question about timing of my annual

MtnMarcus

MtnMarcus

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be purchasing a 182J in the next 2-4 weeks. The annual/pre-buy will be done the end of next week which will put the plane on a schedule to have its annual done every August. This is right in the middle of when I will be flying it most. Ideally, I would like to have the annual done every January or February. Will I have to bite the bullet and have another annual in 5-6 months, or is there some way I can get around this? What have some of you guys done in this situation? Thanks
 
MtnMarcus said:
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be purchasing a 182J in the next 2-4 weeks. The annual/pre-buy will be done the end of next week which will put the plane on a schedule to have its annual done every August. This is right in the middle of when I will be flying it most. Ideally, I would like to have the annual done every January or February. Will I have to bite the bullet and have another annual in 5-6 months, or is there some way I can get around this? What have some of you guys done in this situation? Thanks
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You can do an annual anytime you want short of an annual...it's a waste of money, but you can do it...otherwise you get till the last day of August next year to do it.
 
Well, there is a way but it will take 5 or 6 years to get it in sync. Otherwise you have to bite the bullet.
 
Is the annual do now,or are you doing it with the per buy? If you have a good per buy done ,by a mechanic you trust,you may be able to put it off. Or you have the option of doing two in one year.
 
What Greg said. If your annual is due in Aug, don't initiate until the end of month and get it signed off in Sep. Repeat for a few years and you'll be lined out. I've done a few years where I knew I wasn't going to by flying and asked the shop to slow it down and got an extra two months.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be purchasing a 182J in the next 2-4 weeks. The annual/pre-buy will be done the end of next week which will put the plane on a schedule to have its annual done every August. This is right in the middle of when I will be flying it most. Ideally, I would like to have the annual done every January or February. Will I have to bite the bullet and have another annual in 5-6 months, or is there some way I can get around this? What have some of you guys done in this situation? Thanks
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Have the shop complete the annual on Sept 1. That way, you can fly it right up to Oct 1 next year. String together a half dozen "13" month annuals and you'll be there.

Or do one this January and get on the schedule you prefer.
 
frfly172 said:
Is the annual do now,or are you doing it with the per buy? If you have a good per buy done ,by a mechanic you trust,you may be able to put it off. Or you have the option of doing two in one year.
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Annual is due now, so I will more than likely bite the bullet and complete another one in 5 months or maybe just get on someones schedule now so they can get it in and out as soon as possible the end of next August.
 
kyleb said:
Have the shop complete the annual on Sept 1. That way, you can fly it right up to Oct 1 next year. String together a half dozen "13" month annuals and you'll be there.

Or do one this January and get on the schedule you prefer.
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I like that idea
 
kyleb said:
Have the shop complete the annual on Sept 1. That way, you can fly it right up to Oct 1 next year. String together a half dozen "13" month annuals and you'll be there.

Or do one this January and get on the schedule you prefer.
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Best idea in my opinion.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be purchasing a 182J in the next 2-4 weeks. The annual/pre-buy will be done the end of next week which will put the plane on a schedule to have its annual done every August. This is right in the middle of when I will be flying it most. Ideally, I would like to have the annual done every January or February. Will I have to bite the bullet and have another annual in 5-6 months, or is there some way I can get around this? What have some of you guys done in this situation? Thanks
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You can move it almost a month per year, so you can get out of prime time in a couple of years and be where you want in 6. Either that or buy an early annual which in the grand scheme of aircraft ownership won't even be a rounding error in costs on a simple plane like a 182.
 
I did a "short year" to get mine into February becuase it always seemed a rush to get it done before Oshkosh every year. It's however slid over the years to about June.
 
flyingron said:
I did a "short year" to get mine into February becuase it always seemed a rush to get it done before Oshkosh every year. It's however slid over the years to about June.
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Mine slid from March to April to May to June to July.

I eventually decided that it is too hot in July (and June too) to work on an airplane in Georgia. My annual (or condition inspection, to be accurate) is now on a perpetual schedule to begin the weekend after SnF.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Annual is due now, so I will more than likely bite the bullet and complete another one in 5 months or maybe just get on someones schedule now so they can get it in and out as soon as possible the end of next August.
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Have annual completed on September 1, next year schedule annual for late September sign off October 1, repeat as necessary to get annual in sync with other plans. :D
 
For years my wife did an owner assist. As soon as she closed up her classroom in mid-June she spent everyday at the shop doing grunt work getting all the backlog in the shop ahead of ours out of there. Then we'd do ours. Still there were times it came out of annual right before Oshkosh.
 
I have my month slid every year, one additional month. I guess if I had something going on I could change. Don't worry about the month now, slide it as needed.
 
One fun loophole is the ability to fly 10 hours after the last day of your due annual to deliver the plane for work. You can use that to get to the following month.
 
Depending on your schedule, it makes sense for all of us to have our annuals done at the end of the expiration month and signed off the next month. Effectively, getting 12 months and 3+ weeks per "annual" :D
 
N747JB said:
Depending on your schedule, it makes sense for all of us to have our annuals done at the end of the expiration month and signed off the next month. Effectively, getting 12 months and 3+ weeks per "annual" :D
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We have a co-owner who subscribes to that theory and I don't care, but honestly, something else comes up most years to ground the airplane anyway, and there's other maintenance year round. It really doesn't matter.

