I'll share with you my longish first annual "learning" story, which is actually currently underway. Let me tell you, it was like Russian roulette the first day. I bought a high engine time C-150 cash; all my income can do conservatively at this stage of the rat race we call life, and the aircraft never did fit my mission profile. I simply can't afford my mission profile (two people and bags, IFR, 120+KTAS cruise, mogas primary fuel, fixed gear, fixed prop, light non-competitive acro when not touring)
. At any rate, back to the current bird... peeling paint and cowling with a rough fiber glass re-work in the corners (the thing vibrates and cracks there). No pre-buy inspection. Giddy up.
My A&P was decent enough to level with me and tackle the potential big "kill" items before going forward. That way if the thing needed multiple cylinders and/or bad corrosion was found I could walk away from my mistake (trying to afford general aviation that is.... but that's for another thread) instead of sinking more money into a losing proposition. Right off the bat he could hear the thing hiss on the "field compression check" so he figured odds were stacked against me right off the bat. Black as night oil indicated certain cylinder blow-by, though I was somewhat confident the bottom end was fine, (unless he finds glitter-full of metal in the screen next week, knock on wood). Opened the cowl and he found a bunch of homemade brew solutions in the landing light wiring (they used a trailer-to-tow-vehicle harness plug, what did I know?
) and other goofy stuff like a battery he's not positive is certified for the aircraft. That's another thing I've learned about GA recently: certified this and certified that. I'm not one to purposely put my friends and family in danger to cut corners, but man what a racket certified aviation is. So much as sneezing on an aircraft requires some sort of write-up, logbook entry, 337s and the associated middle men and inflated parts costs along the way. It's just not very motivating of a proposition just to putz along at 90KTAS. Then again neither is sinking 90K on an RV-7 to partially mitigate your paperwork hassles, while defeating the marginal cost savings attained by partially bypassing the PMA-paperwork certified nonsense (and it is nonsense)....I digress.
At any rate, so far the wiring harness from the magnetos to the plugs needs to get replaced. Judging by the fact the sucker looks to be the original set (1976), I'd say good on the little rat trap for kicking along that long, that's about the cost of one cylinder ($350), 'cause you can't get the wires individually anymore. Good news was that as dark as the outlook was looking, compression checks turned good on all four. Lowest was a 65. I was floored no cylinder needed to be pulled. Oil leak on one rocker box cover gasket, no biggie. At least that explains the ridiculous oil consumption, I was spitting it out the top of a cylinder all along (O-200s breathe out a ton of oil historically, bad breather tube design, and the engine hasn't been washed since God knows when, so it was hard to discern from my mx n00bie POV). Other than that, no corrosion other than the dusty dry white stuff found on 99% of all metal things flying out there today, so no auto-kill there. Screw set to replace the rusted ones all over the aircraft, and replace an o-ring in left brake caliper and we're good to go so far. All the labor on this stuff will be done annual-rate-inclusive, so the A&P is being a friend (600 for the annual). With parts, assuming the battery doesn't pass the PMA paperwork nonsense test, puts the initial total tally between $1200 and $1500, again knock on wood.
I attribute the general decent condition of the plugs and valves on the fact I run mogas exclusively. 100LL, there's another racket..A $150 paper STC gets me a 50% reduction in operating costs, no amount of preventive mx can match that operating differential, FWIW. Mags were also fine. Rigging was good enough for a speed-of-smell aircraft, the control joints were drier than the desert but all lube and grease comes with the annual, so we're good there. God spared me this time, I think I might just get rid of the thing next year, not tempting fate again.
Lessons learned about mx costs? Treat the top of lycos and cont's as disposable. Bottom ends are pretty bullet proof. Watch for dramatic oil pressure drops when you reduce power and back up to normal pressure on power application as a sign your bottom end is shot (or a streak of oil all down your tail). Always bank on cylinders getting pulled at annuals. That way if you don't have to then you feel a little better about the proposition of bleeding money every year just to be ramp-check legal. Bank at least 600 bucks for a two seater, and 1200 bucks for a 4 seater single engine, before any mx on moving components and before you get to fly a single hour. Welcome to certified aviation
So far Im getting off easy for a first time annual. My buddy had a pa-28-140 and $7500 was his tally on the first annual. Corroded nose gear fork, scored cylinders flanges required cosmetic work and as you've seen, you pull that cylinder and the money ticker starts running. Lyco cylinders (320 series) run about $900 per cylinder on average, little cont (c series, O-200 et al) like mine run around $350. Then add labor and tax.
GET A PRE-BUY. Let me say this again, get a PRE-BUY. That said, with the age of these contraptions, I just don't have much confidence a pre-buy can insulate you from these woes, these things are just old. It's pretty sad actually, considering it's 2010. Looking at these shiny new experimentals make my eyes kitten-like, but then I look at the price tag and realize the world's gone mad.
P.S. Twice the gas didn't work for me.
