Annual time

GMascelli

GMascelli

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Jul 27, 2005
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Ocean City, MD
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Display name:
GaryM
Day 1 of annual complete.

AD check completed, gear done, new brakes done, engine compression 79's all around, plugs cleaned gapped reinstalled, plug wires checked cleaned connected, exhaust checked, filters replaced, inspection plates open and closed, tail open and inspected, ELT battery ordered, only electrical inspection, battery service or order two new (my Gil G25 are 4 years and two months and one crapped the bed yesterday)and button up the tail remain.

I'm beat. We started around 7:30-8am and finished around 5:30. Knees sore along with both hands......gettin' to old for this stuff, it doesn't sit well with my metal parts. A few advil's and I'll be ready for day two tomorrow.
 
A good amount of work done in a day! Just you and the AI or do you have help?

I hear you about the crawling around on a cold concrete floor!

Gary
 
Gary said:
A good amount of work done in a day! Just you and the AI or do you have help? I hear you about the crawling around on a cold concrete floor! Gary
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Me and the one A/P and one new guy they added,he did one main and the nose gear. It was a busy day but fun, beats working. ;)
 
GMascelli said:
Day 1 of annual complete.

That's fast, my 172 is due next month. Would you come to Kansas to help? I sold my FBO to one of my employees and I don't have the 10 extra guys to help anymore. All 3 kids (who fly the plane) are off at school, I guess it's up to me. I could ask my old shop to do it, but I'm just to cheap.

Kevin
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GMascelli said:
Day 1 of annual complete.

AD check completed, gear done, new brakes done, engine compression 79's all around, plugs cleaned gapped reinstalled, plug wires checked cleaned connected, exhaust checked, filters replaced, inspection plates open and closed, tail open and inspected, ELT battery ordered, only electrical inspection, battery service or order two new (my Gil G25 are 4 years and two months and one crapped the bed yesterday)and button up the tail remain.

I'm beat. We started around 7:30-8am and finished around 5:30. Knees sore along with both hands......gettin' to old for this stuff, it doesn't sit well with my metal parts. A few advil's and I'll be ready for day two tomorrow.
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Why didn't you know that you needed a new ELT battery, and have it on hand?
 
Tom-D said:
Why didn't you know that you needed a new ELT battery, and have it on hand?
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I was a slacker Tom......honestly didn't give it a thought until I went over my logs last night while looking up the previous install of the Gill battery's.
 
Heh. You should have said you were waiting to see if 406 MHz ELTs were affordable. ;)
 
Annual completed, 08Romeo comes home tomorrow. MAry and I had to work out the transportation.

Fun time again this year and had the chance to learn a few more things about the maintenance of my plane. I also got to touch up chips in all three colors which was nice to get completed in a warm hanagr before the winter season hits.


Items addressed:
- Brakes
- Oil filter (oil was changed 10 hours ago)
- Repair nav light wire.
- Vac systen filter
- Relief valve filter
- Bracket Air filter
- ELT Battery
- Installed fuel sump (I already had the part)
- Replace one C-Spec fastener (lower cowling)


The guys at the shop commented how nice it was to work on a clean plane that is maintained all year round.


The plan for next year is to replace both door and baggage door seals, I found a few small cracks starting and figure it will be time.
 
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GMascelli said:
Annual completed, 08Romeo comes home tomorrow. MAry and I had to work out the transportation.

Fun time again this year and had the chance to learn a few more things about the maintenance of my plane. I also got to touch up chips in all three colors which was nice to get completed in a warm hanagr before the winter season hits.


Items addressed:
- Brakes
- Oil filter (oil was changed 10 hours ago)
- Repair nav light wire.
- Vac systen filter
- Relief valve filter
- Bracket Air filter
- ELT Battery
- Installed fuel sump (I already had the part)
- Replace one C-Spec fastener (lower cowling)


The guys at the shop commented how nice it was to work on a clean plane that is maintained all year round.


The plan for next year is to replace both door and baggage door seals, I found a few small cracks starting and figure it will be time.
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why wait until next year, if you know they need to be replaced, replace them..
 
Did they do the STC's for the sofa, and swimming pool in it yet?


:D
 
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GMascelli said:
The guys at the shop commented how nice it was to work on a clean plane that is maintained all year round.
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Hang around any aircraft maintenance hangar long enough and you'll soon learn it's a miracle there aren't more "accidents."

Some of the stuff I've seen turned away is downright amazing.
 
dmccormack said:
Hang around any aircraft maintenance hangar long enough and you'll soon learn it's a miracle there aren't more "accidents."

