gitmo234

It's amazing how much "If I do not see progress in getting my airplane back soon I will be taking legal action" works. Had a very long talk today. His side: he admitted he put me on a low priority because I'm not there, and he was trying to expand his helicopter A&P work, since that's bigger money. He also purchased a new building and an offsite to expand it. (verified those with my dad who has seen a helicopter parked there and the new building/small town talk of the offsite purchase) He also has personally been in a car wreck and his father was in one, and is going back into the hospital today (also verified by my father) and the prognosis isnt well. That being said he updated me with what has been going on this last few weeks. Landing gear needed some serious work and there are cracks in the firewall, and he has to file a 337 to fix. He's specifically not asking for another dime until it's done (which is good because I wasn't going to pay another dime, since I've paid almost 20k). We've agreed he will give me a weekly log and photographs of his work. Once the info on the firewall repair/patch is done, the engine mounts will go back on and the engine will be assembled. The landing gear is coming off tomorrow for the overhauled parts. I feel better with those answers but not 100% - we shall see

On a lighter note, out of curiosity, I googled the first airplane I owned. Turns out it was in a minor accident last year and flipped over onto its top. No accident reports that i could find, but an ebay auction showing it all bent up.

The engine assembled and installed (it has been returned overhauled), and the annual completed, which from what I'm told was awaiting a few parts that are now in. I heard back from him just now, after I texted him that I going to take legal action if I didnt have a call with an update by tomorrow. He said he cannot talk tonight but tomorrow he will walk me through it and give me a firm date. If that conversation doesnt go perfectly, I will have someone else work it, if i can find it. The airport is 3VS - middle of nowhere. Once this thing is done, someone is going to get a good deal on an M20E. This whole experience has me done with it all. I literally just got this thing ADS-B compliant and an avidyne IFD-440 installed.

I believe the hangars are full. The field is small enough that the mechanic is the airport manager and the only person to talk to so. Tomorrow during the day, if I dont have something truly solid, I'll start calling both lawyers and insurance

Bumping this thread. My dad tried to go by the place a few times - he was never there. The only thing there are a few cars he's working on in the hangar, and my aircraft. He asked around and found out the mechanic is also at risk of losing the business (financially). I can't make it out there so I'm making one last attempt to speak with him on the phone and get some solid dates/estimates, or I'm going to begin the process of serving papers. Curious if insurance would cover a situation like this. At this point, all I want is out of it. I'm f@#$ done. I dont even care as long as I get the amount I owe on the loan.

I'll have to see who's around and how I could do that, if he can't accomplish it. I'm trying not to be rude, but I also kinda want to text him a list of events that have happened since: Christmas, first born child was conceived and born, finished two semesters of a PhD program, started a new job, bought two new cars, etc.. the list goes on. Still no airplane

Yes, I live in Virginia, the airplane is now in Missouri. I have family within a few miles. He was in a car wreck that took a few months to recover from (verified by my dad), and he's the only local guy handles recoveries and works on the rotary wings for the local emergency services so he spends a lot of time on that too.

Hey folks, A year ago I had my flight that screwed up my engine. Over thanksgiving my airplane went into overhaul. There has been a lot of things happen, most of which I've verified through my family in the area, but its been a whole year and my overhaul and now my annual are not done. He's also the only mechanic in the local area. The mechanic is friendly enough, not asking for any more money while he works, and always responds to texts and calls, but I'm getting really impatient. I'm paying $600 a month for an airplane I havent been able to fly for the last year. Any advice?

Right now I’m running roughly $24k when it’s all said and done. I believe they are those lifters. He gave me the option but said he strongly recommends brand new lifters/followers when the other parts are replaced. I went with his recommendation

Updated call from the shop. some of my terminology may be off so forgive me if something doesnt make sense: Fuel Servo: hasn't been touched since the 80s apparently, needed an overhaul to bring up to standard New cam shaft required New followers Needs a new prop cable Prop governor - inspected and no surprises... overhauled crankcase - no updates since the 1980s. There was a mod or fix to prevent it from vibrating/rubbing/etc that wasnt done. this is being done accessory case - needed to be re-machined oil pan/sumps -tubes flow through them and there are some seals and lining that were leaking badly - overhauled overhauled cylinders to be installed. Prop itself - eddy inspection, seals replaced (small leaks) but overall GREAT condition. they did some basic work on it and said it looks brand new. Plus side: prop came in way under what was expected. Downside: Fuel servo wasnt expected to be as bad as it was.

The thread drift is quite alright. I enjoy this stuff. I'm a bit of a data nerd. I'll miss the gigantic sign telling me what I want to know because I'm busy reading up on the inner-workings of the problem. Does camguard work? what is the actual cause of engine failure? stats? etc to infinity. Its clear though. My engine was jacked and had been for a while. Slowly rushing to failure. I focused on one thing at a time. I had it looked at by a half a dozen people and places. All gave a thumbs up. If I had "zoomed out" a bit on the chart the trend was visible. Oh well. We win some and we lose some. My Cessna was a 1956 continental O-300 with an absolutely ancient overhaul. Ran pretty decently. This had a less ancient but still old overhaul and had problems. When you put it all on red, sometimes you get lucky. Either way. The good stuff here is that I was prepared. I didn't have a specific engine fund built up that far yet, but I did have the means. So this means I get a 0 time engine soon. What this also means is I have a wonderful opportunity to get intimately familiar with that engines personality and how it runs. It's not a guess for me or anyone else. If its oil burn increases... I'll know. I am confident in the work of the shop doing my overhaul and so far, it's been more than I couldve asked for. Regular phone calls, pictures, etc. So honestly, this is a good thing. My only concern now is a 6 hour cross country being the break-in flight. If all goes well that's probably pretty awesome. Six hours steady flight is probably good for it (from what I've been reading)

Funny you should say that. When I started out I checked oil pressure. All good. did my normal run up, checked it again. When flying I was doing my scan. That time it didnt include looking at that. Something in my head said... like an actual voice "NO....check EVERYTHING this time" and that's when I noticed oil pressure dropping slowly

This conversation messed with my head. Last night I had a dream she was ready for pick up. I hopped in left seat and someone more experienced (but I dont know who) was in right seat. She was parked right behind another airplane and this dude starts it up full throttle and just lets it run at max RPM and I was yelling at him. Then he grabs it and starts taxiing around hits the other airplane and wrecks the the wing of mine and the tail of the other. Then the mechanic wants me to taxi thru his hangar, which is full. I spent the rest of the time in the dream either giving up thinking "oh god, this is fucked now" or yelling at people. Either to clear out the hangar or for doing the dumb shit like hitting an a parked airplane.

Agree with this. I wasnt planning on this but was well prepared financially. I've asked him about a handful of additions for the future and other stuff I wanted done as well

They're taking care of this with the overhaul. The shop doing it mentioned that to me during some preliminaries.