Doing some of your own maintenance question..

fiveoboy01

fiveoboy01

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Dirty B
I can do my own mx as long as an IA A&P signs off on it, correct? IE if the annual reveals some squaks, and I can fix some of them myself, can that be a route taken?

I'm pretty mechanical and have over $50K invested in tools/box for my current career as a diesel tech. Couldn't fix everything.. but certainly could take care of some items myself.
 
If your mechanic is willing to supervise and sign it off there's nothing you can't do.
 
Stewartb said:
If your mechanic is willing to supervise and sign it off there's nothing you can't do.
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Agreed.... And if the OP is a mechanic, he will LOVE working on his own plane too..... At least I do....:yes::yes:
 
$50k in tools? That's pretty impressive.
 
Having a good relationship with your AP and/or I is extremely important. Don't expect to have performed a repair and then ask a "complete stranger" AP to sign it off. Discuss it with them before hand, and you'll no doubt gain some good insight on problems that you may encounter and how to overcome them. He/she may well ask you to stop at certain points to inspect or check certain things. YMMV
 
OkieAviator said:
$50k in tools? That's pretty impressive.
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I've been a diesel tech for 12 years now.

I certainly didn't start out equipped that way, I've acquired them over the years... and that does include the box which I upgraded in late 2011 and it wasn't cheap LOL. I probably couldn't get 25 for the whole setup sold outright:sad:

Having a good relationship with your AP and/or I is extremely important. Don't expect to have performed a repair and then ask a "complete stranger" AP to sign it off. Discuss it with them before hand, and you'll no doubt gain some good insight on problems that you may encounter and how to overcome them. He/she may well ask you to stop at certain points to inspect or check certain things. YMMV
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Thanks for that advice. I certainly don't want to do anything major and/or out of the scope of my ability. Although I can fix anything that rolls down the interstate, I know I wouldn't have that leeway with an aircraft and would gladly defer repairs I didn't understand or wouldn't be confident in doing to the AP.
 
Heck yeah.

The only APIAs that arnt game for owner assist annuals are ones I wouldn't trust with a oil change.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I've been a diesel tech for 12 years now.

I certainly didn't start out equipped that way, I've acquired them over the years... and that does include the box which I upgraded in late 2011 and it wasn't cheap LOL. I probably couldn't get 25 for the whole setup sold outright:sad:



Thanks for that advice. I certainly don't want to do anything major and/or out of the scope of my ability. Although I can fix anything that rolls down the interstate, I know I wouldn't have that leeway with an aircraft and would gladly defer repairs I didn't understand or wouldn't be confident in doing to the AP.
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If you can do that,, you can fix anything on a plane.. Trust me, I was a diesel technician in another life...

Wait till you see the insides of an aircraft engine... You will laugh out loud at how crude and overbuilt it is....
 
Well...

I did a head gasket on my 2007 Yamaha R6 bike, which had twin overhead cams, and spun to 16,000 RPM. Had to pull the cams, timing chain, head, and re-shim all the valves, blah blah etc... It did take me some time, but with the factory manual, I got it done.

Back in the early 2000s I hand built(several times) an EFI engine in my mustang that eventually made well over 600 HP. I'm certainly no stranger to working on engines.. but then again if what I assemble dies, it's stuck on the road. LOL.

I still don't really want to do engine work, or mess with avionics or wiring. But everything else, I think is fair game for me. I'm just thinking along the lines of reducing mx costs, because my understanding is that buying the plane is the cheap part:)
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Well...

I did a head gasket on my 2007 Yamaha R6 bike, which had twin overhead cams, and spun to 16,000 RPM. Had to pull the cams, timing chain, head, and re-shim all the valves, blah blah etc... It did take me some time, but with the factory manual, I got it done.

Back in the early 2000s I hand built(several times) an EFI engine in my mustang that eventually made well over 600 HP. I'm certainly no stranger to working on engines.. but then again if what I assemble dies, it's stuck on the road. LOL.

