COMMONWEALTH OF PRINTED BY H£DG[ $ 6: 8£LL PH. LTD., MARYBOROUGH, VIC. Aviation Safety News and Views Digest No. 17 March, 1959 Bogus Aircraft Parts Prepared in ( The following is the substance of a report, "Bogus Parts", published the Division of by Flight Safety Foundation Inc., New York, U.S.A.) Air Safety Investigation Your attention is directed to the placement parts. No one worried infiltration into the aviation indus­ over the situa tion for a long time CONTENTS try of bogus aircraft parts which, as spare parts obtained by dismant­ in the main, appear to originate ling complete units seemed endless Page from overseas sources of supply. and were available from countless News and Views sources. But gradually this field of Bogus Aircraft Parts 1 These parts are not airworthy supply diminished and the pro­ as their history is unknown. In H)•draulic Fluid Contamination 5 blem of bogus aircraft parts was many cases the parts have been born. It was pushed into lusty fabricated from incorrect or un­ childhood with the discovery by Do You Still Know? . 6 known material or are at variance traders that many new and genuine with the relevant approved speci­ surplus parts had lost their identity fication, process or drawing. Some during handling, destruction of Australian Accidents of the parts are those which were original packages and obliteration Fatal Lockheed Hudson Over- rejected by inspection as not air­ of inspection markings. worthy and ultimately came into shoot . 7 These parts could not be guaran­ the possession of unscrupulous per­ teed as genuine and so were not Viscount Overruns on Landing 9 sons who have removed the red acceptable to the civil aviation Mercy Flight . 13 paint rejection markings and authorities. Consequently, they were marketed them as genuine air­ Instrument Flight-Four ya)ueless to reputable organisations Fatalities . 18 worthy aircraft parts. in the aviation industry. This re­ Auster Rudder Cable Comes Bogus aircraft parts become duced the supply of useable parts, Adrih .. 19 available to the aviation industry made the shortage more acute and T his was Over the Fence . 21 by importation from unreliable increased the price. dealers, distributors or speculators Perhaps we should have.I expected in surplus aviation goods. what happened. These orphans not Overseas Accidents The problem of bogus aircraft only found their way into the mar­ parts is serious, because it is almost ket, but helped to create a new Straight-l•n Approach in the impossible to detect some of the market, a market where integrity Libyan Desert . 22 phonies without extensive tests and responsibility are not require­ Convair Crippled by Mainten- which few of us are equipped to ments for doing business and where ance Errors . 26 make. Many of the counterfeits arc the only questions asked have to do skillfully fabricated and some carry with payments. the inspection marks and part num­ '"'ith business ethics weakened or bers of the genuine articles. Some destroyed, it was but one step more Incidents of the parts are even packaged to modify parts without the re­ like the original and in many False Fire Warning 29 quisite engineering data and ap­ cases differ from the genuine part Engine Fire in a DC.3 30 proval, and another step to in­ only in material, a difference which Murphy's Law Par Excellence 30 troduce outright counterfeiting of is often extremely difficult to dis­ parts. Switch-Off . 31 cern. Bogus parts can endanger flight Stone the Crows . 31 You may be wondering how this as indicated by the following in­ Are You Slipping? . 32 plague of bogus aircraft parts came cidents which occurred in U.S.A. about. It had its inception shortly due to the use of such parts: - after the last war, when vast num­ bers of aircraft, aircraft engines and 1. A twin engine cargo aircraft Design Notes other units were declared surplus crashed and burned and both Surface Controls-Flap Control and manufacturers announced that pilots were killed because non­ Terquc Tube they would no longer make re- conformities in the elevator tab 1 However, a genuine gear for reddish brown, a color which been bent beyond the repairable controls produced pitch-down Rl830-92 model engines cut notches from which cracks an R-1830-75, R-834-94-M2 or contrasts with the lighter, more limits prescribed by the manu­ and structural failure. Non­ them down in length and could develop. R-2000 engine cost approxi­ brassy appearance of the facturer. The junkie straighten­ conformities in the elevator tab machined new lock ring grooves. mately $220 so the scrap gear genuine guides. The composi­ ed the blades