Citation Latitude operators that have a 4-year inspection approaching, need to be aware of some variables that can affect delivery dates for completing their inspections.  Having completed at least 6 of these inspections recently at West Star Aviation’s ALN facility, our Citation specialists have observed or experienced some of these elements first hand and want to keep operators informed and aware of items that could potentially impact their inspections.

Required Landing Gear Inspection – Several of the aircraft that have come through our shop have exhibited some corrosion of the surfaces of the main gear trunnions and on the Nose Gear Oleo retaining nut.

While this is usually a relatively normal occurrence, parts availability has been challenging. We encountered one aircraft in which a rental lower nose gear was installed because the supply of the retention nut was exhausted. The rental gear has been on the aircraft for six months, and the nut just arrived at the end of April.

Similarly, other parts have been affected with back orders or depleted supply, with no resupply options in sight.  This includes main gear trunnions and aircraft tires.  Operators of the Latitude would be wise to keep a ship set of tires in their hangars long before they are actually needed to account for these parts-related delays when planning their inspection.

Hydrostatic Testing – The hydrostatic testing of aircraft oxygen bottles, engine fire extinguishing bottles and landing gear emergency brake and pneumatic blowdown bottles also have created some downtime restrictions as of late. Operators would be wise to take a proactive stance by procuring these services well in advance of your scheduled input date.