Some of the stuff I've seen turned away is downright amazing.
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That's the hazard of the 13th month maintenance period, rather than the daily care of the aircraft and repairing what needs it now.
 
yeah unfortunately I think alot of owners have "it can wait until annual" syndrome. Like get there itis or anti authority!

but it sounds like you did a through annual inspection. door seals etc.. can wait if they need to.
 
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dell30rb said:
yeah unfortunately I think alot of owners have "it can wait until annual" syndrome. Like get there itis or anti authority!
.
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A good number of aircraft owners in reality cannot afford their airplane. Ignoring maintenance and delaying until annual in hopes it will "heal itself" is not that uncommon. :nonod:
 
Rotor&Wing said:
A good number of aircraft owners in reality cannot afford their airplane. Ignoring maintenance and delaying until annual in hopes it will "heal itself" is not that uncommon. :nonod:
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I really don't think that is the case here, but maybe you aren't saying that.
 
Sorry it took so long to post.......trying to juggle night class, kitchen demo, work and the annual. At least the plane is done!

I am a responsible owner! :yesnod:

Good Lord, I found a few small cracks/tears in the door seal near the stop bracket on the bottom.:rolleyes: The Sundowner is very tight, the seals are not that old for the doors. The baggage door seal is old and getting stiff, so I am ordering through the Beech Aero Club.

I bring my plane to the shop if I have any problems or questions, thats the best part about Cecil Aero, always available to answer questions and fit you in the schedule. I take care of any squawks when they come up, I'm not flying myself or my Bride around with outstanding problems.

My annuals have been consistant over the last three years that I have owned this plane. I make upgrades every year and keep ahead of any issues.

Not that I have to answer to anyone here but just an FYI.

Besides, my father would have kicked my a$$ if I did it half a$$ed. Geezzz...I can hear him saying why do people not have the time to do it right the first darn time but have time to come back and fix it......the things we remember. I sure miss him, he would have had a blast crawling around the plane with me for a few days.
 
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Tom-D said:
That's the hazard of the 13th month maintenance period, rather than the daily care of the aircraft and repairing what needs it now.
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Agreed. While I know Gary takes good care of his plane, I know a lot of people who try to "save money" by doing the 13-month annuals. I think it ends up costing them more in the end.
 
GMascelli said:
Sorry it took so long to post.......trying to juggle night class, kitchen demo, work and the annual. At least the plane is done!

I am a responsible owner! :yesnod:

Good Lord, I found a few small cracks/tears in the door seal near the stop bracket on the bottom.:rolleyes: The Sundowner is very tight, the seals are not that old for the doors. The baggage door seal is old and getting stiff, so I am ordering through the Beech Aero Club.
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My post was a generalization as well.. not directed towards you!

Most of the aircraft I fly have either missing or torn door seals
 
We do the 13 month thing but we also fix things as they come up. They're not mutually exclusive.

Doing the inspection over the turn of a month pays off, slowly. Kinda like throwing loose change in a jar.

Sometimes something is found that requires a full week waiting on a part or whatever. So you're only gaining two to three weeks of amortization most years anyway.

It doesn't really work this way, but if you use round numbers and say an Annual is $1000... That's $19.23 a week. Doing the inspection over the changeover of the month saves you a whopping $57.70. (3 weeks)

It ain't much -- but it's 10 gallons of gas or almost an hour of flight time in our aircraft. Throwing money away would just be bad business.

If you guys are seeing folks who are supposedly doing the 13 month thing because $60 will make or break their bank... That's scary. I highly doubt it's the primary motivator. Procrastination is far more likely.

Alternatively, if you have a trip or other "mission" coming up for the bird, there's no point in delaying. Get 'er done. Sleep at night knowing you don't have to wedge it into the schedule of whatever else is going on.
 
denverpilot said:
We do the 13 month thing but we also fix things as they come up. They're not mutually exclusive.

Doing the inspection over the turn of a month pays off, slowly. Kinda like throwing loose change in a jar.
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We do 100-hour inspections, which amounts to an annual every 100 hours of flight time.

The thing I find is that, in the course of performing the 100-hour/annual, we find discrepancies that I had no clue about from simply flying the airplane. Then there are things that come up that are obvious (like my starter clutches are going out). But I tend to advocate doing 100-hours. You might be surprised what you'd find. I'd also say that doing things this way has actually saved me money per our of flight time, simply because we were able to fix things before they became a big issue, and fixed some things that improved performance. I gained about 5-10 mph on the Aztec just from rebuilding its bad cooling baffles.
 
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