10,000 Hail Mary's and a pox on mechanics

[Denny]

I recently wrote about my adventures with Fat Albert the Apache and the
session on the torture rack known as "the annual"... For a quick
review: I replaced the Southwind with a new gas heater, and a new
torque tube and actuator arm for the flaps, repaired a stuck valve on
the port engine (my first valve in over 40 years of ownership), and
installed a new carburetor (3 times, if you recall)on the starboard
engine... So, since then I have had nearly 40 hours of trouble free
flying - and toasty warm flying at that, with the new heater I might
add...

Alas, all good things come to an end... ATC has been grumbling about my
transponder cutting in and out the past two flights... Now, that one I
know the answer to; the inline plug on the power leads (WWII vintage
from the looks of it) gets an oxide layer on the pins every few
years... So, reluctantly, I bent myself backwards over the seat and
wriggled on my back until my head is on top of the rudder pedals -
anyone who understands Apaches and anatomy knows this cannot be done by
a man who has his seventh decade of life staring him in the face, but I
digress - As I am gently polishing the pins on the male plug I happen
to survey the jungle of wiring, tubing, chains, gyros, etc., that is
behind the panel, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the
dangling end of the blast tube for the radio box (which box, includes
the erratic transponder).... Reason gently dawns in my decrepit brain
that it ain't the power plug this time, it's overheating in the
transponder with no airflow and with the warming temperatures of
spring... It also dawns that the mechanics had to have yanked the tube
loose during the installation of the control switch and wiring for the
new heater - and decided that they were not going through the flames of
hell to replace it...

Reaching up I can just wriggle my hand into position over top of the
control column, but I can't do anything useful once there... With a
sinking feeling in my stomach I already know what I have to do... So, I
take out the seats... Kneel down on the main spar box (which comes to a
peak at the top, not a flat)... Remove the instrument panel bezel...
Remove the glare shield... Remove the top row of gyros... Remove the
EGT gauge and wiring... And then I can just barely see the side of the
radio box where the nipple for the blast tube has to protrude...
Pushing bundles of wiring aside I feel around and find the nipple, and
it has a gummy wad of black tape wound on it... ( jeez, some mechanics
should be buried, then shot) So, I start scratching with finger nails
to find the end of each layer, and pulling to unwind the tape... Then I
clean the sticky residue off the nipple with MEK ( damn, I hate that
stuff, I'm woozy in 5 seconds, my heart pounds, and it feels like an
elephant is on my chest )...

Threading the blast tube into position I can feel that the tube is
considerably undersize for the nipple and thus can't be clamped, which
is why some distant past mechanic arrived at the brilliant decision to
gob it on with tape... Up to this point I have spent some 3 hours
kneeling on the sharp edge of the spar box... I limp home to think
about it... Next day, bright and early, I go at it again... I get a
chunk of auto heater hose, slit it lengthways, taking a wedge out in
the process so it forms a tapered tube when squeezed shut... Then
wiggling it over the nipple and the blast tube simultaneously
(remember, I'm working blind and can get only one hand in there)I
painstakingly thread 4 tie wraps onto the hose and carefully cinch them
up a little at a time so that the hose clamps down evenly... (I won't
tell on myself how many I dropped and how many I had to cut off because
they slipped) After more than an hour bent forward in an awkward
position, holding my weight up with one hand, while working with the
other, I finally get the hose cinched tight... I fall backwards onto
the rear sets with a sigh... After letting my throbbing knees take a
break I begin reassembling the instrument panel... In the end I spent
6 hours in the position of penitence fixing a problem that should not
have happened, and would not have happened if the certified mechanics
who worked on this airplane for the past 47 years had a brain between
them...

denny - irish but not catholic

[Stan Prevost]

As always, Denny, a well-told story, but, man did you make it hurt! Sorry
for your troubles.


