Surviving annual inspection checklist?

jhoyt

jhoyt

Pre-Flight
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Jun 29, 2014
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Yakima
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Jim
Finishing flight training soon with about 80 hours. Hoping to do practical in next 6 weeks. I'm going to buy into a C182 so becoming very interested in maintenance issues and am reading quite a bit about such things and how to fly as safe as possible. Read about some nightmares where caps were left off; tools left under the hood; cables not reattached; fuel lines disconnected, etc….

And….learning the irony of the inspection, where it seems that many pilots say the most dangerous time to fly is after the annual!

Would love to hear some stories about problems you all have had--or heard of-- POST annual inspection, and if you have some kind of checklist that you go through after the annual to make sure all the bells and whistles of your birds that have been taken apart are appropriately straight and level post-annual. What do you guys do to make sure things are tidy afterwards?
 
The first requirement is to find a competent mechanic who makes sure things are right before closing the plane.

If you are willing to fly a short hop to Ellensburg, look up Ed Beeson. He's well respected.
 
Do an owner assisted annual,with a good mechanic.then you get to see the quality of his work
 
Yup

You should be turning your own wrenches with the AP IA, if you arnt going to be hands on with maintance, best to just rent.
 
James331 said:
Yup

You should be turning your own wrenches with the AP IA, if you arnt going to be hands on with maintance, best to just rent.
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One of the many reasons aviation is dying on the vine. We do our own annuals, but we're blessed with good mechanics who will travel to our hangar on a Saturday. Even with a couple mechanics and a couple pilots to help it takes all day on our Cherokee (and the evening before for the disassembly), which has fewer parts than my motorcycle. I can only imagine someone with a more complex aircraft who doesn't have a mechanic willing to work weekends. Some of us have jobs and other things we have to do to support our aviation.
 
I'd be more nervous about something I put on than a mechanic...I'd watch but not do an owner-assist simply because you are distracting the mechanic while he/she is trying to do the inspection. Plus they may be less likely to point out issues when you're standing right there for fear of you thinking they are too nit picky instead of being thorough...
 
I do an owner assisted annual every year. I'm not distracting them while they work, I'm working on a specific set of tasks I feel comfortable with. Once complete they inspect my work and I'm on to the next task. The shop I use strongly encourages owners assist in the process.

I tell the shop every year that I don't understand the $100 credit they give me, I'm getting twice that in return for what they teach me.
 
mrkbbd said:
I'd be more nervous about something I put on than a mechanic...I'd watch but not do an owner-assist simply because you are distracting the mechanic while he/she is trying to do the inspection. Plus they may be less likely to point out issues when you're standing right there for fear of you thinking they are too nit picky instead of being thorough...
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My mechanic shows me what needs doing, and I do it while he does other stuff. Any issues are shown to me in situ before being addressed. My annuals are considerably less expensive than when I left the aircraft for mechanics despite the fees for travel.
 
The A&P/IA's I have had work on my planes I tell them to break every discrepancy into three categories:

Airworthy Issue
Should Do
Would Like To Do

I generally put off the "would like to do" until it becomes a "should do" and try and prevent the "should do" from become an airworthy issue. No discrepancies are done until I give the go ahead.
 
The only discrepancies that MATTER to an annual are "airworthiness" issues. That and a handful of things specifically called out by the Part 43 Appendix and your maintenance manual.

The rest is just owners being lazy bums about PM and not part of the annual inspection just because they were deferred to that time. If you don't want the annual inspection to be so EXPENSIVE, don't defer all your maintenance to that time.
 
Here are some we've caught on our plane:

1) Seat not secured on seat track (only two of 4 rollers on the rails);
2) Missing cap on a magneto;
3) CHT wires placed on the wrong cylinders (despite clear labels). Not immediately hazardous, but can be very confusing if you're expecting certain behavior from newly overhauled cylinders.

One of the more insidious one's I've heard of happening more than once is reversed flight control cables, particularly after a paint job.

Just had an A&P tell me about a prop that lost it's tip in flight because someone repainted it, and used a sharp knife to cut some tape used to mask off the white tip area, causing a weak plane at a high stress area.

I do a "free and correct" check at least 3 times before every takeoff.

Check, recheck, then check everything again. If *anything* seems "off", abort the takeoff, return to base, whatever. Paranoia is your friend.
 
Assume the worst every time an airplane goes into maintenance. Outside of the annual, and when I know I'm way over my head, I do all the mx on the Flybaby. I'm pretty damn careful but still assume that what I did won't work or will be worse and take that into account before I test fly it.

The scariest equipment failures I've seen were on planes that all just came out of the shop.

An A&P with a good reputation is about the only mechanic in the world I trust. If they don't do their job it could cost them their certificate. If a motorcycle mechanic doesn't do his job you just come back and he makes more money.
 
#1 Make sure the flight controls all go the correct way, including trim tabs. (trim tabs can bite people because they usually go the opposite direction)

#2 Ground run yourself, during the day, no headsets, listen to it.

#3 While rolling away from the run-up area, do you see anything on the ground? Leaking oil/fuel?

#4 Ready for takeoff? Hold the brakes, apply 1/2 throttle, count to 10, release the brakes and immediately apply full power. Be ready to abort take-off. Plan ahead - where can you land straight ahead if your takeoff doesn't go well?
 
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