Mirage Engine-Mount Fix Offered

A theoretically permanent fix is now available for troublesome engine mounts on Piper Mirages. Enhanced Flight Group, of Lexington, Ky., has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) to beef up the mount in the area of the nose-gear actuator attach point. The factory assemblies have suffered cracking and even complete nose-gear collapses, prompting a Service Bulletin requiring repetitive (and expensive) dye penetrant inspections or installation of a revised part. While developing a powerplant upgrade for Mirages, Enhanced Flight also tackled the mount problem. As with many things in airplanes, size matters and the fix essentially involves putting beefier materials into the affected area. The STC covers the replacement of four tubular steel members with stronger materials and includes machined pivot tubes with three times the wall thickness of the Piper-supplied parts. Internal corrosion proofing is part of the package, something Piper didnt supply. The STC assembly is tested to withstand operation for more than 40,000 hours at double the anticipated loads.