"Denny" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I recently wrote about my adventures with Fat Albert the Apache and the
> session on the torture rack known as "the annual"... For a quick
> review: I replaced the Southwind with a new gas heater, and a new
> torque tube and actuator arm for the flaps, repaired a stuck valve on
> the port engine (my first valve in over 40 years of ownership), and
> installed a new carburetor (3 times, if you recall)on the starboard
> engine... So, since then I have had nearly 40 hours of trouble free
> flying - and toasty warm flying at that, with the new heater I might
> add...
>
> Alas, all good things come to an end... ATC has been grumbling about my
> transponder cutting in and out the past two flights... Now, that one I
> know the answer to; the inline plug on the power leads (WWII vintage
> from the looks of it) gets an oxide layer on the pins every few
> years... So, reluctantly, I bent myself backwards over the seat and
> wriggled on my back until my head is on top of the rudder pedals -
> anyone who understands Apaches and anatomy knows this cannot be done by
> a man who has his seventh decade of life staring him in the face, but I
> digress - As I am gently polishing the pins on the male plug I happen
> to survey the jungle of wiring, tubing, chains, gyros, etc., that is
> behind the panel, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the
> dangling end of the blast tube for the radio box (which box, includes
> the erratic transponder).... Reason gently dawns in my decrepit brain
> that it ain't the power plug this time, it's overheating in the
> transponder with no airflow and with the warming temperatures of
> spring... It also dawns that the mechanics had to have yanked the tube
> loose during the installation of the control switch and wiring for the
> new heater - and decided that they were not going through the flames of
> hell to replace it...
>
> Reaching up I can just wriggle my hand into position over top of the
> control column, but I can't do anything useful once there... With a
> sinking feeling in my stomach I already know what I have to do... So, I
> take out the seats... Kneel down on the main spar box (which comes to a
> peak at the top, not a flat)... Remove the instrument panel bezel...
> Remove the glare shield... Remove the top row of gyros... Remove the
> EGT gauge and wiring... And then I can just barely see the side of the
> radio box where the nipple for the blast tube has to protrude...
> Pushing bundles of wiring aside I feel around and find the nipple, and
> it has a gummy wad of black tape wound on it... ( jeez, some mechanics
> should be buried, then shot) So, I start scratching with finger nails
> to find the end of each layer, and pulling to unwind the tape... Then I
> clean the sticky residue off the nipple with MEK ( damn, I hate that
> stuff, I'm woozy in 5 seconds, my heart pounds, and it feels like an
> elephant is on my chest )...
>
> Threading the blast tube into position I can feel that the tube is
> considerably undersize for the nipple and thus can't be clamped, which
> is why some distant past mechanic arrived at the brilliant decision to
> gob it on with tape... Up to this point I have spent some 3 hours
> kneeling on the sharp edge of the spar box... I limp home to think
> about it... Next day, bright and early, I go at it again... I get a
> chunk of auto heater hose, slit it lengthways, taking a wedge out in
> the process so it forms a tapered tube when squeezed shut... Then
> wiggling it over the nipple and the blast tube simultaneously
> (remember, I'm working blind and can get only one hand in there)I
> painstakingly thread 4 tie wraps onto the hose and carefully cinch them
> up a little at a time so that the hose clamps down evenly... (I won't
> tell on myself how many I dropped and how many I had to cut off because
> they slipped) After more than an hour bent forward in an awkward
> position, holding my weight up with one hand, while working with the
> other, I finally get the hose cinched tight... I fall backwards onto
> the rear sets with a sigh... After letting my throbbing knees take a
> break I begin reassembling the instrument panel... In the end I spent
> 6 hours in the position of penitence fixing a problem that should not
> have happened, and would not have happened if the certified mechanics
> who worked on this airplane for the past 47 years had a brain between
> them...
>
> denny - irish but not catholic
>

[Jay Honeck]

> ...would not have happened if the certified mechanics
> who worked on this airplane for the past 47 years had a brain between
> them...

Man, I'm tired of this story. (No matter how well-told, Denny...)

Why, why, WHY is it so gol-durned hard to find a mechanic that actually
replaces everything they disconnect during a job, and tests everything
they've touched after a new installation?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Carl Ellis]

On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 13:44:20 GMT, Jay Honeck wrote:

>> ...would not have happened if the certified mechanics
>> who worked on this airplane for the past 47 years had a brain between
>> them...
>
> Man, I'm tired of this story. (No matter how well-told, Denny...)
>
> Why, why, WHY is it so gol-durned hard to find a mechanic that actually
> replaces everything they disconnect during a job, and tests everything
> they've touched after a new installation?

Find yourself a shop where the *owner* does the first test flight after an
annual. Those mechanics will have paid attention to reassembly.

- Carl -

[Doug]

It's become SOP with me. The mechanics "fix" something, then I fix what
they unfixed. I expect it, I plan for it, I schedule for it, I do it. I
guess I deserve it, after all, I OWN AN AIRPLANE. (I think it's the
mechanic's secret way of getting back at me because I own an airplane
and they don't).

[RST Engineering]

It isn't "gol-durned hard" to find a mechanic with integrity that has your
best interests at heart. You see him in the mirror every morning while
shaving.

SUPERVISED OWNER MAINTENANCE. "gol-DURN" I'm getting tired of writing
this to this ng.

Jim


"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:Uwb4e.134568$r55.11110@attbi_s52...

> Why, why, WHY is it so gol-durned hard to find a mechanic that actually
> replaces everything they disconnect during a job, and tests everything
> they've touched after a new installation?

[Newps]

Carl Ellis wrote:


>
>
> Find yourself a shop where the *owner* does the first test flight after an
> annual. Those mechanics will have paid attention to reassembly.

Baloney. I have had large shops and mom and pop shops screw stuff up.

[Jim Burns]

Before finally deciding to seal off the intake side of our blast ports, I
visited that exact location several times, both on the pilots and co-pilots
side. Guess what we found? Tubes not hooked to the radio rack! Same as
yours, but not previously taped on, these where just laying in there
pointing at nothing. I cable tied them up so they wouldn't get lost, then
took the side panels off and sealed up the intake ports. Our radio rack has
a couple after market fans w/tubes hooked to the rack.