I still don't really want to do engine work, or mess with avionics or wiring. But everything else, I think is fair game for me. I'm just thinking along the lines of reducing mx costs, because my understanding is that buying the plane is the cheap part:)
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Hey.. It's a Ford, what could possibly go wrong....:dunno:...:yikes:...:hairraise:...:rofl:
 
You'll do fine. Find an A&P willing to work with you and you can do a lot yourself, including owner-assisted annuals.

I do most squawks between annuals.
 
Find an A&P IA,have a talk with him,go from there. Most would prefer someone else does the grunt work.
 
frfly172 said:
Find an A&P IA,have a talk with him,go from there. Most would prefer someone else does the grunt work.
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If he will do an owner assisted with you, all the better. He'll learn you talents and what he can trust you to do, and you'll learn your airplane and what is required for the airplane. FAR Part 43 is your friend. Acceptable standards.
 
James331 said:
Heck yeah.

The only APIAs that arnt game for owner assist annuals are ones I wouldn't trust with a oil change.
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And then there are the ones with signs like this:

Labor rate: $75/hr
Labor rate while customer watches: $100/hr
Labor rate while customer helps: $125/hr
Labor rate while supervising customer: $150/hr

IOW, some very, very good mechanics you can trust with your life are simply not interested in being teachers. They like doing the work they do, they do it extremely well, and they just want to be left alone to do it. Nothing at all wrong with that, it just may not be the sort of mechanic for whom you are looking. But that's no reason not to trust them with an oil change.
 
Actually, there are cases when the owner/pilot can return an aircraft to service after an annual.

The annual is an INSPECTION. It can result in a list of discrepancies that need to be addressed before the airplane can be returned to service. If it's something an owner-pilot can do as PM: bulbs, batteries, tires or the like, they can do the repair, log it appropriately, and sign off the aircraft.
 
SCCutler said:
That's a ratchet and twelve deep well sockets from the Snap - On truck! :D
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I always enjoy watching the Snap-On truck pull up at a big aircraft maintenance shop. It's like watching the Good Humor truck pull up in the neighborhood on a summer afternoon, just bigger kids lining up.
 
As other's said, find the A&P/IA's in your area and have a chat with them. Either they are into it or not. We've been working with the same A&P for years and he lets us do a bunch. He tells us what to leave out or open or what not so he can come check it out and then once he's done his blessing we zip it back up, he checks our work and signs us off. We've saved a lot of money and learned a lot about our airplane doing so. We have done a lot of work just in the couple years I've been in the plane...replaced a few intruments, vacuum pump that failed, new magneto, new Sky-Tec starter, all the solenoids, new battery, rebuilt all the struts and a few other odds and ends. We do owner assist annuals and always change our own oil (no need for a sign off on that - you can do that yourself but best to have someone who knows the plane looking over your shoulder the first time around...). About the only thing I can think of that needed to be done that we had nothing to do with was reskinning and re-painting a flap. We took it off for him, he did his thing...brought it back...we put it back on.

That's a lot of the reason why I bought into the plane I'm in now. These guys aren't averse to getting their hands dirty and doing some grunt work. It's fun, rewarding and honestly I like the piece of mind knowing exactly what was done and even more so the knowledge of how this stuff actually works.
 
kenjr said:
We've saved a lot of money and learned a lot about our airplane doing so.
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knowledge of how this stuff actually works.
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Yep and that's part of my motivation.

I'm the kid that took his battery powered toys apart to learn how they worked. Sometimes I got them back together in working order, sometimes not, but I was always fascinated nonetheless:)
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I can do my own mx as long as an IA A&P signs off on it, correct?
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Pretty much, but keep in mind this relationship is based upon trust, you stick the A&P once it is over.
Discuss what you are going to do, prior to starting the project. don't do it, then blind side him with it.
 
I am a retired heavy equipment mechanic and was a OH58 and AH64 Crewchief in the ARMY. I did a owner assist annual with my IA the first week I meet him. He recognized I could turn wrenches. 7 years later I am now working for him when he needs help. Works out for all of us, he has a full time guy and me on a as needed as I don't need this job for food on the table. The ony problem I have now is since the FAA guy is around weekly and now knows me and my past I am signed off for my A&P testing. This was supposed to be fun, now pushing for a real job, I guess retiring is over rated.
 
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