In 2014, I wrote a SCATHING email to the engineer at the ATL FSDO telling them they were trying to make thousands of PA28 owners pay something like $750 per airplane because ONE knothead fresh Cessna pilot hosed up the fuel control management after a one hour checkout in a PA28. I checked and found that only 35 parts were available to retrofit the affected airplanes yet the FAA guy tried to tell me that “Piper will catch up.” Yeah … right. I actually called the guy and told him that if they made an AD, I was going to sue them … I was that mad. I recommended that an SAIB be published and – in the end – that’s exactly what they did. Good choice.
Now comes some airplane mechanic with another singular bitch and some new guy at the ATL FSDO is off and running to the races again. There’s two bigger issues with these fuel controls. Many of the first generation selector valves are made of brass and wind up galling with time and are hard to turn. THAT is a larger issue. Secondly, if it’s hard to turn the fuel selector to off, what do you do when the airplane is on fire? I guess you just burn up.
I wish the FAA and the lawyers at Piper Aircraft would just leave things alone. I see another issue … the checklist for the PA28 says to turn the fuel selector to the fullest tank for landing. Why would anyone in their right mind touch a fuel selector close to the ground as long as there’s enough fuel to run the engine?
This is a pilot training issue, not a parts replacement issue! Period ! And I wish the manager of the ATL FSDO would get control of his minions, as well.
Anyone who owns a PA28 better put a negative comment into the Federal Register before it’s too late !!