I feel your pain... the co-pilots side isn't to bad. Without the brakes
pedals on that side, I can get my head up under there a long way, but the
pilots side is terrible, plus you can't get your feet out the cabin door!

Jim

[Michael]

> It's become SOP with me. The mechanics "fix" something, then I fix
what
> they unfixed. I expect it, I plan for it, I schedule for it, I do it.

I find it's easier to eliminate the middleman and just do the fixing
myself. Sure, I'm not as fast as the pros - but when you add in the
time spent fixing what they unfixed, it's probably a wash. It is ever
so nice when you finish the annual on your plane, and no new squawks
appear - everything is at least as good as it was when the plane went
in, and often better.

Michael

[George Patterson]

Carl Ellis wrote:
>
> Find yourself a shop where the *owner* does the first test flight after an
> annual. Those mechanics will have paid attention to reassembly.

Heh... I know one where the hired hands would've made sure the wings fell off at
500' AGL if the boss had been in the habit of making the first flight.

George Patterson
Whosoever bloweth not his own horn, the same shall remain unblown.

[Don Hammer]

Just to give another prospective -

I'm an A&P with IA, Flight Engineer, pilot and ex-owner. I have been
working in the aviation industry since 1972. Many years ago, I used
to work on small aircraft and now I only fly them for fun. There are
reasons.

I can bet you dollars to donuts that Piper taped that duct on when
they built that bare minimum airplane 40 years ago. If they had built
it like a Gulfstream, it would be too heavy to fly. The tape got old
and worked its way off at the first bump. I might be wrong in this
case, but they didn't build them like real airplanes. They were built
like cars that had a useful life of less than ten years. Just ask the
manufacturer some time if you don't believe me. With the recent AD on
Cessna twins, they said that the 400 series aircraft were built for a
10 year life.

The type of mechanic you are looking for is working on Gulfstream's
etc because he is able to earn a living wage. I just placed an
excellent one at $110K per year. I can guarantee you a mechanic
earning $35K per year is just as good as a pilot earning the same.
Probably either new to the field or a looser that can't go anywhere
else.

The going shop rate in a large service center is $90 per hour. How
loud would you bitch because it showed $540 on your invoice for the 6
hours it took to re-connect that duct? "What?"" $540 just to hook up
a duct!!!!""I'm not paying that." Things unfortunately can get
damaged working on other repairs and someone has to pay. Will you?
This kind of thing doesn't happen much in large aircraft because we
pay for that "second set of eyes". Will you pay for the second
inspector required to catch everything? Will you pay for the second
inspector required to catch everything? Maybe -maybe not.

I love aviation and small aircraft, but most people I know that own
old aircraft can barely afford them and are not willing to pay the
bill to keep them in tip-top shape. Old machines require much more
maintenance than new ones. That's why the airlines throw them away
when they hit their Aging Aircraft Inspection Program. Where do you
and your airplane fit in that equation?

This is America and you get what you pay for. Third level maintenance
shops are like third level charter companies. It's the bottom of the
aviation barrel and where owner's of old POS Pipers and Cessnas go to
get their work done and has-been pilots go to fly. Was this work at a
quality factory shop or did you go there because of price?

There is a serious shortage of good maintenance people and it's
getting worse. In my business, pilots are a dime a dozen, but no so
for technicians. There has been a huge migration away from small
airplanes and into the large ones because people will go to where the
money is. The answer is not bitching to the crowd here, but to find a
good maintenance tech and paying him well. If you don't want to, or
can't pay for skill and experience, junk or sell the airplane. The
answer to the technician shortage is to pay them what they are worth.
If there were enough good ones, the bad ones would be working on your
car.

Your plane is over 30 years past its expected useful life. Do you
rely on a 1965 car for reliable transportation? I submit to you that
it's a credit to all the mechanics that have worked on your aircraft
for those 40 years, that you aren't drinking beer out of it.

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[Jay Honeck]

> Your plane is over 30 years past its expected useful life. Do you
> rely on a 1965 car for reliable transportation? I submit to you that
> it's a credit to all the mechanics that have worked on your aircraft
> for those 40 years, that you aren't drinking beer out of it.

Amen, Don.

As much as I bitch about the mechanics who don't test things after
maintenance, and break things while fixing other things, I still must tip my
hat to all the guys who, over the last 31 years, have kept my Pathfinder in
outstanding condition.

Of course, if you were to add up the amount of money spent maintaining and
upgrading the original airframe, it would be dozens (hundreds?) of times
over what the plane cost in the first place -- so all the previous owners
must get a nod, too.

I'm convinced that competent light aircraft mechanics do it because they
love doing it. (Although my A&P *does* own the biggest yacht on the lake...
;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"