MAGAZINE ARCHIVE Take a look at one of the recent editions of Light Aviation . Our magazine archive will be available soon for all members to view in the Members Area. For our latest magazine, of course, you'll need to be a member. Light Aviation ENGINEERING INFORMATION Light Aviation magazine keeps you informed of engineering issues to help you ensure that your aircraft is kept in tip top condition. Our 'Engineering Matters' articles will form a vital information source for future reference. Light Aviation Magazine Light Aviation magazine brings you exciting articles about what LAA members are building, restoring and flying. Also included are reports on all the major rallies and GA shows and information about new products and services. ADVERTISING, CLASSIFIED & CONTRIBUTION DETAILS If you wish to advertise in Light Aviation: For display and commercial advertising, please contact Phil Johnston to discuss your requirements. For classified ad queries please contact LAA Office . Classified ads and photos can only be accepted by e-mail . Classified ad fees can be found below. The Editor, Ed Hicks , is always keen to receive your contributions of articles, pictures, technical ideas and letters. Up to 30 words Member: £6 Non-Member: £22 31-50 words Member: £12 Non-Member: £44 Up to 50 words with a coloured photo Member: £45 Non-Member: £60

< Back Advanced LAA Rally Camping Permits - Now closed. Camping permits can be bought onsite. 17 Aug 2025 Camping passes, which cover the duration of your stay, are available to purchase on arrival at a cost of £65. Camping facilities, providing basic amenities, including hot showers will be available on site. There is ample ground for caravans and mobile homes. The campsite will be open from midday Thursday 28th August and close on Monday morning 1st September. Please note entry to the Rally Exhibition Site is charged separately. Prices are for the duration of your stay. On site catering and bar will be available in the Exhibition area during event opening hours and evening food, bar and entertainment will be provided by Leicestershire Aero Club in the evenings. Next Previous

Detail Design Having worked out a promising-looking layout, initial three-view and performance and weight specifications, now is the stage where the hard work begins of transforming concepts to working drawings. Essential decisions have to be made about types of material to be used, the structural arrangement, exact choice of powerplant and so on. You’ll probably need to make a cockpit mock-up to check the ergonomics and control system arrangements, and maybe build a flying radio controlled model of the design to give faith in the handling characteristics. With the basic geometry laid out, stress calculations and assembly drawings come next, then drawings of individual piece parts. Keep an up-to-date tally on weights. As the drawings get more detailed you must re-evaluate whether you are going to meet your original targets in terms of weight, strength and aerodynamic cleanliness, whether you need to re-visit your original assumptions or re-design from scratch. Is there a way that the part or assembly can be made more easily, more cheaply, lighter, stronger, more fatigue or corrosion resistant? Fewer parts and fewer joints generally means fewer problems and less weight. Can you use off the shelf parts rather than having to make them specially? Are there other aeroplanes around that have already solved a particular problem in a clever way? Will the aircraft be easy to inspect in service, easy to repair if it gets damaged? Can it be broken down for transportation? If the handling isn’t quite right when the prototype is test flown, does the design make provision for ‘tweaks’ to put it right? Does the design include reserves of strength to cope with weight growth in service and more powerful engines, or is everything pared down to the minimum? Design Tutorials

Hirth 2 Stroke Covering Letter to Owners Fuel System Inspection Checklist

Membership Full Plus Category is for members who own, operate or are currently building an aircraft and gives access to LAA Engineering services. (For Group Owned aircraft, at least one member of the group must have Full Plus membership.) Full Category is for everyone else and includes a monthly copy of Light Aviation Magazine and a discount at the annual LAA Fly-In. JOIN THE LAA Member Full - £72 Full Plus - £113 Member Joint Full - £82 Full Plus - £134 Joint members are members who are the partner of a full member or any children under the age of 18 and living at the family house. Under 30 Member Full - £30 Full Plus - £134 Please forward proof of DOB i.e. copy of passport, driving licence or pilots licence. Overseas Member Full - £88 Full Plus - £134 Overseas includes Eire. Payment Methods ONLINE Via the Member Area / Renew my Membership DIRECT DEBIT You are now able to set up your direct debit online. Please see your renewal or joining page for details. BY CALLING HQ 01280 846 786 with card details BY INTERNET BANKING Account No : 26225220 Sort Code : 60-30-03 Please note, for membership payments, you MUST quote your membership number and your surname or your payment will not be credited to the correct record. For Permit revalidation & engineering fees, you MUST quote your aircraft registration. If paying from abroad, SWIFT code is : NWBKGB2L IBAN code is : GB81 NWBK 6030 0326225220 Important Links RENEW MY MEMBERSHIP MY AIRCRAFT DETAILS MEMBER AREA ADDRESS CHANGE