and then re-sold controls, in this case, mean Evidently he was not troubled 7. Figure 2 shows another surplus part which was converted for a from R-1830-43 engine was tion of the valve guides is the propellers to repair agents bogus parts. by the fact that the modified modified to fit the above en­ " powdered metallurgy" similar as being within repairable piston pin would be subject to purpose it was never intended 2. A bogus link pin bushing failed to fill. gines by shrinking and pinning in appearance to the material limits. higher loads than those it was a stud spline on the rear end used in "oilite" bearings and in flight and the entire engine designed to withstand. The 11. To illustrate the prevalence of wound up. The fact that there The impeller intermediate of the assembly for an esti­ having a greater affinity for bogus piston pin was detected drive gear was manufactured for mated cost of two man how·s. combustion residue than the counterfeit parts we have listed was no accident was largely a by the chamfer at the bore in this paragraph a few of the matter of good fortune. R-1830-43 model engine fitted The job was skilfully done and material used in genuine ap­ which is greater than that cut to defence aircraft, it had no in some instances the pin can proved parts, it attracts and incidents where such parts have 3. New bolts were being installed on the genuine piston pin for commercial application and be detected only by magnaflux. holds carbon and lead deposits. been detected during engine in the attach angles of a DC.3 R1830-75, R1830-94 and R2000 should have been mutilated for Other discrepancies are more This, of course, causes valve overhaul. aircraft. When three of the model engines. It also has a disposal as scrap metal. obvious. As can be seen in sticking. (a) Figure 5 is an enlarged bolts broke before reaching the heavier side wall. However, this Figure 2, the front journal is Another group of counter­ view of a bush removed prescribed torque loading sam­ does not compensate for the dif­ t inch too short, which dan­ feit value guides for the R-1830 from an R-1830 engine ples were tested and failed. The ference in metallurgical com­ gerously reduces the bearing engine, can be detected by a which had suffered internal bolts proved Lo be bogus parts position and the bogus part is surface. chamfer which is not cut on failure. As you see, a por­ on which someone had made an weaker than the genuine piston tion of the bush is broken Figure 3 shows the bogus genuine valve guides. Also the illicit profit. pin. away and the fractured sur­ drive gear on the right, all flange thickness and overall faces indicate cold working 4. A cam reduction gear assembly 6. Another piston pin which start­ length are under the minimum dimensions stated on the approv­ subsequent to the failure was purchased as a new part on ed out as a genuine surplus part ed drawing. The chief hazard, as well as shrinkage­ the surplus aircraft parts market ended up in a far different however, is in the material which porosi ty, apparent on the and installed in an R-985 category. This piston pin was manufactured for fitment to an tends to swell in operation. Some inside diameter. model engine undergoing over­ of these phonies have failed dw·­ haul. After a four hour test rnn R-1830 engine but was modified In addition to faulty for an R-985 engine. The hard­ ing engine test run and others material, the bush was the engine was dissembled. In­ early in service. spection of the gear on a com­ ness and material requirements probably made to an old parator against a factory new for an R-985 engine were not 9. Figure 4 shows a thrust nut. drawing, consequently, the gear revealed that the gear met by reworking the R-1830 The absence of a trademark, dimensions are incorrect. teeth had been reworked which piston pin, too much material lack of inspection marks, poor The makers of bogus parts resulted in a most unacceptable was removed and the inside threads and sharp edges all cannot be trusted as, not tooth form and that unusual surface was subjected to abnor­ indicate that the nut never being aware of current en- and excessive wear had taken mal tempering. Figure 1 shows ,- place during the engine test how machining of the inside dia­ [ - run. meter cut into the part munber and heat code marks, leaving FIG. 1 A thorough inspection re­ FIG. 3 vealed many deviations from the tolerances laid down in the ap­ other parts in the assembly be­ proved drawing and a spectro­ ing genuine. Note that the graph analysis of the cam gear bogus gear does not mesh pro­ material showed that it did not perly.