First flight after annual?

Matthew

Matthew

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Matthew
I'll be ferrying the club C150 back home from where it got its annual. About 40nm.

Are there any particular things to check more carefully than normal during preflight or flight? I figured I'd climb over the airport long enough to get a good feel for oil temp and pressure before I headed out.
 
'if anything's gonna happen, its gonna happen out there'

Climbing over the airport is never a bad idea. Don't get pre-occupied with the engine instruments and forget to fly the plane though!
 
If you have partners, let one of the other guys fly it.
 
I plan for a 2 hour pre-flight.

With the cowl off I take a long time looking everything over. I pay special attention to any areas where work was done. I get my hands in there and test hose connections, etc. Then I do the external checks very throughly, test every light, etc. Same deal on startup, every little thing gets tested. I run up about three times and check out the engine and prop for any out of the ordinary behavior. Make sure and check the flight controls a few times (physically and visually) for full range of motion, correct movement, and really pay attention to any change in feel or resistance.

That's about it, other than the first flight is always alone.
 
Just be prepared and have plenty of outs if things don't seem right.

The people that usually get killed on post-annual flights are the ones who get themselves into a 'have-to' situation - ie you have to get to your destination by a certain time...etc. They rush, push on and miss out on what the airplane might be telling them.

Try to avoid a post-maintenace return to service flight at night.
 
I wonder why FAR 43.15 says this ?

(2) Each person approving a reciprocating-engine-powered aircraft for return to service after an annual or 100-hour inspection shall, before that approval, run the aircraft engine or engines to determine satisfactory performance in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations of—

(i) Power output (static and idle r.p.m.);

(ii) Magnetos;

(iii) Fuel and oil pressure; and

(iv) Cylinder and oil temperature.

And if they are doing it, why would there be a problem?
 
Depends on what they did to it, if they didn't have to fix anything then make sure all the panels are on correctly, the seats are on track (relatively easy to goof and possible to miss that you did) check for oil leaks and off you go.

If they had to fix anything pay special attention to that system. Odds are they didn't goof anything, but seeing as it is your butt in the thing...

Lets just say I wouldn't be offended if you took a minute to double check my work
 
Tom-D said:
And if they are doing it, why would there be a problem?
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Oh, because maybe something wasn't tightened properly (like a Magento) and becomes loose in flight.......

Lots of things can go wrong as a result of missing something during the annual that won't show up during a ground check.
 
Sac Arrow said:
If you have partners, let one of the other guys fly it.
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Really?
Skylane81E said:
Depends on what they did to it, if they didn't have to fix anything then make sure all the panels are on correctly, the seats are on track (relatively easy to goof and possible to miss that you did) check for oil leaks and off you go.

If they had to fix anything pay special attention to that system. Odds are they didn't goof anything, but seeing as it is your butt in the thing...

Lets just say I wouldn't be offended if you took a minute to double check my work
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Exactly. Just look at what they did. If it was just routine check that everything looks to be where its supposed to be. If they changing major components then maybe a harder look at them would not be a bad Idea.
 
Lol, excuse me while I go make the first flight of a plane after control cable replacement
 
Matthew said:
I'll be ferrying the club C150 back home from where it got its annual. About 40nm.

Are there any particular things to check more carefully than normal during preflight or flight? I figured I'd climb over the airport long enough to get a good feel for oil temp and pressure before I headed out.
Click to expand...


Nothing wrong with being cautious, bring a flashlight and look for something. Loose mags, missing nuts etc can be found on pre-flight.

Remember, the pilot ALWAYS makes the determination the aircraft is safe for operation.

§ 91.7 Civil aircraft airworthiness
(a) No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition.
(b) The pilot in command of a civil aircraft is responsible for determining whether that aircraft is in condition for safe flight. The pilot in command shall discontinue the flight when unairworthy mechanical, electrical, or structural conditions occur.
 
I'm with Tom. Any mechanic worth his salt wouldn't sign off on an unairworthy airplane. That being said, everyone makes mistakes, so check everything carefully, especially the controls, radio switches, including PTT. do a good runup and go. I always stay in the vicinity of the airport until I am sure everything is okay.
 
Bring it to our shop. The owner makes the first post-MX flight in every airplane they maintain.
 
My AI usually takes the first MX flight with me (orbit the airport for about 20 minutes). He is watching the guages and stuff and I can focus on flying.
 
wabower said:
Bring it to our shop. The owner makes the first post-MX flight in every airplane they maintain.
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Something I am willing to do in any I am qualified to fly. I will ride along in any other.

And in other news, another first post maint flight failed to kill me today!
 
wabower said:
Bring it to our shop. The owner makes the first post-MX flight in every airplane they maintain.
Click to expand...

My mechanic/shop owner brings the airplane to me and I fly him back after major maintenance, if it's screwed up, he sees it first. :D
 
I always fly mine after maintenance, and I do it alone with a few tough and goes to start. I figure if nothing crops up with all of that I'm good to go.
 
Who better than the guy who knows what was touched and what wasn't.
N747JB said:
My mechanic/shop owner brings the airplane to me and I fly him back after major maintenance, if it's screwed up, he sees it first. :D
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wabower said:
Bring it to our shop. The owner makes the first post-MX flight in every airplane they maintain.
Click to expand...

