Learning from an owner annual

Spending money can be a waste. Money spent on a good shop
for work done right is cheap at almost any price. There are
good shops wit good mechanics and there are bad shops and
bad mechanics, and often the bad shop charges more dollars.

But if your mechanic tells you that a certain part needs to
be overhauled or replaced he may be trying to save your
life. If the shop rules don't let you actually speak with
the mechanic and they want you to deal with a service
manager, find a different shop or insist on talking with the
mechanic in private. You can describe the squawks you have
and he can tell you what he finds. He can show you the
V-belt that is worn but serviceable, but it is cheaper to
replace the belt because right now the prop is already off,
for example.


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

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Good maintenance takes time and time equals money. There
is
| too much poor maintenance, sometimes because the
aircraft
| owner just doesn't have the money to do the work and
| sometimes because the shop, trying to keep cost down
cuts
| corners.
|
| Well you can't get more expensive than the factory service
centers I'd
| been using. I no longer believe in the top dollar = good
maintenance
| anymore. When you're paying $105/hr for a $12/hr kid to
replace your
| access panels and he installs the antennas all backwards,
you figure
| money doens't necessarily equal good work.
|
| -Robert
|

("RST Engineering" wrote)
I would highly recommend this experience to any aircraft owner who is
comfortable with a wrench.

Hey, there's a hell of a way to spend a Saturday afterno ... oh WRENCH.
Damn.


You'd better plan for the entire weekend.

One screw ...take a nap. Another screw ...another nap.


Montblack

Do you s'pose a website dedicated to names & contact info for IAs that will
do owner assisted annuals would be a good thing? Maybe with a little info
about the mech like price structure, do it in your own hangar, etc?

Jim

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:EZF9g.20244$ZW3.18025@dukeread04...
Buy a [big] box or two of slide-lock baggies, put the
parts, with a label and tape them to the area near the
inspection cover. You can even add notes to yourself or the
other mechanic who is working on the airplane.

I've heard of owners replacing the standard fasteners with
nice shiny stainless steel screws. Trouble is you can get
dissimilar metal galvanic reactions and then you have to
drill them out.



snip


Just what I did several years ago in A&P school. During recip overhaul, we
were in groups of 3. I noticed that the other groups seemed to be reckless
with the parts and fasteners they were removing. I went to Sam's and bought
the gallon freezer bags and my group kept everything in the bags and labled.
Made our engine assembly much smoother than the others. We were also the
first one's completed and that engine fired right up and purred like a
kitten!




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Now that I'm older, I'm only good for one screw a day.




"Montblack" wrote in
message ...
| ("RST Engineering" wrote)
| I would highly recommend this experience to any
aircraft owner who is
| comfortable with a wrench.
|
| Hey, there's a hell of a way to spend a Saturday afterno
.... oh WRENCH.
| Damn.
|
|
| You'd better plan for the entire weekend.
|
| One screw ...take a nap. Another screw ...another nap.
|
|
| Montblack
|

Great movie THE BEST of TIMES with Kurt Russell and Robin
Williams...
one line, "we've got to get organized" followed by "it's
against the rules" "What?" "To get organized"

Another good line, "I'm not a has-been, I'm a never-was."


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P
Spartan 1972-74

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.



C. Massey" wrote in message
. net...
|
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| news:EZF9g.20244$ZW3.18025@dukeread04...
| Buy a [big] box or two of slide-lock baggies, put the
| parts, with a label and tape them to the area near the
| inspection cover. You can even add notes to yourself or
the
| other mechanic who is working on the airplane.
|
| I've heard of owners replacing the standard fasteners
with
| nice shiny stainless steel screws. Trouble is you can
get
| dissimilar metal galvanic reactions and then you have to
| drill them out.
|
|
|
| snip
|
|
| Just what I did several years ago in A&P school. During
recip overhaul, we
| were in groups of 3. I noticed that the other groups
seemed to be reckless
| with the parts and fasteners they were removing. I went to
Sam's and bought
| the gallon freezer bags and my group kept everything in
the bags and labled.
| Made our engine assembly much smoother than the others. We
were also the
| first one's completed and that engine fired right up and
purred like a
| kitten!
|
|
|
|
| ---
| avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
| Virus Database (VPS): 0619-3, 05/12/2006
| Tested on: 5/14/2006 12:04:18 PM
| avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2006 ALWIL Software.
| http://www.avast.com
|
|
|

You'd better plan for the entire weekend.

A weekend doens't make much of a dent in the Mooney. One full day to
remove all the panels (including the infamous lower cowl) plus another
full day to put it back together. Add in retraction tests, lubing
hundreds of points, etc and you're talking a good week.

-Robert

Jack it up, you've got to get it up anyway to cycle the gear
and check the tires properly.

I don't think you can jack it up anywhere near that much though. Mine
is up on jacks right now with the wheels off. I still have to slither
on my belly to get under the plane. It still takes long arms to reach
up into the nose well to measure the springs during the retraction. The
Mooney just sits very, very close to the ground.

-Robert

Some jacks have multiple Siamese cylinders and will extend
from 12-36 or even more.
see
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...s/jackj106.php



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

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Jack it up, you've got to get it up anyway to cycle the
gear
| and check the tires properly.
|
| I don't think you can jack it up anywhere near that much
though. Mine
| is up on jacks right now with the wheels off. I still have
to slither
| on my belly to get under the plane. It still takes long
arms to reach
| up into the nose well to measure the springs during the
retraction. The
| Mooney just sits very, very close to the ground.
|
| -Robert
|

Eduardo K. writes:

I strip a fair number of screws every year -- but I've NEVER had to
drill any out on either of the planes we've owned.

Can you replace them with Torx screws? I have found that they are much
more resistant to striping that phillips head screws. I use them a lot
on cars transmissions...


Exactly my thoughts. Torx ranks up there with GPS and electric starters
as all-time great inventions.
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