On 28 Feb 2006 12:50:44 -0800, "three-eight-hotel"
wrote:

snip

Is it a pretty standard practice for the shop owner to fly an airplane,
after annual? I've heard couple in this thread, where that is the
case, but is that the norm? This thread is the first I've heard of
this practice, although I find it a reasonable or plausible
expectation. I haven't heard of this as the experiences with any of my
aviation aquaintances...

Depends on the maintenance facility. There are a bunch of 'em out
there (including a lot of "factory authorized" ones) that have neither
the staffing or the insurance to do a post-maintenance flight.

The last one I was allegedly affiliated with had rental aircraft,
flight instructors/solo-ing student pilots, and a charter operation as
well as a maintenance facility. I was quite familiar with the
insurance policies involved, but really don't want to think about how
much all that insurance cost.

With regard to piston singles and yours truly, once I had 100 hours in
my logbook w/high performance/complex/tailwheel endorsements and a
current medical, I was covered for VFR flight up to a quarter-mil
hull in anything my boss said I was qualified to fly.

I didn't fly every airplane I worked on, but I (or one of the charter
pilots) flew in every one that had any major maintenance or periodic
inspection. These flights would all be prior to customer
acceptance/delivery.

About the only major malfunction I haven't experienced inflight has
been an engine fire. The most common post-inspection malady I can
remember is a plugged injector nozzle after fuel system
inspection/maintenance. Probably the worst from my technician/test
pilot perspective was a nose gear problem after installation of a new
engine.

Somebody in this thread mentioned flying with the customer after
maintenance, unless I was PIC, forget it. Some of you guys scare the
heck out of me...

TC