PropellerHead Aviation in Winter Haven, any reviews?

[ryoder]

Any reviews for PropellerHead Aviation in Winter Haven? They do Mooney tank resealing and I spoke with them today. They are close to Zephyrhills so it would be very convenient to drop the airplane off and go back in case of warranty issues.

Does anyone have any experience with them? Thanks.

[Wakeup]

Will be following.... My tanks are not leaking too bad but I had them drained last week to fix my wing fuel sump (rivet leaking) and was in Shock when I saw all my old sealant flaking off. I don't even want to fly it again. I definelty don't want to fly it to MN or FL. After asking around, I ran across this guy in Chattanooga that has done 4-5 Mooneys. I'm probably going to have him do it because I'm too scared to fly it very far. Troy

[ryoder]

Ouch. I contacted the school I got my license at, they are also a maintenance shop, and they didn't want to do the job and recommended bladders anyway. They said the reseal will just flex and leak after you first landing.

[fantom]

Ouch. I contacted the school I got my license at, they are also a maintenance shop, and they didn't want to do the job and recommended bladders anyway. They said the reseal will just flex and leak after you first landing.

 

Your flight school doesn't know jack

[carusoam]

It is a specialized job. It requires both equipment and expertise to do it properly.

With the price of the job, it is expected that the supplier can give a list of customers.

Imagine not seeing your bird for a while during the time it takes to learn how to strip tanks...

Then find out how much paint needs to be replaced.

Then hear how many hours were really used at $50 per hour.

Then find the small holes that are intentionally in the tank and drains, got filled up and water doesn't drain out properly.

A nicely sealed tank is a combination of art and engineering, it just works.

I have no experience in stripping a tank. I sold my C, after I did my research...

Best regards,

-a-

[ryoder]

PropellerHead actually advertises tank strip and seal jobs and they have done around 25 Mooneys plus other airplanes. I just wanted to know if someone else had ever had any work done there.

[ryoder]

I just got a quote from the shop that was doing my annual when I was purchasing the Mooney. 1850 for both tanks! Strip and seal for 1850. I'm going with him as his shop is well known here in Clearwater.

[carusoam]

Sounds too good?

Ask many questions.

Take many notes.

Get written quote with warranty.

On the other hand, be prepared to brag...

Take before and after pictures.

Post during and after the process.

Best regards,

-a-

[ryoder]

Yeah the price sounds really good doesn't it? I'll make sure he gives me a written estimate and that he stands behind the work. I doubt this will have a transferable warranty for ten years like the other guys. That warranty is what Propellorhead said costs so much.

[carusoam]

Fear the paint issues....related to stripping.

Best regards,

-a-

[ryoder]

Yeah I actually do fear the paint issues. I assume it will cost ne some. Propellerhead told me it would also.

[N601RX]

For that price it's going to be very difficult for them to buy the materials an pay the amount of manual labor necessary to completely strip and clean up the old material. Are you sure he is going to completely strip the old stuff? Tell him you want to see it after it's completely stripped before the new sealant is applied. For that price it's much more likely that he plans to brush a new coat on over the old stuff and call it a reseal. How many hrs does he plan to spend on it and what is their hourly rate? The numbers just don't add up.

[ryoder]

I spoke with him today and asked about the process and tild him about the 6500 dollar Mooney expert price. He told me he uses polygone to strip all the sealant and some scraping as well. He has done Mooneys and Cessnas. He said it might cost a few more hours due to the M20C having smallee thqn the 201 access panels. I will definitely insist on inspecting the strip. He said stripping is the hardest part.

[ryoder]

Here is what he quoted me. " Generally on the fuel tanks, there are two ways to go about it. #1 find the area that is leaking and remove and reseal those areas or #2 do a full strip of the tanks and reseal which is very labor intensive. I would first open the fuel tanks and see what the condition of the sealant that is in there and would go from there. To do a full reseal on each tank will probably take between 8-10 hours so about $750 a tank + sealant strippers and sealant(pro-seal) $100.00 (Both tanks total about $1700.00

If the original sealant is good and we can go right to the areas that are leaking I would estimate around 250-300 a tank.

I do not know of any person that specializes in this repair but generally most maintenance facilities can perform them."

[carusoam]

It will be important to have a solid written proposal and price guarantee(not to exceed...)

Your method of measuring quality expectations should be included in the writing. Fill the tanks to the top and let them sit overnight...(test 1)

Warranty period should be in there as well.

Know that It will be hard to move the plane once the tanks have been opened.

I would be curious to see and talk to his other Mooney customers...

The known standard is very expensive compared to his offer. You want to identify why before getting stuck with your tanks opened up.

Best regards,

-a-

[Hector]

If you do decide to let them do this work please take pictures and report back here. This is a VERY good price, almost too good to believe.

[ryoder]

Will take pics of clean tanks. Probably doing this in Jan.

[BlueSkyTraveler]

Let me make sure I understand this -- $1850 not times two but $1850 to do both tanks? That is an outrageous price, I am getting ready to pay nearly four times that price for my F model. You have to give feedback on this, if this is correct lots of us will be beating a path to these folks hangar door.

[BlueSkyTraveler]

Hello Ryan,

I just spoke to Bill at Propellerheads. He said he is the owner. I was impressed with him and his knowledge of the process and his attention to detail. He offers a 7 year warranty. I think I am going to have him do the tanks on my F model. He quoted me a price of $7500 which is in line with the other quotes I have received. I would be wary of a price much lower than that, we all want a deal, but a short term deal and a long term deal are two different animals.

Have you had your tanks done yet? Thanks.

[ryoder]

Had me done for 1922 which includes both tanks. Holding up well at 10 hours.

[fantom]

Had me done for 1922 which includes both tanks. Holding up well at 10 hours.

Hope you can still make that claim at 500 hours!

[Browncbr1]

On 2/27/2015 at 6:10 AM, ryoder said:

Had me done for 1922 which includes both tanks. Holding up well at 10 hours.

@ryoder

hey, did you ever spring any leaks?

[fantom]

2 hours ago, Browncbr1 said:

@ryoder

hey, did you ever spring any leaks?

LOL 

[Jim Peace]

On 2/27/2015 at 6:10 AM, ryoder said:

Had me done for 1922 which includes both tanks. Holding up well at 10 hours.

I am interested in this even though I am not leaking any fuel....just long long range planningI hope.....how is it holding up?

How is Propellerheads in general?  would you have them do other stuff?  are they timely etc?

 

[ryoder]

Sorry guys I’m not on much. I had mine done in 2015 at the shop at KCLW for under 2k and Salty owns the plane now. Tanks are fine.