[hharney]

I have removed and replaced the cables that connect inboard bell crank to the outboard bell crank. This is cable -8 or -308 for stainless. When the visual inspection was performed while the cables were still on the aircraft, there were no concerns found with the cables. Using a mirror, camera and q-tips the cables appeared to be in good shape with no indications of concern.

Removing the right wing side first and never have performing this task took about 2 hours. Being as careful as possible not to damage the cable during removal proved to be challenging. Although when the left side was removed it was much easier having done the right and knowing what to expect and what position the flaps should be in.

Upon inspecting the cable once it was on the bench the inboard side of the cable did not indicate any concerns but the outboard end did have a broken strand on the outside of the cable where the cable made the sharp bend around the bell crank. This broken strand was on the inside of the bend or the portion of the cable that touched the bell crank. It was detected by touch, as a finger glides along the cable in only one direction. Feeling the cable toward the fitting at the sharp bend there was a broken stand detected. See first photo.

Then on the inboard end of the same cable, where no detection of concern was felt or seen, the cable was twisted and opened to view inside. After vigorously bending and twisting a single strand was found broken. The question is, did the aggressive inspection cause the strand to break? See second photo.

Then the cable was cut and unraveled to reveal the broken strand inside on the inboard end. See third photo.

The cable on the left side once removed, revealed the same exterior strand broken on the outboard sharp bend. This strand could be felt by gliding a finger toward the fitting at the inside exterior of the sharp bend. No concerns were recognized from the inboard side of the left cable. The forth photo shows the left outboard end of the cable with the strand detectable by finger.

The last photo is the left cable, inboard end, that looks and feels clean with no worries. No other cables have been cut or twisted to inspect inside. More on that later.

The original (1968) cables that were removed appear to be stainless type. The only method of determination performed was using a magnet to detect the differences of the old cables vs. the new cables that were purchased stainless (-308). With this information would there have been concern that these cables could have had a catastrophic failure? This is the 6 million dollar question that really can't be answered but I have to believe that these cables removed would have provided many years of service without failure. This is my own opinion and only goes that far. This aircraft has 3000 hours total time and has spent the largest part of it's life in the desert west. It has no visible corrosion inside the wing areas. All other flap components look and work fine. If and when the cables are cut and there are any discrepancies found I will post them here.