Post Annual Report

It's been a few weeks since picking up the Arrow from the annual
inspection. In short, the *required repairs* cost far less this year
than last.

The only significant airworthiness issue was a crack in the lower wing
skin, just forward of the spar and where the wing connects to the
fuselage. I found this while cleaning the gear/wheel well a couple of
days prior to taking it into the shop for the annual. Pix he

http://s66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ider/Wingskin/

Thanks to info. Jim Burns dug up from some A&Ps, this is a fairly common
issue on Cherokees. My A&P has seen and repaired this type of crack
several times. In his words, ours was "uglier than most". There is
another Arrow that goes in for annual the same time as ours and it has
the repair on both wings. The repair is a triangular shaped doubler.

Add one new nose wheel tire, replace a portion of the upper 1/2 of the
muffler shroud, the usual oil change, and inspection fee for a total
cost just South of 2 AMUs. Oh, wait, forgot about the prop hub eddy
current inspection done right before annual. Add another 0.2 AMUs for
that and we're at an even 2 AMUs. Still, that's 1/4 the cost of last year.

Next major item on the ownership agenda: Take advantage of Hartzell's
40% discount on a replacement 2-blade prop. Ours has been through three
overhauls and due to the hub AD, the replacement from Hartzell is the
best long term solution. A 3-blade would be nice but at a significantly
higher price.