I have done a Google translate of the following from Arplast…
I am slightly concerned that it means the company is closing down. Can any French speakers on here confirm/deny that. I was hoping to get some support from them about my prop.
Yes, it is, and the text you reference is pretty amazing in its directness and bluntness. To briefly summarize: two retired teachers installed one of Arplast’s props incorrectly, had an in-flight failure (not 100% clear what exactly happened), messed up the forced landing and sued the company. The court overruled a series of laws and an aviation expert and awarded unspecified damages to the two – named – pilots who, and I quote, were unfortunately not killed in the accident. End of quote. IOW another example of product liability gone wrong, if the referenced text is correct.
Wow. Ok. So probably won’t get the support I need from them then…
Plan B, under development then…
Is the “tribunal d’appel” the final legal instance in France?
That is an amazing document, perhaps written by somebody as their last corporate act.
I especially liked the bit about the two retired mechanics teachers failing to tighten the screws to the proper torque when they attached the propeller.
I’m sure there are others here who speak French better than I do, but I read the “unfortunate survival” more as a comment that, to paraphrase a little:
Despite an embarrassment of choice of fields to land in, there was also, unfortunately, a little wood for them to save their lives in.
Never believe a word of these corporate justification letters. There is always another side to the story.
Never believe a word of these corporate justification letters. There is always another side to the story.
Exactly.
I gave just received a message saying that the screws were still in place on the propeller hub. The reasons for the failure was the heat from the engine conducted through the propeller hub that modified the epoxy of the blade rendering it less resistant thereby causing the failure.
The blade separated during initial climb and the pilot had very little options other than landing straight ahead.
Is this a certified aircraft product?
The aircraft is a homebuilt.
I have now seen the judgement. There seems to have been some vibrations induced in the propeller tips, there were prior incidents with other aircraft. The court considers that the manufacturer should have known that there might be something wrong with their propeller, but continued selling it.
I have written an email to Arplast asking for the support I need. I will let you know what I get as a reply.
My post on the Europa forum has no replies yet. The only “otherside of the coin” details are here. So I am wondering how many Arplast are left in the UK and on Europas. I was under the impression there were more.
If this demise of Arplast is true then a really sad story. I liked the propeller very much.
