Maintenance reports (MREPS?) on A/C equipped planes

gkainz

gkainz

Final Approach
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Greg Kainz
We're considering a '89 F-33 to replace our current '87 F-33. The candidate has air conditioning. Our club A&P has no experience with an A/C equipped AC (too many ACs in this thread!) but has been advised that air conditioning adds a significant level of time or difficulty to many maintenance actions, just by virtue of "stuff in the way". One example - "even changing spark plugs is harder".

Can anyone share some real world experiences to this point? Maybe rate work that goes from "easy" to "PITA" because of A/C? Would A/C be enough of a hassle that would cause one to pass and keep looking?

Thanks!
Greg
 
factory air ... are there different kinds/brands/types of factory a/c? I have 0 experience with airplane a/c except open the window ... :)
 
gkainz said:
are there different kinds/brands/types of factory a/c?
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I believe there are several. The older versions had a belly scoop and the newer versions did not. As for any maintenance issues it would be subjective to the mechanic. I never saw an A/C system installation that much more problematic except in some helicopter installs. Just make sure you really need the A/C. In several cases the owner wanted the system removed after a spell to reclaim the lost usable weight. These weren't all Beechcraft aircraft but one was. If I recall on the older types with the belly scoop there was also a speed loss of 5 mph due to drag but don't remember the details.

FWIW: most mx PITA issues to me come from the custom, cushy interiors some people install that never seem to go back together after the first removal, attract every molecule of grease/dirt, or time hogs to remove/install.;)
 
Thanks. We (club board) believe we don't need the a/c, but suitable replacements that match our requirements plus nice to haves are few, and sell quickly. This candidate has our desired list of avionics (above and beyond our current plane), 2 years newer, 1000+ fewer A/F hours. CG and Useful load are very similar to (in fact, slightly better than) or current plane.

Our club did have an a/c equipped plane (maybe a Saratoga or Lance?) before I joined, that was removed. Our Maintenance Officer recalls it caused on-going paperwork issues (but didn't expand on that statement).
 
I have no experience with Beech A/C systems but I do have some experience with Piper factory A/C on a few different airplanes. Two were relatively new (2012, 2016) and three were old (1977, 1980, 1986).

Two of the three old airplanes were kind of a pain. The system didn’t work all that well and were enough of a burden they were eventually disabled and removed. The newer ones have been pretty good so far and have required minimal maintenance. NONE of the systems were really in the way of doing any maintenance work on other parts of the airplane, unless you consider having to snake a rocker cover around the A/C lines to be extra work.

I expect that a turbo system will require far more work and money to get the same job done compared to A/C. That has been my experience anyway.
 
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