Our first owner assist annual

steingar

steingar

Taxi to Parking
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steingar
So Matt and Matt (Van Dy and Flying Moose) came to the hangar today to do our annual with our (Steingar and Lenny) assistance. We had more fun than you can imagine! They were patient, and taught us how to change the oil, pull off the wheels, repack bearings, and more other things than I can describe. They were wonderful! The annual got done in one day (versus a couple weeks, normal for our airport) and we had a great time helping. They have a small company and will do the same for you if you like. They are awesome! A few photos for you.

minus a wing tip
minus the cowling
minus the spinner
parts is parts
minus a stabilator tip
Lenny and Matt working on the engine
and my old man said origami was useless...
more parts is more parts
minus a tail cone
their trailer (inherited, if I recall correctly)
Free Bird on the hoist
minus a nose wheel
the crew minus me (wouldn't want to break the internet, now would we?) From Left to right, VanDy, Flying Moose and Lenny

Sorry for the shill, but boy do they deserve it!
 

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Indeed a good way to expand your knowledge while contracting the time required for the job? Does it cause you to wonder why the shop needs two weeks?
 
It was our pleasure Steingar! We enjoyed working you both, very much!

The trailer is a loaner from a relative, we were waiting to decide how much space we needed for hauling tools/equipment and waiting to see about getting a facility of our own, which we did and will be out of I73, Moraine Airpark, but can still come to you!


-VanDy
 
And that is a very nice aircraft you have too!


-VanDy
 
We did have four people, and Lenny and I were not entirely clueless. Four of us did it in one day, so I can imagine one person taking four days. However, I suspect most shops have more than one mechanic to throw at it, and I imagine they can do way faster than Lenny and I.

All that said, the one screw Lenny and I couldn't loosen off the cowling had to be drilled. I don't think we did that badly, and will do far better next time. If you live in or near Ohio, call these guys. They did an awesome job for us!
 
Excellent. Matt invited me to come up but I chose to work on dads house instead. When I saw that you were not going to the lunch because of an annual inspection I was pretty sure it added up that Matt and Matt were doing your annual. They are really great to work with. We just don't find many young men with their qualities these days. Hopefully the squawks were few.
 
Nice looking Cherokee. Introduced my son to the 140 this week. He loved it.
 
assisting with maintenance (and doing some of the maintenance) were some of the things I enjoyed most about owning my 140.

btw - the quickest wallclock time I managed for an annual inspection and maintenance items performed in conjunction with the inspection was 24 hours. It was just me and the IA for a Friday night and Saturday. In at ~4pm Friday, back in the hangar by 4pm the next day. Simple planes are great.
 
Excellent! Glad you had a good time, it is a lot of fun, plus you get a great idea of how everything works.

Gary
 
Gary said:
Excellent! Glad you had a good time, it is a lot of fun, plus you get a great idea of how everything works.

Gary
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:yeahthat:

Its also nice to be able to give some business to fellow POAers also love those origami containers made from old sectionals. Clearly a Steingar annual.
 
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Stiengar- Thank you for the kind words. You all were excellent company and did a fantastic job helping out. Hope you guys learned something even if its just how much goes into an annual inspection. It was a long day and there were not really any issues along the way so we ended up finishing about 7pm last night. I had a few pics myself. You have a fantastic aircraft and it was a pleasure sir.
 

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Glad it went well! When I got back from IL last night I called my mechanic and gave him the go-ahead, so the Branded Bird is now down for annual. I'd like to do an owner-assisted sometime, but it won't be this year because the only day I could help out would be today, and I have another commitment this morning/early afternoon. He's estimating 3-4 days working alone; we'll see, but that would be a record for my plane.
 
Nicely done! :thumbsup:

I think every aircraft owner should participate in the annual. Education is never a bad thing.
 
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Thank you for the compliments, all. The Free Bird was of course rebuilt by the EAA themselves about 10 years ago, it's condition is a testament to their superlative restoration skills. The mechanic who signed off on most of the work is sadly now deceased, he passed away after a tragic auto accident.

Again, I cannot recommend enough an owner assisted annual for a number of reasons. I wish we had done it long ago. And Buckeye Aviation gets my highest approval (actually, I suppose I shouldn't say that not having seen the bill...)
 
