51-23-03: Battery Box Insulation
FAA order 51-23-03 is an airworthiness directive published December 4, 1956. The FAA's subject line: Battery Box Insulation. It names Piper PA-16 Clipper, Piper PA-20 Pacer, Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt: about 3,542 aircraft on the U.S. register today across them, though an order usually covers particular versions or serial numbers rather than every one. System: electrical power.
What it applies to as the FAA lists it
- Kind of product
- Aircraft
- Makes
- Piper Aircraft Inc.
- Models
- PA-16, PA-20, PA-22
- On this site
- Piper PA-16 Clipper 276 registered
Piper PA-20 Pacer 323 registered
Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt 2,943 registered
Dates and paperwork
- Published
- December 4, 1956
- Docket
- Unknown
- Status
- Current
- The FAA's document
- Read the order on the FAA's site
The order itself the regulatory text, as published
Show the full text (607 characters)
51-23-03 PIPER: Applies to Model PA-16 Aircraft, Serial Numbers 16-1 and Up; PA-20 Aircraft, Serial Numbers 20-1 Through 20-802; and PA-22 Aircraft, Serial Numbers 22-1 Through 22-348.
Compliance required as soon as possible, but not later than October 15, 1951.
Install insulators of sufficient area inside the battery box cover over the battery terminals to positively prevent a metallic contact between the wing nuts or terminals and cover. Hard fiber rubber or phenolic insulating materials 1/16-inch minimum thickness may be used.
(Piper Service Bulletin No. 118 covers this same subject.)
Related safety bulletins advice on the same designs, not orders
2018-11-21SW-18-31 · NAVIGATION, ATTITUDE, AND DIRECTION DATA SYSTEM
2005-07-07CE-05-67 ·
1998-10-21ACE-99-01 ·
Source: FAA Dynamic Regulatory System, airworthiness directives. The FAA's document is the authority; the register counts are this site's, from the FAA register of November 6, 2026. Connections as data: /graph/directive/51-23-03.json · aircraft systems.