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Touring Motor Gliders Association (TMGA)

Queries about the Taifun


flyingcircus

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Hi there Taifun flyers ;-)

After a number of happy years with a Scheibe Falke I am considering upgrading and buying my dream TMG, a Taifun. I flew one for a couple of hours some time ago and I loved it. Cruising speed, soaring ability, and engine off glide are all very impressive and of course vastly superior to my Falke (no surprises there). So - a few questions to this community:

1/ I am based in Europe, where the Taifun is a type certified aircraft and thus subject to rather a lot of bureaucratic oversight, maintenance rules, limitations on which engine/propeller combinations may be used etc. I understand that in the US the Taifun can be flown as "Experimental" in the TMG category, thereby giving the owner more freedom in regards to maintenance and so on. Is this true, and where could I find out more about this? My thinking is that it might be possible to put the aircraft on the N-register but keep operating in Europe, but to be honest I have no idea whether this is at all feasible and what it would involve. Any comments or input welcome! 

2/ In Europe the Taifun is subject to a 3000-hr inspection which costs in the region of 10000-15000 Euros. Is this also required in the US? If so how do owners go about it? And if not, are there any owners out there with high-time Taifuns? What kind of airframe problems have you encountered?

3/ Is there some kind of website that deals specifically with the Taifun and where one can find resources etc? For instance, I am trying to find a Maintenance Manual, any ADs etc. If anyone has these floating around I would be most grateful for a copy. I speak German as well, so the original German document would also serve me fine.

Many thanks in advance, and good flights and safe landings to everyone!

Peter

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  • 4 weeks later...

In the USA a non-type certified aircraft would be registered in the Experimental-Exhibition category. It could also likely be registered in the Restricted category, but there's not any advantage to doing so. A Taifun is considered a powered glider under FAA regs There are a number of maintenance items you can legally do as owner without the aircraft being registered Experimental, such as oil changes, tire changes, brake work, etc. As far as doing a repair it would require the signature of either an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic (A&P) or, for more complicated repairs, an Inspector Authorization signature (IA). In order to have full maintenance and inspection privileges you would need to build the airplane and then apply for a Repairman's certificate for that particular aircraft. The Repairman's Certificate allows the builder to perform all maintenance and inspections on that particular aircraft, but not others of the same design.

Can't help with 2 & 3.

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Thanks for your thoughts! More or less as I imagined - although I do know for a fact that there are some Taifuns on the US register in the Exhibition-Experimental category as well. I have meanwhile contacted the FAA for clarification. Fingers crossed, although I am not overly hopeful - would almost be too good to be true if it all worked out as planned ;-)

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  • 6 years later...
  • 4 months later...

Hi Jorge, 

That is very useful, I have never come across an editable format before.

Muchas gracias - gran trabajo!

Best regards - 

Peter

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