Maintenance - Annual Inspections
Annual Inspection. For many aircraft owners the term strikes fear in their heart as visions of gigantic bills swirl in their heads. It doesn't need to be that way.
Over many years, we've found that regular maintenance and attention to snags before they become big problems ultimately leads to annual inspections where there are few, if any, surprises. In fact, many customers, after a couple of years of maintaining their aircraft with us, are surprised at how painless the dreaded annual inspection has become.
Our Approach to Annual Inspections
For every annual, we use the aircraft manufacturer's latest edition of the service manual as the primary guide. We supplement that with a database search for all service bulletins, service letters and service instructions specific to the aircraft, and then conduct a complete AD search. As a further supplement to the official documentation, we've also developed in-house inspection guidelines that help us focus on problem areas we've run into, over the years, for each aircraft type.
Our inspection process is thorough and complete. We document all discrepancies and airworthiness issues and we maintain a "watch list" of items that, although still airworthy, may be approaching the end of their published service limits. Once the inspection is complete, we'll sit down with you and go over each item we've found. Together, we will determine how best to approach the repair process. One thing we can absolutely promise you is that we will never find defects where none exist. We always have such a backlog of work that the last thing we need is add unnecessary repairs to our already heavy workload.
Owner Assisted Annual Inspections
We encourage every owner, at least once, to do an owner assisted annual. We'll work closely with you and we guarantee you'll learn more in a few days of taking your airplane apart and then putting it back together than you ever thought possible. We're also pretty sure it will make you a better, more knowledable pilot too.
At no time will you be in over your head as we'll be right there with you giving guidance and help as you need it. All we ask is that you follow our instructions explicitly and understand that it's our license on the line so we cannot sign off owner assisted work without continual monitoring and supervision.
The scope of work a typical owner with average mechanical skills could assist in includes:
- removal and replacement of all airframe inspection plates
- removal and replacement of all fairings
- removal and replacement of interior components including seats
- removal and replacement of cowling
- removal and replacement of spark plugs
- assisting in the compression check and engine inspection
- removal of light bulbs and inspection of sockets for corrosion
- lubrication of all exterior hinges
- oil and filter change, including inspecting the filter media
- anti-corrosion treatment
- battery service
More mechanically inclined owners can also assist in repairs, but when it comes to complex repairs, we'll ask that you let our experienced crew do the work. We cannot compromise safety.
How Much Can You Expect to Save
We're often asked how much an owner can save by assisting in the inspection process. The answer is: it depends. If we've worked with you before and you've got good mechanical skills, you may save a significant number of hours on your bill.
On the other hand, if this is your first tim and you require a lot of AME guidance you may save almost nothing. But, you'll learn a lot. One of the biggest lessons you'll learn is just how time consuming aircraft work can be. Most owners who particiapte in an owner assisted annual for the first time are surprised at how different working on airplanes is from working on automobiles. They're also usually amazed at how much faster our crew can perform tasks than they can. That's what our experience, knowledge and skill are all about.