Please contact me if I can be of any assistance in the correction of this problem.

 

Sincerely,

 

J. Mark Cobb
IA 411151616

 

 

37 Airport Road · Fayetteville, TN 37334 · Phone (615) 433-1960 · Fax (615) 433-3020

 

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