Page 16 - Dec 23

One of them was an $8,000 charge for brake hoses in conjunction with the 5-year brake hose replacement called out in the maintenance manual (MM). First of all, that amount of money for brake hoses is ridiculous, and it’s what caught the customer’s attention. But way more important was the fact that this King Air had Cleveland brakes! I could see them plainly in the photos. The 5-year brake hose replace does not apply to the Cleveland- supplied brake hoses. It is one of the most common STCs performed on King Airs. The maintenance requirements for Cleveland brakes are in the STC paperwork.
It’s important to note that a King Air with the Cleveland conversion still has two original brake hoses located on the upper and lower struts of the main gear. These hoses are what came with the aircraft; they are subject to MM requirements and they are to be replaced every five years. They cost about a couple of hundred bucks per side.
Remember, all approved aircraft modifications and upgrades come with an STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) which extends the airworthiness of the aircraft’s original type certificate to the modification. The STC is the source for maintenance requirements on that mod; the maintenance manual no longer applies in that area. STC paperwork is normally kept in the Aircraft Flight Manual for easy reference when the aircraft is in for maintenance.
When I called the shop on behalf of the owner, I spoke to two different guys. I asked each why they proposed to perform a 5-year hose change on Cleveland brakes. Both gave me the same blunt answer: “The maintenance manual requires the brake hoses to be changed every five years.” It was delivered in a definitive tone, as if to say “You can’t argue with the maintenance manual so there is no use discussing it any further.” They had side-stepped the whole issue of Cleveland brakes and the STC guidelines.
This was especially odd because, on closer inspection, we found that $8,000 charge was the price of replacing the Cleveland brake hoses! (Note: Cleveland hoses are sheathed with stainless steel webbing; it makes them very durable, so they don’t need replacement every five years; it also makes them far more expensive than regular brake hoses.)
So where do you think the shop found the part numbers for the Cleveland hoses quoted on their estimate? In the IPC? Of course not. The IPC, like the MM, does not apply to STC’d parts. They had to look in the STC.
Questionable shop ethics aside, this owner is now acutely aware of the difference between STC’d equipment versus items original to his aircraft, and he now knows where he, or any shop working on his King Air, must look to ascertain the maintenance requirements – lesson learned.
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14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2023