Baron issues

On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:52:27 GMT, "Viperdoc"
wrote:

snip

Then, in a routine post flight, I tried the strobes- no luck. The tail flash
tube looks a little blackened- does anyone know if the wing tip units will
continue to work if the tail tube is dead?

Or, does this sound like a power supply issue?

All of this is getting to sound expensive as well as being a pain- any
advice or commiseration would be appreciated. BTW the plane is a B-55 Baron.

TIA


If you've still got a Grimes power supply installed-unless you've
going to have somebody that's handy with with a soldering iron repair
it-consider switching to a Whelen.

Going the "approved" repair route, getting a Grimes PS repaired can
tend to be pricey and problematic. When a Whelen PS quits (unless
things have changed recently) Whelen will either fix it relatively
inexpensively or will sell you one a new one at a serious discount.

With regard to swapping a Grimes to a Whelen, it's typically a simple
log entry

http://whelen.com/aviation/pmasupplements/pmasup33.pdf

TC

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:18:43 -0700, wrote:

One obviously has to have a prepurchase inspection done.

In a perfect world:

1)The inspection would be by a mechanic that is familiar with the aircraft type.
2)The inspection would be done by the mechanic that is going to maintain the plane on an ongoing basis.
3)The inspection is not done by the mechanic that was maintaining the plane.

If the plane in question is out of your area how do you do 1,2,3?

How is this problem solved?

You pay your mechanic to travel to the airplane and perform the inspection.

I suppose you could somehow arrange for the aircraft to be flown to your
mechanic's shop.


If you have a remote mechanic do the prepurchase, how do you trust the
care and honesty of someone you will only do business with once and
is far far away?

See Above




Paul

Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)

Ron Rosenfeld wrote:
On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:18:43 -0700, wrote:


One obviously has to have a prepurchase inspection done.

In a perfect world:

1)The inspection would be by a mechanic that is familiar with the aircraft type.
2)The inspection would be done by the mechanic that is going to maintain the plane on an ongoing basis.
3)The inspection is not done by the mechanic that was maintaining the plane.

If the plane in question is out of your area how do you do 1,2,3?

How is this problem solved?


You pay your mechanic to travel to the airplane and perform the inspection.

I suppose you could somehow arrange for the aircraft to be flown to your
mechanic's shop.


If you have a remote mechanic do the prepurchase, how do you trust the
care and honesty of someone you will only do business with once and
is far far away?


See Above




Paul


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)


When I had the prepurchase inspection done on my plane I got an
insurance rider on the plane and the owner approved me to fly it to my
mechanic. The distance was not too far, thank goodness. Worked fine.
Turned the rider into an insurance policy when I bought the plane.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

"Ross Richardson" wrote in ...
When I had the prepurchase inspection done on my plane I got
an insurance rider on the plane and the owner approved me to
fly it to my mechanic. The distance was not too far, thank goodness.
Worked fine. Turned the rider into an insurance policy when I
bought the plane.


How did you ASSURE the owner that the plane would come back to his airport
if your A&P report was unfavorable. This seems to be the "fear factor" of
allowing the inspection off site for every owner. I've heard of pi$$ing
contests of "It wasn't like that when I gave you the plane, your mechanic
must have broke it", and such.

Mike Isaksen wrote:
"Ross Richardson" wrote in ...

When I had the prepurchase inspection done on my plane I got
an insurance rider on the plane and the owner approved me to
fly it to my mechanic. The distance was not too far, thank goodness.
Worked fine. Turned the rider into an insurance policy when I
bought the plane.



How did you ASSURE the owner that the plane would come back to his airport
if your A&P report was unfavorable. This seems to be the "fear factor" of
allowing the inspection off site for every owner. I've heard of pi$$ing
contests of "It wasn't like that when I gave you the plane, your mechanic
must have broke it", and such.


I had known the owner for some time and he was also a member of our EAA
chapter. Plus, I am a good and trustworthy person......

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

I looked at a Baron from an airport around an hour away. I sent them a
deposit check to cover expenses, since they claimed the plane was in great
shape and completely as advertised. The agreement was that if I purchased
the plane they would use the money to pay for return transport of the pilot,
but would refund completely if the plane did not meet their claims.

My mechanic did a pre-buy, and told the pilot that it was nearly
unairworthy, and clearly unsafe to fly- basically junk, with a lot of stuff
pencil whipped in the logs.

It took a while, but after around a month I got my money back after some
threatening phone calls and using the lawyer word a few times.

We took the same approach to my current Baron, and the seller and his pilot
were real gentlemen, as well as honest. The plane has been a gem since then,
and a pleasure to fly.

It seems there are real extremes- but the bottom line is "caveat emptor" (I
think)

In looking for commiseration among aviation-interested friends locally, I
believe I accidentally scared two of them away for ever owning their own
aircraft.

Dang, Peter -- you're experience even scared *me* -- and I've been
through a couple of rough stretches with maintenance...

:-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Dang, Peter -- you're experience even scared *me* -- and I've been
through a couple of rough stretches with maintenance...

Too late to be scared; you are already hooked.

--
Peter

Thanks for the tips. The motor and drive transistors were all shot. The
motor is tiny compared to what I expected, and even more so considering the
expense.

The strobe power supply is shot as well. I will check tonight, but if it is
the original Grimes, I plan on replacing it with a Whelen.

You and Jay saw my wingtip strobe cover that cracked due to hangar rash-$450
(plus $150 for the aftermarket one I purchased from an outfit that promised
they were the same as a Bonanza lens, which was incorrect. He never returned
any phone calls or email messages either, after the fact)

So, after a long stretch of maintenance free flying, I am up to around
$3,000. And, my insurance bill just arrived yesterday- but I was
anticipating this expense at least.

This is beginning to get as expensive as golfing at some posh country club!

I know where you're coming from.... I swallowed insurance, annual
inspection, and OSH during the same 2 week period.

Sorry about the after market lens. The more airplane parts I buy, the
easier it is for me to see how each of our flying-mobiles is hand made and
hardly anything fits right out of the box, especially after market parts.
When after market parts are all that are available or priced significantly
less, I try to go into those little adventures with my eyes wide open.
Unfortunately sometimes it's our wallets that end up being opened.

Jim


"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the tips. The motor and drive transistors were all shot. The
motor is tiny compared to what I expected, and even more so considering
the
expense.

The strobe power supply is shot as well. I will check tonight, but if it
is
the original Grimes, I plan on replacing it with a Whelen.

You and Jay saw my wingtip strobe cover that cracked due to hangar
rash-$450
(plus $150 for the aftermarket one I purchased from an outfit that
promised
they were the same as a Bonanza lens, which was incorrect. He never
returned
any phone calls or email messages either, after the fact)

So, after a long stretch of maintenance free flying, I am up to around
$3,000. And, my insurance bill just arrived yesterday- but I was
anticipating this expense at least.

This is beginning to get as expensive as golfing at some posh country
club!