A brief blurb about doing the 5 year horizontal stabilizer/tailcone inspection on a C180 using a borescope. I’d previously done an open tailcone inspection a couple years back, but this was done to satisfy the AD.

The borescope I used was a Vividia Ablescope VA-400 USB Rigid Borescope Endoscope with 180 Degree Articulating 8.5mm Diameter Probe, currently available from Amazon for about $250. I’ve had mine since 2015, and it’s a good piece of kit. I use it for annual cylinder inspections and finding wayward fasteners, too. It plugs in via USB to a Windows laptop. I use Windows 7 Pro, and have don’t have any plans to upgrade. I don’t know what the current version OS requirements are.

I used Brian’s instructions re positioning and bolts. Some visualization can be made just using flashlight and mirror while sitting on the ground. All the fairings need to be off on the tailcone. After that, the borescope goes in all access holes, and you try to systematically cover it all. Once you’ve looked at everything you can see on the same side of the stabilizer/tailcone, now stick the borescope into the opposite side stabilizer and tailcone, and inspect it cross-wise. That done, go to the opposite side, and repeat. It took me about 40 minutes to look at everything I could see. No frank defects were found, but there was enough oxide on the aluminum that I promptly misted another Corrosion-X treatment once I was done. I hope that helps!

jrc111 wrote:.......The borescope I used was a Vividia Ablescope VA-400 USB Rigid Borescope Endoscope with 180 Degree Articulating 8.5mm Diameter Probe, currently available from Amazon for about $250. ....

I think my doctor has one of those.
Seriously, thanks for posting.
We did my inspection last fall with a scope also,
no problem seeing everything.

The MSB came out and mandated the removal of the H and the V... then the AD came out and eased up saying you "could" do it with a scope... I've done several now and I always remove everything. There is really no way to get a "proper" look w/o having everything off. Case in point was an early model I inspected. An initial borescope looked OK... but then after it was apart, I found a pretty frightening crack.

There is no substitute for having it all apart, cleaning it all, getting the magnifier in there, repainting it, etc etc etc... you also get the added benefit of (when its apart) adding the PPonk bearings and replacing that Fafnir bearing.

Before doing this, a good mod is the Aeropod inspection panel... Turns this from a 2 man job into a 1 man job (accessing the bulkhead nuts for the FWD V stab spar.

Just my .02

Speaking of stupid mechanic tricks vs. an expensive STC sold only by a company with no web presence other than Facebook (as near as I can tell, anyway); I use a pair of long nose locking pliers after first removing/smoothing the serrations with a belt sander. I put them on the bolt heads, and crawl into the tailcone, and use a socket to remove the nuts. To put on, reverse. I’ve also found them quite handy dealing with control cable turnbuckles. There’s no substitute for getting into the tailcone to see problemz!

jrc111 wrote:Speaking of stupid mechanic tricks vs. an expensive STC sold only by a company with no web presence other than Facebook (as near as I can tell, anyway);

I'm on instagram too.

As far as your inspection, you were in the unique position of starting with an incredibly clean bird, which is hardly the norm. The vast majority of these airplanes are pretty dirty back there. To get a good look in there with just a `scope and no scrubbing is pretty tough on most airplanes. The "good" look you got would have missed a few of the problems I've found on a handful of airplanes. At the end of the day, it's your bird and you signing it off. I won't tell people NOT to do it with a scope. I will tell them all the reasons I don't do it that way.

Glad to hear your bird is healthy. Hope it stays that way.

I gotta run, a company with a really impressive web presence tells me there are "Hot local Singles" that want to meet me.

Well.. I have done it both ways now.. Still like doing it with a good scope.. have two that I use frequently for this and other inspections..

But if you really want a good look at those hockey sticks you have to drill some rivets.. [emoji48]



Brian

When we did my first annual on my 185 last year, while everything looked and felt fine on the bore-scope inspection, we ended up pulling the stabs anyway.

I’m glad we did because there was a cracked hockey stick and a bunch of rotten parts in there.

It doesn’t take long to pull the stabs.

Bigrenna wrote: The MSB came out and mandated the removal of the H and the V... then the AD came out and eased up saying you "could" do it with a scope...

The service letter describes taking the horizontal loose and blocking it up to facilitate the inspection.
From SEL-55-01 which is dated 12.7.2017:



However, it does go on to say
"NOTE: if the inspection area cannot be cleaned adequately, removal of the horizontal stabilizer and the fin may be necessary".

AD 2020-21-22 dated 12.7.2020 references SEL-55-01.