Annual Time!!!

Why does your tiny mind think the number of squawks is relevant re cost of inspection? Isn't their job to find the stuff you don't know about?:rofl:
 
Good luck !

It sure is a good time to have the plane down. We have had horrible weather here in Chicagoland lately... so it seems unlikely you will miss any good flying days.

For the cracked plastic, you may want to check out http://www.planeplastics.com/


smigaldi said:
:fcross::fcross::fcross::fcross::fcross::fcross::fcross::fcross:

I only had one squawk going in and it was a cracked piece of non structural plastic.
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You think YOU have only one squawk? heh, heh, heh
There is a reason that airplane maintenance is calculated in AMU's...

The Borg have a saying, "Resistance is futile."


denny-o
 
nyoung said:
Good luck !

It sure is a good time to have the plane down. We have had horrible weather here in Chicagoland lately... so it seems unlikely you will miss any good flying days.

For the cracked plastic, you may want to check out http://www.planeplastics.com/
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i am thinking that the plane going in for maintenance is a good thing for Chicago area pilots. This should assure good WX for the rest of you!!

Hopefully they will not find anything new to repair. i should find out by Wednesday or Thursday
 
>i am thinking that the plane going in for maintenance is a good thing
>for Chicago area pilots. This should assure good WX for the rest of you!!

Murphy's Law is recursive (>-{
 
Sent the plane in for a replacement PTT switch on the copilot's yoke came out with:

A new Overhauled Turn Coordinator
Replaced some engine gaskets and fittings to tighten thing up a bit, improved the performance nicely!!
New "less-tight" spring in my Oil Pressure sensor system and an adjustment to the oil pressure gauge to read in the middle of the green at full/cruise power rather than just touching the top of the green area

Keep those AU's coming!
 
DutchessFlier said:
Sent the plane in for a replacement PTT switch on the copilot's yoke came out with:

A new Overhauled Turn Coordinator
Replaced some engine gaskets and fittings to tighten thing up a bit, improved the performance nicely!!
New "less-tight" spring in my Oil Pressure sensor system and an adjustment to the oil pressure gauge to read in the middle of the green at full/cruise power rather than just touching the top of the green area

Keep those AU's coming!
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Why would you want to adjust the oil pressure down from the top of the green. I'd think that would be the ideal setting.
 
What Lance said. It sounds to me like your shop is trying to overcharge you.

I brought my plane in for some autopilot work and they found out that my brakes are completely shot, so they changed that out. So long as they get the heater fixed (squawk 3 out of 4 for the visit) I'll be happy.

BTW, Lance, my Altimatic IIIB now has functional roll and pitch. The altitude hold is getting fixed now. Hopefully it'll be fully functional now after close to 300 hours without it. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
BTW, Lance, my Altimatic IIIB now has functional roll and pitch. The altitude hold is getting fixed now. Hopefully it'll be fully functional now after close to 300 hours without it. :)
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You're gonna thing you died and went to Aztek heaven if it all works. Just think: now you'll be able climb into the back to break up a dogfight (the canine kind) while the airplane flies itself.:D
 
gismo said:
You're gonna thing you died and went to Aztek heaven if it all works. Just think: now you'll be able climb into the back to break up a dogfight (the canine kind) while the airplane flies itself.:D
Click to expand...

Last weekend I was loving the fact that the roll and pitch were working. I'm looking even more forward to it all working this weekend with my long flight planned. :D

As to breaking up a dogfight, you should come on a flight with me sometime. If you can figure out how to crawl back there during a flight, please teach me! ;)
 
Got the call today.

The ELT tray clip that secures the ELT went missing. The AP asked if I wanted a new tray $35 form Wentworth or just safety wire the ELT in. I opted for the latter as I expect to upgrade the ELT in a year or two to a 406MHz one.

The gas caps are missing the little rubber valves. I know about this last year and we have been looking for the part number and the AP found it. So he is ordering those. $50.

I had forgotten that the ELT switch panel in the cockpit had come loose and needed to be realigned and secured.

3 fasteners on my wheel pants are missing. Probably knocked off at 6Y9 ;)

But that is all that was found.
 
Geez, Scott, I can't get away from an oil change that clean. Good deal.
 
Build your own plane and do your own annuals, or buy an experimental, do your own annuals, and have an A&P sign it off for $500.
 
smigaldi said:
Got the call today.

The ELT tray clip that secures the ELT went missing. The AP asked if I wanted a new tray $35 form Wentworth or just safety wire the ELT in. I opted for the latter as I expect to upgrade the ELT in a year or two to a 406MHz one.

The gas caps are missing the little rubber valves. I know about this last year and we have been looking for the part number and the AP found it. So he is ordering those. $50.

I had forgotten that the ELT switch panel in the cockpit had come loose and needed to be realigned and secured.

3 fasteners on my wheel pants are missing. Probably knocked off at 6Y9 ;)

But that is all that was found.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've been maintaining the plane well all along. Good on you!

