MikeOH

I've been trying to follow this thread without success! I cannot believe the tank itself does NOT have a shutoff valve! Am I to understand that the ONLY way to fill the tank is through the external fill port? It seems an incredibly dumb design where the stored O2 cannot be cutoff from the rest of the system. It implies the ONLY way to de-pressurize the system is to vent the tank! Really??? What am I missing?

Based on the photo the runway at South Texas International needs some repaving, and I'd recommend the airport fence be moved a bit farther away from the runway

I can't speak to Palo Alto. Irvine is very close to John Wayne/Orange County (KSNA) but is likely to be EXTREMELY expensive and hangars have waiting lists. Not sure of the hangar situation at Fullerton (KFUL), but probably an okay commute choice. My home drome, Brackett Field (KPOC), has low cost hangars available but your commute will be miserable if you work regular hours (say, need to be in Irvine between 7-9 am) you're looking at 1:00-1:30. Off hours it can be done in 45 minutes, however. Chino (KCNO) and Corona (KAJO) are possibilities but Chino had a two-year wait for hangars last I knew. And, those commutes are not great. But, toll-roads are available into the Irvine area that might make commuting from them tolerable (likely right around 1 hour at peak commute times). Of course, if you don't have to live right next to the airport you could pick a residence closer to Irvine and offset the commute a bit. Good luck!

Yuup, the kind with pictures of dead Presidents

More pictures, please!

“VFR flight not recommended”

Do you know if this G100UL problem instance has been reported to the FAA per their recent SAIB?

I had them quote my IO-360A1A back in October 2024. $36.7K with OH cylinders, $38.3K with new Cont/ECI cylinders. Pricing assumed that crank/cam/cases check ok. Shipping to/from California was just under $1K. Lead time was 26 weeks. Approximately 18 weeks with $15K pre-payment for parts to be pre-ordered.

I'm curious: how often is a core deemed 'not acceptable'? Always worried me; think you're in for "only" $50K...and it turns into $80K Anyone have any data? Opinions? Wild guesses?

My CB card has NOT been revoked...no way I'm paying to read a NY Times article! Care to provide a Cliff Notes' summary?

Agree, if you are stripping for a reseal then inspection makes perfect sense. Why wouldn't you? I was just pointing out that I can't imagine anyone strips their tanks JUST to inspect for spar corrosion!

I’m always amazed that I’m simultaneously smart enough to be able to afford this endeavor, yet dumb enough to continue to spend that amount of money

Speaking for myself, I’m angry at the lack of support and outright animus expressed towards the OP merely for daring to report an issue with a vendor!

Well, @hammdo had his IRAN done for $23K and seemed to include most everything. The cheapest OH option appears to be a whole lot more than another “few hundred dollars”!

You have got to be kidding! That’s nearly as bad as the guy telling him to, “take personal responsibility” for a problem that was NOT his making. The attitude around here when any criticism is directed to a shop is astounding! Yeah, Maxwell has done many people favors and has a great history. Doesn’t mean mistakes aren’t made. Also doesn’t mean those mistakes should be ignored. It certainly doesn’t seem Don handled this very well. Sure, there’s two sides to every incident but the willingness to blame the customer is absurd.

Not sure what you’re debating here? My point is you can save a ton of time and money doing an IRAN like @hammdo did! And end up with an engine good for as much time as the more expensive and time consuming options.

True. But my contention is that you will take less of a dollar loss when selling the IRANed aircraft.

Even better! I was adding around $5K for the R&R on top of $30K for the IRAN.

Exactly! My point was you can do all that stuff as an IRAN for $35K, getting that 'zero' SMOH logbook entry is going to cost you another $35K

Frankly, if faced with those ridiculous lead times and pricing, when the time does come for an OH, I think I'm going the IRAN route. Cases sent out, crank inspected, new bearings, cam, lifters, and OH the cylinders...so what it doesn't say OH in the log book? Only time that's going to matter is when I sell and, yeah, I may take a loss but I'm sure not seeing how the same won't happen with an OH given the absurd prices! I.e., if I take the value of my plane with what everyone considers a run-out engine and add >$70K ($64K engine plus R&R) for a 0 SMOH log book, no way I'm getting $70K more. Probably more like $35K.

That's about what mine burns. I have around 2700 SMOH...Compressions are high 70's and borescope looks good. I plan on continuing to fly it. Obviously, I'm a fan of "on condition"

@mluvara Do you know if Paul will be submitting this to the FAA in response to the SAIB?

Yeah, that sounds like the spring is weak. Do you feel much resistance when you pull out on the handle?

In this case we are going to have to disagree; I don't think this is subject to ANY interpretation. If the grinding is hidden, then I can see your point. But wanton grinding that destroys the label for an engine control is just NOT something that the shop/mechanic gets to 'assume' is okay!

Hmm, it's been awhile since I've flown a 'B' model, but if the flap is drooping when parked, I'm not sure it's the fault of the spring you are showing; I think that one is just to hold the flap handle in its detent. There may well be a retract spring somewhere in the system. Take a look at the IPC.