I definitely enjoy doing owner-assisted maintenance. Most of the MX I've done on the aircraft I've been in charge of I haven't been able to participate in, unfortunately. Mostly that's due to my own schedule not allowing it. Of course, an annual on a twin is rarely without discrepancy and also takes longer than a Saturday. Now that I'm increasing the amount of work that I'm participating in, I'm both enjoying it and also saving a lot of money (which means saving Cloud Nine a lot of money in this case).

I haven't had the pleasure of working with Matt and Matt yet, but I've talked with both of them enough that I'm confident in their abilities and work ethic.
 
When I had the flight school my mechanic and I did an annual on a Cessna 150 in one night. I got to the airport about 3pm in the afternoon and started opening it up, he got there about 5, and we finished up in the wee hours of the morning. I went home, got some sleep, then took it for a test flight after the most through pre flight I have ever done. I really enjoy doing owner assisted maintenance. It makes communicating with the mechanics so much easier.
 
Yeah, Thanks to Matt and VanDy for doing such an excellent job and putting up with Mike and myself for the day! It was definitely an educational experience.

Now we just need to go fly the plane more!

I'd DEFINITELY recommend Buckeye Aviation for any mechanical work you need done! These guys know their stuff and are very thorough.
 
Geico266 said:
Nicely done! :thumbsup:

I think every aircraft owner should participate in the annual. Education is never a bad thing.
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Agreed.....

I think a owner participating in an annual should be a requirement...:yes:
 
N801BH said:
Agreed.....

I think a owner participating in an annual should be a requirement...:yes:
Click to expand...

I think some mechanics would go crazy and need to charge more if they had to deal with some of the owners I've met.
 
LeonardMack said:
I think some mechanics would go crazy and need to charge more if they had to deal with some of the owners I've met.
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Yeah, but the two that did it for us were patient as could be. We were both reasonably good mechanics, I think. At least we didn't break anything.
 
Glad it worked out to be a quick one, but I think that as much is thanks to the owner, suffice to say the annual I started to day will not be so quick
 
Skylane81E said:
Glad it worked out to be a quick one, but I think that as much is thanks to the owner, suffice to say the annual I started to day will not be so quick
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no doubt about it, it saved so much time having the airplane all opened up when we arrived. 4 sets of hands helping put it back together made quick work of that task as well!
 
VanDy said:
no doubt about it, it saved so much time having the airplane all opened up when we arrived. 4 sets of hands helping put it back together made quick work of that task as well!
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Yep, the inspection itself is a fairly short ordeal on simple planes, its the repairs that can be a killer.

So good on you for being efficient and good on the professor for keeping a good bird.
 
N801BH said:
Agreed.....

I think a owner participating in an annual should be a requirement...:yes:
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One of my former students/clients was a very experienced and competent surgeon. He also didn't know which end of a hammer was the box end. ;)

For those who are mechanically inclined, it definitely is a good idea to do. For those who aren't, no point in pushing a rope.
 
How long did it take to do the new AD on the turnbuckles?
 
I've done two now, prior to the second one I ordered one of these:

50081.jpg


and one of these:

12-00833.jpg


Plus a couple dozen new safety clips and a couple tubes of orange Torque-Seal.

If you haven't got those tools already I'd highly recommend them, made the job much easier the second time.
 
Just got done with this year's annual. Got the aircraft disassembled Friday night, the boys (Matt, Dave, and Jeremy) came bright and early Saturday morning. No squawks, and we even got T-shirts.
 

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steingar said:
Just got done with this year's annual. Got the aircraft disassembled Friday night, the boys (Matt, Dave, and Jeremy) came bright and early Saturday morning. No squawks, and we even got T-shirts.
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Congrats on the squawk free annual :yes:. Good looking digs.
 
A couple of them are seat challenged, at least that is what I have heard from a reputable source!!!
 
For the record, I was not part of the seat install. I was too busy pulling the airplane into the hot sun while they were working on it...
 
I installed the seats, though the second of the two plates that keep the seats on their tracks did give some resistance to installation that our own volant Cervus canadensis rectified. All went well.
 
OK, so here is how it goes, there were three mechanics two of which I have seen red faced over seats, both Cherokee and Beechcraft. I have only heard from two mechanics so far, Nuff said?

The guys at Buckeye are like family to me, love ribbing them from time to time, but they are very good at what they do.

Kinda expecting to hear something about some valve cover gaskets any minute.... :goofy:
 
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