Maintenance Training

[Marco Rispoli]

Hello. I own a Piper Cherokee in NJ.

I am very happy with my mechanic, his rates, my plane and how (knock on
wood) reliable it is. Overall my maintenance costs are acceptable and
well within my budget.

That being said, I want to learn how to maintain my plane and
eventually I want to work my way to an A&P license, not to save on
maintenance costs but just because I would love to do that.

The issue is that I have ZERO experience in maintaning anything
mechanical at all. I can build a computer from parts, troubleshoot all
sorts of software or network problems (I am an Electronics Engineer ...
computer science and IT stuff), but when it comes to mechanical stuff,
I am pretty much clueless.

To me an engine is something that makes a lot of noise, stinks up the
place, can chop your hands off and gets really hot if you run it for
more than 10 minutes.

Of course I know the theory behind engines ... but one thing is to know
what the mags are from a book, one completely different thing is to
lift the hood and actually look at one.

Obviously since I have such a great relationship with my mechanic, I
can ask him to make me work on my plane and then sign off on it. The
thing is, that since I don't know anything about mechanical stuff, he'd
have to baby-sit me through the first repairs and he doesn't have the
time to do that.

Does anyone know of any "introductory classes" on engine or airframe
maintenance? I am not talking about a full 2-years course. More of a 1
or 2 weeks classes to start you on basic tasks (beyond the oil change
and light bulb replacement owners are allowed to do that is, which I
already do).

Replacing fuel pumps, vacuum pumps, fuel drains and fixing flight
controls for example ... that's what I am interested in.

I totally understand that this means exactly zilch as far as the FAA is
concerned: the FAA still requires the 18 months or 30 months or 1500
hours or whatever other amount of experience in order to certify people
as A&Ps.

That's fine.

But at least, if I need to replace an electric fuel pump (which
happened this summer), by taking some class or something I would at
least know what a fuel pump looks like, where to find it and how to
remove it without breaking anything by myself and do more than just
hold the flashlight while my mechanic works on it.

If anybody knows if it's possible to take "A&P Introduction" classes
and where, that would be great.

Thank you!

Marco

[Robert M. Gary]

Marco Rispoli wrote:
> Hello. I own a Piper Cherokee in NJ.
>
> I am very happy with my mechanic, his rates, my plane and how (knock on
> wood) reliable it is. Overall my maintenance costs are acceptable and
> well within my budget.
>
> That being said, I want to learn how to maintain my plane and
> eventually I want to work my way to an A&P license, not to save on
> maintenance costs but just because I would love to do that.
>
> The issue is that I have ZERO experience in maintaning anything
> mechanical at all. I can build a computer from parts, troubleshoot all
> sorts of software or network problems (I am an Electronics Engineer ...
> computer science and IT stuff), but when it comes to mechanical stuff,
> I am pretty much clueless.
>
> To me an engine is something that makes a lot of noise, stinks up the
> place, can chop your hands off and gets really hot if you run it for
> more than 10 minutes.
>
> Of course I know the theory behind engines ... but one thing is to know
> what the mags are from a book, one completely different thing is to
> lift the hood and actually look at one.
>
> Obviously since I have such a great relationship with my mechanic, I
> can ask him to make me work on my plane and then sign off on it. The
> thing is, that since I don't know anything about mechanical stuff, he'd
> have to baby-sit me through the first repairs and he doesn't have the
> time to do that.
>
> Does anyone know of any "introductory classes" on engine or airframe
> maintenance? I am not talking about a full 2-years course. More of a 1
> or 2 weeks classes to start you on basic tasks (beyond the oil change
> and light bulb replacement owners are allowed to do that is, which I
> already do).
>
> Replacing fuel pumps, vacuum pumps, fuel drains and fixing flight
> controls for example ... that's what I am interested in.
>
> I totally understand that this means exactly zilch as far as the FAA is
> concerned: the FAA still requires the 18 months or 30 months or 1500
> hours or whatever other amount of experience in order to certify people
> as A&Ps.
>
> That's fine.
>
> But at least, if I need to replace an electric fuel pump (which
> happened this summer), by taking some class or something I would at
> least know what a fuel pump looks like, where to find it and how to
> remove it without breaking anything by myself and do more than just
> hold the flashlight while my mechanic works on it.
>
> If anybody knows if it's possible to take "A&P Introduction" classes
> and where, that would be great.
>
> Thank you!

Does the Cherokee association offer anything? In the Mooney community
we have instructors that travel around the country and give 2 day
owner-assisted maintenance courses. It comes with a book that is really
good too. Lots of good type specific information.
The classes are broken down into turbo and non-turbo.

-Robert

[Blanche]

Consider Mike Busch's courses The Savvy Owner

www.savvyaviator.com

I get no kickbacks discounts, etc.

For an introduction, if there's an A&P school near you, consider the
General course. It's a 4 month intro that's required before you
take the Powerplant or Airframe courses (8 months each)

[stearmandriver]

Marco Rispoli wrote:
> Hello. I own a Piper Cherokee in NJ.
>
> I am very happy with my mechanic, ...
> If anybody knows if it's possible to take "A&P Introduction" classes
> and where, that would be great.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Marco

Speaking as one who is an A&P IA and was an electrical engineer before
semi-retiring to restore airplanes, I offer the following observations:
there are no schools less than about 2 years that are wrth damn-all
for A&P work when you're starting from zero knowledge.. No A&P would
recommend you to take the test unless you had considerable experience
and schooling, and then you have to prove to the FAA by log books that
you have the 30 months of experience, then the FAA will approve your
taking the test. You can get some general engine knowlwdge form an
automotive part time school, but it will give you nothing in the way of
aviation standards, FAA standards, and aircraft idiosyncrasies. You
won't know enough to know what you don't know. You would then be liable
to hurt your airplane and/or yourself. If you don't want to give up
your day job to gain the experience and knowledge, you really can't
become competent.

Bear in mind that the FAA allows an owner/pilot to do quite a lot of
work as preventive maintenance, such as change oil, sparkplugs, etc.
there is a list in the FARs, part 43.

I trust this all didn't come across as too supercillious, but aviation
maintenance isn't a trivial operation. A very small oversight or
error could ruin your whole day.

[stearmandriver]

Marco Rispoli wrote:
> Hello. I own a Piper Cherokee in NJ.
>
> I am very happy with my mechanic, ...
> If anybody knows if it's possible to take "A&P Introduction" classes
> and where, that would be great.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Marco

Speaking as one who is an A&P IA and was an electrical engineer before
semi-retiring to restore airplanes, I offer the following observations:
there are no schools less than about 2 years that are wrth damn-all
for A&P work when you're starting from zero knowledge.. No A&P would
recommend you to take the test unless you had considerable experience
and schooling, and then you have to prove to the FAA by log books that
you have the 30 months of experience, then the FAA will approve your
taking the test. You can get some general engine knowlwdge form an
automotive part time school, but it will give you nothing in the way of
aviation standards, FAA standards, and aircraft idiosyncrasies. You
won't know enough to know what you don't know. You would then be liable
to hurt your airplane and/or yourself. If you don't want to give up
your day job to gain the experience and knowledge, you really can't
become competent.

Bear in mind that the FAA allows an owner/pilot to do quite a lot of
work as preventive maintenance, such as change oil, sparkplugs, etc.
there is a list in the FARs, part 43.

I trust this all didn't come across as too supercillious, but aviation
maintenance isn't a trivial operation. A very small oversight or
error could ruin your whole day.