< Back LAA Alert - FAA issues AD for Piper rudder posts 14 Feb 2025 Replacement of rudder posts not made from 4130N On 13.02.25, FAA issued Airworthiness Directive 2025-02-11 which requires the replacement of the rudder post on a large number of Piper types, where the part is not made from 4130N steel. Compliance time varies between 2 years and 10 years depending on whether a beacon light is fitted to the top of the fin post and depending on the power of the engine installed. LAA Alert A-01-2025 has been created to communicate this to potentially affected owners. A-01-2025 Piper rudder post AD .pdf Download PDF • 196KB Next Previous

< Back Mandatory Technical Directive issued for Sting S4 29 Sept 2023 LAA has been working with TL StingUK to correct an issue found during the flight testing of the factory-built version of the aircraft. It was found that the type would consistently drop the starboard wing more than the permitted maximum during a wings-level stall. LAA Mandatory Technical Directive MTD-01-2023 has been issued that requires the installation of a stall strip on the starboard wing and two stall strips on the port wing, along with restricting the elevator travel, in accodance with TL StingUK service bulletins 0002 and 0003, before further flight. Next Previous

< Back CAA Licencing Update 11 Jun 2025 ** The final legislation has not yet come into force and we’ll provide more comprehensive details when we have confirmation of the actual legislation (hopefully late July) that has gone to Parliament ** Link to document can be found below: CAA Licencing update .pdf Download PDF • 459KB Next Previous

< Back LAA Inspector Seminar 14 Feb 2024 Last Thursday, 16 Inspectors attended an Inspector Training Seminar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, run by our Chief Inspector Lucy Wootton, with the assistance of our Head of Flight Test, Andy Draper and Airworthiness Engineer, Cris Fernandez. LAA Inspectors are required to attend training once every four years. We had a great day - lots of knowledge shared and interesting discussions. Next Previous

< Back Alert A-05-2025 - Alpi Pioneer 300 - Inspection of Undercarriage Components for Cracking and Corrosion 12 Jun 2025 LAA Alert A-05-2025 - Alpi Pioneer 300 - Inspection of Undercarriage Components for Cracking and Corrosion LAA Alert A-05-2025 has been published on the LAA website (and is also attached), highlighting Alpi Pioneer 300 and 300 Hawk aircraft that have suffered different malfunctions and failures of various components that make up the undercarriage. This Alert strongly recommends a close inspection of the undercarriage at 25-hour intervals for corrosion and cracking, as well as a retraction check, to verify that the retraction system components remained correctly adjusted, to avoid undercarriage collapse due to the mechanism not being adequately over-centre when extended. A-05-2025 - Alpi Pioneer 300 Landing Gear Corrosion .pdf Download PDF • 204KB Next Previous

< Back New Alert for LAA Eurostar Aircraft 3 Dec 2024 LAA Engineering have issued Alert A-03-2024 to highlight the recent reported incidents of corrosion of the Bowden cable ‘inner’ on Eurostar elevator trim tab cables. In response to these incidents, Airmasters UK, the UK agent for the Eurostar range, have recently issued Service Bulletin SB/EUR/022, Issue 2 which calls for a special check, before next flight, on the friction of the cable ‘inner’ when slid manually backwards and forwards in the ‘outer’. A-03-2024 Eurostar Trim Cables .pdf Download PDF • 203KB Next Previous

< Back Engineering updates in February 1 Mar 2024 The following documents have been updated in the Engineering 'Info Library' during February. Continuing airworthiness information: Mandatory Technical Directive MTD-01-2024 issue 2 Supermarine Spitfire, geometry/symmetry checks on fin. TADS : Aeroprakt Foxbat Alpi Pioneer 300/300 Hawk Beagle/Auster Continental engines Sling 4 TSi Sonex Stolp Stardust Too Vans RV-9/-9A Vans RV-14/-14A Technical Leaflets : TL 1.10 'List of aircraft parts and materials suppliers' TL 2.12 'Replacement of lost documents' Forms: MOD 4 'Application for approval to change propeller' MOD 13 'STC installation' Next Previous