My step broke!!! What???

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Roxi5m9
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My step broke!!! What???

Post by Roxi5m9 »

Not really that dramatic, but I was surprised to see the step break clean off my plane on the port side. Obviously the side much more heavily used, and just to fend off the jokesters.....I’m only 165 soaking wet. Lol. I was lucky I was stepping up and barely off the ground compared to stepping down.

It broke right where the step shaft meets the base that’s screwed into the hull. I was surprised to find this hollow. Anyone else have experience with this? I'm particularly curious if folks welded this back together as opposed to replacing it, as well as replacement cost and procedure. Fortunately our annual is next month so replacement would occur then, but I know some Bonanza guys who had an aviation mechanic weld theirs as opposed to replacement, since Bonanza steps break a lot.
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smoss
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by smoss »

well.... per the old 2013 Diamond price sheet I have (someone posted here a long time ago), the white one would be about $300:

DA4-5300-61-00 Step, LH, White EA 296.84 01/07/13 B
DA4-5300-61-00-CS Step, LH EA 141.92 01/07/13 K
DA4-5300-61-00X01 Step, Fuselage LH, ClearCoat EA 326.15 01/07/13 A
DA4-5300-62-00 Step, RH, White EA 286.04 01/07/13 B
DA4-5300-62-00-CS Step, RH EA 141.92 01/07/13 K
DA4-5300-62-00X01 Step, Fuselage RH, Chrome EA 326.15 01/07/13 A

Getting to the nuts behind it seems like it would be a chore though!
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Roxi5m9 »

300? Yikes. And....seems about right for an airplane part.
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Steve
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Steve »

smoss wrote:Getting to the nuts behind it seems like it would be a chore though!
Steve:

My recollection is that the 3 bolts securing the step go into 3 nut plates incorporated into the fuselage structure.

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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Rich »

For reasons I won't go into here, I had occasion to remove the starboard step and don't remember it as being difficult. Though I seem to recall that removing the front seat was involved, which isn't a big deal.
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Roxi5m9 »

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Current price from my local shop was quoted at almost $350, and severely backordered. The current plan is to have a local A&P weld the step back together. From what I understand, he’s done many of these before.

A few quick questions for you gurus:

1) Veiwing removing and reinstalling the seat as preventive maintenance, would you go so far as to make a maint log entry for the seat romoval and reinstallation?

2) Should I expect the mechanic to make an airframe long for all of this?

3) For anybody having any experience with this issue or a similar one, did you simply re-paint the step with a spray paint or brush on paint that closely matched the airframe? I know the airframe has a gel coating on it but would things like the nosewheel strut and these steps have that same type of coating on it?
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Rich
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Rich »

1) Technically, yes, though I think there is leeway when coupled with an entry for the step repair.
2) Yes.
3) No idea, as mine are unpainted stainless steel. I never noticed the new ones were painted.
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Colin
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Colin »

I would use the opportunity to paint it dayglo orange, but I am a little nutty on the color schemes. Seems like high visibility in the rain or at dusk would be a good thing.
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Roxi5m9
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Re: My step broke!!! What???

Post by Roxi5m9 »

Colin wrote:I would use the opportunity to paint it dayglo orange, but I am a little nutty on the color schemes. Seems like high visibility in the rain or at dusk would be a good thing.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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