One caveat: If you let it slide around to fall during known weeks you'd probably want to take it somewhere and that bothers you, then don't. Heh.

Ours fell during OSH this year. None of us minded but I could see that annoying a particular personality type who "always flies the airplane to OSH" if we had one of those uptight types in the co-owner group.
 
Ours is in June, but I think it slid to July this time. I talk to the shop ahead of time and try to get ours worked in so it doesn't take more than a week or so. Usually not a big deal and I can schedule around it.
 
N747JB said:
Effectively, getting 12 months and 3+ weeks per "annual" :D
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Huh?

I get 13 months per annual almost every year. I'm currently in April. I may choose to stay there.

(Even if you want to consider the length of time it takes to do the annual---only 2 days---it's still 12 months plus 4 weeks...except when February is in the mix)

Back when I was flying a lot I did an "annual" every 150 hours. Some only lasted 5 months.
 
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CTLSi said:
One fun loophole is the ability to fly 10 hours after the last day of your due annual to deliver the plane for work. You can use that to get to the following month.
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That doesn't sound right. Isn't that for the 100 hour inspection?. And it wouldn't work as a trick because the inspection is counted as having happened when it expired, the 10 extra hours don't really extend it (they are not that stupid :lol:).
 
Yeah, I don't do it except to move the annual the month that works best for me. I like to schedule downtime for November-February, that's when we fly the least.:D
denverpilot said:
We have a co-owner who subscribes to that theory and I don't care, but honestly, something else comes up most years to ground the airplane anyway, and there's other maintenance year round. It really doesn't matter.

One caveat: If you let it slide around to fall during known weeks you'd probably want to take it somewhere and that bothers you, then don't. Heh.

Ours fell during OSH this year. None of us minded but I could see that annoying a particular personality type who "always flies the airplane to OSH" if we had one of those uptight types in the co-owner group.
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Is the same shop doing the pre buy/annual that you are going to be using for future annuals? If so just do it in January and since they will be familiar with the airplane it should be a minimal cost event. If it is a different shop wait as the first time a shop does an airplane they have to go through all the ADs and paper work and that adds to the cost. Don
 
The simple, trivial, and legal way to do it is to have the IA keep out ONE cowl screw at the end of the annual. Or ONE trim plate. Or ONE safety wire.

THen at dark-0-thirty on the first of the month, (s)he shows up at the airport, puts the last cowl screw in, and THAT is completing the annual, which is then signed.

Is it illegal for you to fly the airplane with ONE cowl screw missing in the interim? I'm sure that our brethren and sistren with straight-legged chairs will care to differ, but I argue not.

Jim
 
yakdriver said:
Is the same shop doing the pre buy/annual that you are going to be using for future annuals? If so just do it in January and since they will be familiar with the airplane it should be a minimal cost event. If it is a different shop wait as the first time a shop does an airplane they have to go through all the ADs and paper work and that adds to the cost. Don
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Hello Don, I am just north of you in Hailey. I'm having annual done in Poky where the plane is currently based and will be using the same shop in the future. You make a good point, and I will check into this.
 
Marcus, If you ever want to try another shop Tod Meyers here in Twin is excellent. He is reasonable and turns things around quick. Does meticulous paperwork and organizes it so you don't have to search for hours figuring out ADs etc. Where are you going to keep your airplane? Don
 
yakdriver said:
Marcus, If you ever want to try another shop Tod Meyers here in Twin is excellent. He is reasonable and turns things around quick. Does meticulous paperwork and organizes it so you don't have to search for hours figuring out ADs etc. Where are you going to keep your airplane? Don
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Thanks for the info Don. I will keep that name. The plan is to hangar it in Hailey but I may have to keep it in Poky for a few months until I secure something.
 
yakdriver said:
Is the same shop doing the pre buy/annual that you are going to be using for future annuals? If so just do it in January and since they will be familiar with the airplane it should be a minimal cost event. If it is a different shop wait as the first time a shop does an airplane they have to go through all the ADs and paper work and that adds to the cost. Don
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But that will happen on the first with a different IA anyway, so you don't change the cost, you just defer it. The other side to that coin is that you can get caught with extra time on that first annual as well. Would you rather lose a month during Jan-Feb or July-Aug?

If one is worried about the cost of everything and trying to minimize every expense to trying to delay inevitable costs by months (which may increase the costs if something actually breaks that would have been found), then aircraft ownership isn't probably in your best interest, especially if you're like that going in, because I promise you you will see bills that make the realized difference here a rounding error. Aviation isn't for the faint of heart or tight of wallet. That said you don't have to be rich, you just can't be cheap. There are machines to fly available for any budget from used Eipper Ultralights to new A-380s. They all need regular infusions of cash and blood to keep flying, some more than others.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Thanks for the info Don. I will keep that name. The plan is to hangar it in Hailey but I may have to keep it in Poky for a few months until I secure something.
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There are hangars in Twin, Jerome and Gooding for rent. There is one in Twin For sale around $30,000 40x36.
 
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