Long distance annual?

rpadula

rpadula

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PancakeBunny
I guess this goes in maintenance...

This year, I'm considering taking my plane to the HQ (about 330 nm away) for its annual. Originally, I thought I would stay there until it was done, but given my annuals seem to average 2-3 business weeks while locating/refurbing parts, that could get to be a big motel bill. I'd rather not burn that many vacation days, either.

So, what do you guys do when you annual your plane away from home at a specialized shop? "Assist" at first, go home, then return when it's done? This is kind of what I'm leaning towards.

What else do you plan for before and during?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Bad Idea, unless you'd like to leave your credit card too.
 
Unless it's a one-man shop, an annual shouldn't take 2-3 weeks, more like 2-3 days. The shop should be putting a team to work on it so you can do 50-60 manhours of work in a much shorter time. If you leave the plane unattended, it's likely to go to the bottom of their priority list, and thus further extend the calendar time taken. OTOH, if you're there, your presence is a spur to production.

In addition, a shop that specializes in your aircraft type should know how long annuals usually take, especially if you're confident of no major gripes going in. I'd suggest calling the shop and discussing this.
 
Ron Levy said:
IIRC, he's got a Commander 112.
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Ron, it's a 112A. :D

Perhaps mine is a special case. I am a (very small) part-owner in the company that bought the Commander assets, so thought it might be a reasonable idea to give them the annual biz in these challenging economic times. I believe the trust level will be fairly high and that it will be a good, type-specific annual.

I have talked to them, and they are essentially a small shop, so the average 2 weeks is the best guesstimate. My local multi-A&P shops aren't really much faster, as there are usually multiple planes in at once, and let's face it, singles get bumped down when the twins come in.

I guess my question was more along the lines of logistics. Last year, I didn't have any major gripes, but ended up waiting about 3 weeks for the original CHT gauge to be refurbed & recalibrated (outsourced). Cape Girardeau is nice, but I don't want to sit around if something like that happens again.


-Rich
 
rpadula said:
I guess this goes in maintenance...

This year, I'm considering taking my plane to the HQ (about 330 nm away) for its annual. Originally, I thought I would stay there until it was done, but given my annuals seem to average 2-3 business weeks while locating/refurbing parts, that could get to be a big motel bill. I'd rather not burn that many vacation days, either.

So, what do you guys do when you annual your plane away from home at a specialized shop? "Assist" at first, go home, then return when it's done? This is kind of what I'm leaning towards.

What else do you plan for before and during?

Thanks,
Rich
Click to expand...

My annuals are done at a field that's 40 miles from home and 50 miles from my home base. I generally stick around for a few hours when I drop it off, come back once or twice during the 1-2 weeks and then spend part of a day at the end. Occasionally I'll spend several partial days there. If the shop was 330 miles away I'd probably plan on staying for the first 2 days and and one or two at the end. Trouble is the end date is a bit difficult to predict and sometimes the shop isn't quite finished with other projects when you arrive.

I assume the main reason for having the work done so far away is that this shop knows the plane and model rather well. If that's the case and you trust the shop to query you by phone if anything unusual comes up I'd be more inclined to let them work on it alone.
 
Oh I only wish it were only 2-3 days. I am a specialty shop, PA46 only. We put a 3 man crew on each aircraft and schedule 14 days. Normally thats enough time unless you have a bad top end, radio install, or some hard to find part. Most specialty shops have a lot of planes working at one time with individual teams working on 3 different aircraft making it hard to dump a large group of people on on job.

Except for my Malibu we have no other PA 46 on the field, most aircraft come from out of state. Most owners fly in, drop the airplane and leave out by airline or have a friend pick them up. Some owners will hang around until the inspection gets started, see the juicy stuff then leave for home.

You should expect a written quote and be able to have choices as to what squawks are addressed and still remain in control of the job.

Regards, Kervin
 
kmead said:
Oh I only wish it were only 2-3 days. I am a specialty shop, PA46 only. We put a 3 man crew on each aircraft and schedule 14 days.
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42 man-days to annual a Malibu? Ye, gods -- that's like $22,000! Is that really what it takes? Glad I don't own one. My Tiger typically takes about 40-60 manhours, including fixing the discrepancies.
 
Rich,

As you know, I've done this on a regular basis. I always wanted the annual done by a shop different than the folks that did my regular maintenance.

I've done several things: when I was in SA, I had the annual done twice at OKC (old Commander), and the remaining times at a small shop in Tyler, TX that was familiar with Commanders (Bob T's mechanic).

Logistics were as follows: for OKC, I either bought one-way tickets on Southwest or I booked the most reasonable date on the completion side of the annual when I knew they'd be done (about 2 weeks, IIRC). If they have to get parts, it may be longer, so be prepared for a change fee or choose Southwest.

For Tyler, I'd fly up and rent a car for the 1-way, 6+ hour ride back to San Antonio. About $100 each way, and fully flexible on dates. Last year, I moved while the plane was in annual, so used the rental car deal when I dropped the plane off, and I booked a one-way ($300) ticket on Continental into Tyler for the day it was done.

Given that New Commander is at the Cape, you may find it cheaper and easier to get a one-way rental car to St. Louis and a ticket on Southwest. (or try and negotiate a long-term rate at the Motel 6 :hairraise: )....

When the small shop did the annual, it was 7-10 days for the annual, including ordering and install of any parts.
 
wsuffa said:
Rich,

As you know, I've done this on a regular basis. I always wanted the annual done by a shop different than the folks that did my regular maintenance.
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Thanks Bill. I didn't know you did that.

Yes, I think I'm getting the picture to plan on coming home after "seeing the juicy stuff" (thanks Kevin!) and going back at or near completion. No Southwest here in ATL, but Airtran is quite reasonable to STL. Praying that Great Lakes Air makes it...


-Rich
 
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Why don't you just have them do the annual then bring the plane back home to fix the things that need replacing. This way you can have everything ordered or ready when you do the repairs.

Dan
 
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