Our mech will do that as well. I have a policy of wanting to do all test flights myself. So, I do a thorough preflight and make sure I test all systems for functionality, focusing on anything that was specifically touched.
 
Alexb2000 said:
I plan for a 2 hour pre-flight.

With the cowl off I take a long time looking everything over. I pay special attention to any areas where work was done. I get my hands in there and test hose connections, etc. Then I do the external checks very throughly, test every light, etc. Same deal on startup, every little thing gets tested. I run up about three times and check out the engine and prop for any out of the ordinary behavior. Make sure and check the flight controls a few times (physically and visually) for full range of motion, correct movement, and really pay attention to any change in feel or resistance.

That's about it, other than the first flight is always alone.
Click to expand...


:eek: I guess I can take undo my seat belts and leave the fire extinuisher in the baggage and a nap on that first flight then :lol:
 
Skylane81E said:
Lol, excuse me while I go make the first flight of a plane after control cable replacement
Click to expand...

In a few weeks, our club has a plane coming back on line that is having one wing replaced after Hurricane Sandy damaged it. There is not much a pilot can do on a pre-flight inspection to verify that the installation is OK structurally.

Thanks, I'll let others fly it first!

-Skip
 
Check everything over very carefully, the best preflight ever, get there early so there is no rush to get home before sunset, or to get it out of the shop before they close. Touch everything.

Look for all the screws in every inspection panel, cotter keys in every place you can think of. Touch, check every spark plug and plug wire. LOOK FOR TOOLS every where. I've claimed sockets, ratchets and screw drivers as my own.

Do you know how to complete a full static run up, what are the tolerances?
I once found rudder return springs installed wrong, they were behind a brace they should have passed in front of and rubbed on the frame.

I do not write a check or accept the log books until my preflight, taxi and ground runup is complete. The check does not get signed until logbooks are complete and pass my review for all required endorsements.

I once had a mechanic say, "it's getting late, go ahead and fly it home, we'll get the logbooks tomorrow", sorry, nothing doing, it's out of annual last month, I've got no sign off, it doesn't fly. I can come back in the morning. But he wanted my check to make payroll, it was Friday. He took the extra time to complete the log books that I take with me.
 
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wabower said:
Bring it to our shop. The owner makes the first post-MX flight in every airplane they maintain.
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Except for the mechs that are not pilots, or not tailwheel qualified.
And it's a single seat, so no ride along.
 
After maintenance, I've encountered: wrenches and screwdrivers left loose in my aerobatic plane, brakes that completely locked up when heated up on landing roll, bad injectors and a rough running engine, bad mag, bad fuel servo that almost prompted an off airport landing, seatbelts hooked up backwards, and worst case- an engine hoist chain left attached to the top of my engine inside the cowl sitting on the fuel injector spider.

So, no, I would never fly in IMC immediately after maintenance and only in severe clear VMC. Depending on the work done, I might also circle over the airport a few times as well.
 
Skip Miller said:
In a few weeks, our club has a plane coming back on line that is having one wing replaced after Hurricane Sandy damaged it. There is not much a pilot can do on a pre-flight inspection to verify that the installation is OK structurally.

Thanks, I'll let others fly it first!

-Skip
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I was the first flight after a wing rebuild.

And a few times for other major structural repairs.

Just a mater of your level of tolerance to perceived risk.
 
AcroBoy said:
After maintenance, I've encountered: wrenches and screwdrivers left loose in my aerobatic plane, brakes that completely locked up when heated up on landing roll, bad injectors and a rough running engine, bad mag, bad fuel servo that almost prompted an off airport landing, seatbelts hooked up backwards, and worst case- an engine hoist chain left attached to the top of my engine inside the cowl sitting on the fuel injector spider.

So, no, I would never fly in IMC immediately after maintenance and only in severe clear VMC. Depending on the work done, I might also circle over the airport a few times as well.
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I would advise you change shops.
 
BillTIZ said:
Except for the mechs that are not pilots, or not tailwheel qualified.
And it's a single seat, so no ride along.
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Then it also depends on the characteristics of the plane, mechanic's time in type, and the airport.

The 310 is a bit tight in a 2900 ft strip where I'm based, and if you have to land south you're pretty close to the trees on the glide slope you need to be on. Meanwhile I know Wayne's shop has lots of win Cessna experience, not to mention a longer runway.
 
I've done several post-annual flights, and I guess I'd say just be ready for anything. All I've had so far is a vacuum pump failure on the takeoff roll and a blown tire on landing (it was brand new, but they put too much powder on the tube and it spun on the wheel upon landing and ripped the valve stem off).

Day VFR is also a requirement for me.
 
A beautiful day for a flight.

The club guy who does the majority of the owner-maintenance gave me a lift to the other airport. The two of us went over everything as well as we could. The only thing we found was a loose socket in the right wingtip nav light that was causing it to be intermittent. I gave it a good runup, climbed to altitude above the field, made sure temps, pressures, and RPMs were stable, then headed home.

It was one of those days where I liked having a headwind because I got to fly a little longer.
 
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