Geico266 said:
Build your own plane and do your own annuals, or buy an experimental, do your own annuals, and have an A&P sign it off for $500.
Click to expand...

...or do owner-assisted annuals in your own hangar, learn more about your plane, and save serious coin. This is my plan henceforth.

Plus, wrenching on the plane is serious therapy.
 
SCCutler said:
...or do owner-assisted annuals in your own hangar, learn more about your plane, and save serious coin. This is my plan henceforth.

Plus, wrenching on the plane is serious therapy.
Click to expand...

It also helps you learn your plane, which has tremendous value.

I try to always work with the mechs on the plane if not do the entire job myself and have them supervise and sign it off. More often, though, we have enough stuff to do at any given time that we'll all be working on it, attacking different things.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Geez, Scott, I can't get away from an oil change that clean. Good deal.
Click to expand...
It has taken a couple of years of proactive maintenance to get to this point. My first few annuals had some interesting finds. My rule is to look at things closely and take the best route to replace items. Don't try and stretch a few more hours out of them. Since I have owned the plane I have put at least half of what I initially spent on it back into it. The idea being that it is always cheaper to pay now than later.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
It also helps you learn your plane, which has tremendous value.

I try to always work with the mechs on the plane if not do the entire job myself and have them supervise and sign it off. More often, though, we have enough stuff to do at any given time that we'll all be working on it, attacking different things.
Click to expand...

Being able to do owner-assisted maintenance is one of the reasons I own an airplane. If I lost the ability to do owner-assisted annuals I might as well sell the airplane. (think of me as a homebuilder-wannabe)
 
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I wish I had the time for owner assisted annuals. i was able to help a little on one annual. But not since that first one. I also have been able to do some supervised maintenance. Ted is right though, the more you know about your airplane's inner workings the better off you are.
 
smigaldi said:
It has taken a couple of years of proactive maintenance to get to this point. My first few annuals had some interesting finds. My rule is to look at things closely and take the best route to replace items. Don't try and stretch a few more hours out of them. Since I have owned the plane I have put at least half of what I initially spent on it back into it. The idea being that it is always cheaper to pay now than later.
Click to expand...

I follow the same rules. I will say that in the past year I have noticed the amount of maintenance required decrease overall even with a continuous increase in flight time, and in the rare event that I have some spare time I go out and perform some preventative maintenance to help make systems overall last longer. I also will go out and do upgrades that help longevity and make maintenance easier.

I doubt I'll ever get to the point where an inspection has that few items on it, but that has more to do with the number of systems I have and the number of hours I put on the plane. In 2009 I put around 250 hours on it, and this year I wouldn't be surprised if that comes close to doubling. The best part about all of this is that I remember how the thing was when I first bought it compared to today. I thought it was nice then, and it's so much better now. It's rewarding to see a project like this come together.
 
In ten years I have spent the purchase price of the airplane in maintenance...
OTOH, I have a plane that can be fired up on a moments notice and fly anywhere the fuel range can reach...
And I have still spent far less than making payments on a new plane...

denny-o
 
If your ELT is the Narco ELT-10 unit, I have a bucket of good trays and ELTs, I can send one. I don't want anything for them, they just go into scrap.

Kevin
 
Or it can be a very maddening experience....hehe

I keep telling myself how much money I'm saving, but it still don't make it no more easier.

Keeps me off the streets, anyway.

SCCutler said:
Sounds like you've been maintaining the plane well all along. Good on you!



...or do owner-assisted annuals in your own hangar, learn more about your plane, and save serious coin. This is my plan henceforth.

Plus, wrenching on the plane is serious therapy.
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smigaldi said:
Got the call today.

The ELT tray clip that secures the ELT went missing. The AP asked if I wanted a new tray $35 form Wentworth or just safety wire the ELT in. I opted for the latter as I expect to upgrade the ELT in a year or two to a 406MHz one.

The gas caps are missing the little rubber valves. I know about this last year and we have been looking for the part number and the AP found it. So he is ordering those. $50.

I had forgotten that the ELT switch panel in the cockpit had come loose and needed to be realigned and secured.

3 fasteners on my wheel pants are missing. Probably knocked off at 6Y9 ;)

But that is all that was found.
Click to expand...
One more thing was found. The left strut valve was leaking when they took the cover off. AP put in a new valve but it still leaked so he had to replace the entire stem too.

Annual is done and that is all that was found. Paperwork should be ready this week and I am good for another year.

I went out to the airport today as it was a wonderful day. I did a very thorough preflight and found nothing out of the ordinary. Put a few things back the way I like them (seat belts and stuff) and took her up for 1.5 hours of fun. Upon landing I saw that the strut valve cover had come off so I will need another one of those. I know it was there before the flight because I accidentally knocked it lose doing my preflight. I guess I did not do a good job of getting it back on securely.
 
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