Learning from an owner annual

Robert M. Gary wrote:

Its quite depressing to see my plane in so many pieces. I've also discovered that its extreamly irritating that the aircraft parts places are closed on weekends.

Agree with your general premise that owner participation is a plus, in a
lot of ways.

The "parts places closed on weekends" deal"....well, welcome to the
aviation industry mindset. I owned two airplanes, from the mid-80s till
last year, and I ran into that inconvenience repeatedly over the years,
when I became aware I needed stuff, but, the suppliers only were open
"banker's hours". So, even though they want usurious prices for what
they sell, they'll only do it when it's convenient. I find that
attitude quite arrogant.

They get away with it, obviously, because they, like all the rest of the
aviation "service" industry, are acutely aware that unless you source,
procure, and *PAY THROUGH YOUR *NOSE* FOR" all those items necessary for
"airworthiness", your airplane is GROUNDED. And, they *know* you don't
want to ground your airplane. It's a federally-sanctioned racket.

I sold my last airplane. I don't need that frustration. I haven't
missed it.

There are some parts suppliers who are open 5-1/2 days and
have 24/7 phone service and AOG parts out 24/7.

You do have to look for them.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"CriticalMass" wrote in message
...
|
|
| Robert M. Gary wrote:
|
| Its quite depressing to see my plane in so many pieces.
I've also discovered that its extreamly irritating that the
aircraft parts places are closed on weekends.
|
| Agree with your general premise that owner participation
is a plus, in a
| lot of ways.
|
| The "parts places closed on weekends" deal"....well,
welcome to the
| aviation industry mindset. I owned two airplanes, from
the mid-80s till
| last year, and I ran into that inconvenience repeatedly
over the years,
| when I became aware I needed stuff, but, the suppliers
only were open
| "banker's hours". So, even though they want usurious
prices for what
| they sell, they'll only do it when it's convenient. I
find that
| attitude quite arrogant.
|
| They get away with it, obviously, because they, like all
the rest of the
| aviation "service" industry, are acutely aware that unless
you source,
| procure, and *PAY THROUGH YOUR *NOSE* FOR" all those items
necessary for
| "airworthiness", your airplane is GROUNDED. And, they
*know* you don't
| want to ground your airplane. It's a federally-sanctioned
racket.
|
| I sold my last airplane. I don't need that frustration.
I haven't
| missed it.

CriticalMass wrote:
They get away with it, obviously, because they, like all the rest of
the
aviation "service" industry, are acutely aware that unless you source,
procure, and *PAY THROUGH YOUR *NOSE* FOR" all those items necessary for
"airworthiness", your airplane is GROUNDED. And, they *know* you don't
want to ground your airplane. It's a federally-sanctioned racket.

Could it not also be that there just isn't enough business for them to
justify keeping the same hours that the auto parts stores do?

--
Chris W
KE5GIX

Gift Giving Made Easy
Get the gifts you want &
give the gifts they want
One stop wish list for any gift,
from anywhere, for any occasion!
http://thewishzone.com

1) The number of things I found that were not done that I'd paid to
have done at previous annuals.

Unfortunately, that's about par for the course - especially with regard
to inspections. I've looked at a lot of airplanes where there was a
logbook signature indicating something (usually some inspection) was
recently done, and the condition of the surrounding area made it
obvious that nobody had been there in years. My favorite was an AD
compliance note that claimed a fuel line replacement - and the fuel
line had a tag that predated the entry by years, and was the line that
had to be replaced.

2) The number of things done wrong (like no cotter key in the wheel).

Also very common. The last time I took a plane to a shop, it was to
replace a cracked trunion. I felt it was a job that I might screw up,
so best leave it to a specialty shop. Well, it came back with the snap
ring for the oleo strut improperly seated. First less-than-perfect
landing blew it out, and I had to rebuild it. From then on, I decided
to just do everything myself. It's not like I never make a mistake,
but I find that I make them less often than a high end shop (and I'm an
amateur) and between taking the plane to the shop, getting it back, and
then fixing what the shop screwed up, it's just about as fast to do it
myself and a lot cheaper.

3) The amount of work an annual really requires. It took me 6 hours
just to remove all the inspection panels (including drilling out
several dozen screws). Lubing the 150 lube points wont go too quick
either.

