CA Bay Area A&P recommendations

frcabot

Line Up and Wait
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frcabot
I am having an issue with a push to talk button and likely a broken vacuum pump in a Mooney M20J. These seem like simple problems and I don't want to pay the LASAR/Top Gun shop rates for an MSC which are $110-120/hour.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, cheap, efficient A&P in the bay area or vicinity (eg Sacramento or South, Livermore or West, San Jose or north). I'm willing to consider further out if I get a good recommendation and the price difference is substantial, but unless the problem can be fixed the same day, it means figuring out a way to get back to San Francisco and then back again to the mechanic.

I suppose the central valley would also work as they have the Amtrak Train back to SF.

The ideal is I fly somewhere in the AM, they fix it and give it back to me, and I fly it home in the PM.

I called the guy at Davis, his shop rate is $100/hr and very backed up so he's out. Sundance at KOAK is out, I've had really bad experiences with them.
 
OK obviously no one knows a good, cheap inexpensive and efficient mechanic anywhere in California. So let's open it up to neighboring states as well. Surely there is at least one person in all of Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada who can recommend a single mechanic?
 
Northeastern CA.
Susanville Aviation.
$85 shop rate. No BS. People fly in from out of the area for annuals. I saw a CLEAN turbo Mooney in the maintenance hangar a couple weeks ago. Story is the guy flys in from Half Moon Bay every year for an annual.
 
Northeastern CA.
Susanville Aviation.
$85 shop rate. No BS. People fly in from out of the area for annuals. I saw a CLEAN turbo Mooney in the maintenance hangar a couple weeks ago. Story is the guy flys in from Half Moon Bay every year for an annual.
Thanks. I’ll call now. Only issue is that if it takes more than a day, don’t know how I will get back to the bay.
 
Northeastern CA.
Susanville Aviation.
$85 shop rate. No BS. People fly in from out of the area for annuals. I saw a CLEAN turbo Mooney in the maintenance hangar a couple weeks ago. Story is the guy flys in from Half Moon Bay every year for an annual.
Just called Susanville. They are $95/hr and can’t see me until April 11th. That, combined with the fact that there is no easy way to get home, rules them out.
 
We have gotten good service for the CAP airplane I manage from Trade Winds at Reid-Hillview. How they compare to other shops, I don't know. An estimate I received in December quoted a shop rate of $115 an hour. Sometimes they can get us in quickly, and sometimes it take a few days or a week or so. The #522 bus connects with Caltrain.
 
Just called Susanville. They are $95/hr and can’t see me until April 11th. That, combined with the fact that there is no easy way to get home, rules them out.

Darn.
Doesn’t the added expense of traveling eat up the difference in shop rate pretty quickly? Or are there other reasons to not have the local shop do the work?
 
Darn.
Doesn’t the added expense of traveling eat up the difference in shop rate pretty quickly? Or are there other reasons to not have the local shop do the work?
Not if it ends up taking multiple hours. I’m right now considering an A&P in Santa Rosa at $95/hr and an avionics guy named Kevin also at Santa Rosa at $105/hr. The avionics guy sounds really good and caring and he believes that it could be a really quick fix. I don’t have any reviews about the A&P though (Dave Barron). Anyone familiar with his work? The vacuum pump should also be a pretty quick fix.

Besides this I just also am looking for a good, all around A&P that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for an annual. My annuals at LASAR (a Mooney Service Center) are always above 7K and I’m just tired of that.
 
Besides this I just also am looking for a good, all around A&P that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for an annual. My annuals at LASAR (a Mooney Service Center) are always above 7K and I’m just tired of that.

Wow. That’s understandable.
 
There was a recent recommendation on the CFO digest for Quality Aero at Lodi. The owners of Sundance Flying Club at KPAO recommended Aero Works on the field. They are usually very busy and above your target shop rate. On a flight to Reno Stead I chatted with the A&P there who was very nice. I didn’t have work done there, but I believe his rate was more in the ballpark of what you are looking for.
 
To the OP- What you need is an independent IA that can come to you and work on your plane in your hangar, tie down, or maintenance area at your airport. They don't have the overhead of a maintenance shop and so the rates are much lower. They are out there as there are some that come to my airport (C83) with their trucks to work on people's planes. I would suggest knocking on hangar doors at you home field. I'll bet you that you'll find a guy that knows a guy. Good luck!
 
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