You gotta ask yourself - if you had to dril so many of them out, what
are the odds ALL of them were actually removed last annual (like they
were suposed to be)? Not too high. That tells you what kind of annual
you've been getting - and you've been paying top dollar. What do you
think the $1000 annuals are like?

But why? Well, because doing an annual on a complex airplane decades
old is a 50+ hour proposition, and that's if nothing major is wrong.
My basic Twin Comanche annual is about 60 hours. Now granted I have an
extra engine, but the Mooney is so tightly cowled and everything is ho
hard to get to that the time requirement is almost a wash.

We used to have a shop locally where a basic annual with nothing major
wrong cost $5000 for a Bonanza. An airline president started it so he
could have a place to have his personal planes maintained correctly.
When he died, he left it to the head mechanic, free and clear. The
head mechanic can't make a go of it. Nobody will pay it - but that's
really what it costs if you want it done right.


Michael

Back when I used to work on airplanes as an avionics tech, someone showed me
a neat trick for getting stuck screws loose. When you find a screw that
doesn't want to come loose, or that the screwdriver tip cams out of, put a
little valve grinding compound on the screwdriver tip. Valve grinding
compound comes in a tube at auto parts stores, and has a fairly coarse grit
in it. It gives your screwdriver tip much better traction in a screwhead
that's already been a little damaged, and does a great job of preventing the
screwdriver tip from camming out. There's also something similar available
called "Screw Grab" that I found at a hardware store locally, that has the
same grit in it but in a thinner solution. It works just as well. I rarely
have to drill out screws since I started using those compounds.
Scott Wilson

wrote in message ...
[...] Valve grinding
compound comes in a tube at auto parts stores, and has a fairly coarse
grit
in it. It gives your screwdriver tip much better traction in a screwhead

I'm sure you'll get replies saying (in effect) "you didn't know that?" But
thanks for posting the tip anyway. Lots of the rest of us didn't know it
either.

Peter Duniho wrote:
wrote in message ...

[...] Valve grinding
compound comes in a tube at auto parts stores, and has a fairly coarse
grit
in it. It gives your screwdriver tip much better traction in a screwhead


I'm sure you'll get replies saying (in effect) "you didn't know that?" But
thanks for posting the tip anyway. Lots of the rest of us didn't know it
either.


The Phillips ACR bit sold by Snap-On has serrations which reduce "cam-out".

--
John Kimmel

remove x

"He's dead, Jim."

On Tue, 4 Jul 2006 19:48:05 GMT, wrote:

Back when I used to work on airplanes as an avionics tech, someone showed me
a neat trick for getting stuck screws loose. When you find a screw that
doesn't want to come loose, or that the screwdriver tip cams out of, put a
little valve grinding compound on the screwdriver tip. Valve grinding
compound comes in a tube at auto parts stores, and has a fairly coarse grit
in it. It gives your screwdriver tip much better traction in a screwhead
that's already been a little damaged, and does a great job of preventing the
screwdriver tip from camming out. There's also something similar available
called "Screw Grab" that I found at a hardware store locally, that has the
same grit in it but in a thinner solution. It works just as well. I rarely
have to drill out screws since I started using those compounds.

Thanks for the tip.

-Nathan

writes:

Back when I used to work on airplanes as an avionics tech, someone showed me
a neat trick for getting stuck screws loose. When you find a screw that
doesn't want to come loose, or that the screwdriver tip cams out of, put a
little valve grinding compound on the screwdriver tip.

I have actually tried super-gluing the screwdriver to the &^(^ Phillips
screw. You have to have a way to hold it in place for say an hour later.

It got the screw out & was no issue to then remove the screw & glue, but it's
hardly practical...
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

wrote:
Back when I used to work on airplanes as an avionics tech, someone showed me
a neat trick for getting stuck screws loose. When you find a screw that
doesn't want to come loose, or that the screwdriver tip cams out of, put a
little valve grinding compound on the screwdriver tip. Valve grinding
compound comes in a tube at auto parts stores, and has a fairly coarse grit
in it. It gives your screwdriver tip much better traction in a screwhead
that's already been a little damaged, and does a great job of preventing the
screwdriver tip from camming out. There's also something similar available
called "Screw Grab" that I found at a hardware store locally, that has the
same grit in it but in a thinner solution. It works just as well. I rarely
have to drill out screws since I started using those compounds.
Scott Wilson

Thanks for the tip. Too bad I didn't know this when I was rebuilding
the carb on my bike. Had to get new screws that were very hard to
find.

Monk