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Blue Skies Aviation San Marcos, Texas turned my skies gray

dlmorris

By dlmorris
in General Mooney Talk

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dlmorris Explorer

dlmorris

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Members of this group have been very helpful to me over the years sharing experience. While I don't make a practice of spreading negative news, I have to report to this group my most recent experience with San Marcos, Texas based Blue Skies Aviation (aka Compliance Aviation).

The K Model went in for the annual inspection in February this year. They were chosen for a number of reasons: 1) nearby, 2) no prior experience with them (fresh eyes on the plane), 3) they sought my business (they sent me a flyer several months earlier stating lots of prior Mooney experience), 4) while checking their website I discovered they offered $100.00 off the inspection and a free prop balance for all MAPA members.

OK. I'm in.

Met with Shaune Maycock, Owner of BS (pun intended) to discuss my expectations. Although he claims to have worked at the Mooney factory for some time, I got the feeling he was not as knowledgable about the TSIO360MB as I felt he should be. Nonetheless we moved forward with the inspection.

A week or so later he produced a discrepancy report and we discussed a number of repairs. Among the agreed repairs was replacing the brake line hoses to the main landing gear and the cowl mounted landing light cover. Additionally, I wanted the fuel injector nozzles flow tested and synchronized for optimum balance. He reported a fuel tank leak at the inspection plate next to the fuel strainer. Insofar as this was a warranty item due to a compete tank reseal some years back, I asked that he reach out to the vendor and coordinate the repair. Maycock acknowledges being able to do all that and even offered to save us some money by constructing the brake hoses and landing light cover "in-house". Since I didn't see the prop balance task on the report, I reminded him that I wanted that done.

A week or so later I received the call the plane was ready. He had hired a local pilot (additional $100.00 charge) to test fly the plane and assured me everything was ready to go.

When I arrived I was presented with a bill. There was no indication he had made any effort to work through the fuel tank leak (it's still leaking). He did not offer the MAPA discount. He charged $250.00 for the prop balance. When I questioned him about these issues he denied any knowledge of any tank repair request, MAPA discount or free prop balance. Since we were sitting at his desk I asked him to turn to his computer and pull up his website. After reading the offer, he continued to deny my right to the benefits claiming that is a program only available in October (how convenient since its March). After some further discussion, he reluctantly agreed to remove the prop balance charge and discount the bill by $100.00.

It would have been nice had the saga ended here but then I got in the plane....

Left brake was so soft my partner couldn't turn the plane around on our home field without running off into the mud. It took a second trip back and a $145.00 rent car to get that resolved.

The fabricated landing light lens began falling apart within 10 flight hours. After 75 flight hours, it's currently cracked as bad as the one it replaced (which was on the plane 1400 hours). Requests to replace it have been ignored.

All of the above pales in comparison to the massive upper deck fuel leak I experienced during a recent flight to Houston with a passenger on board. The fuel injector work they did evidently required they remove the high pressure line to the injectors. That line was only hand tight and came off in flight spewing fuel all over the engine. Only a miracle prevented an in flight fire.

That's my experience folks. Stick with trusted service folks. BTW, there was no financial savings in this annual. In fact it was one of the most expensive I've had in the 20 years I've owned this plane.

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gsxrpilot Grand Master

gsxrpilot

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For my money, it's either Don Maxwell Longview or Boyd in Houston. I think Boyd is several hundred cheaper than Don, but is well known and recommended in the Mooney community. Of course, Maxwell is the gold standard. I'm much more relaxed after my bird has spent some time in Don's shop.

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Wakeup Proficient

Wakeup

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I know a guy, but he is in jail right now. I will let you know when he gets out. I have learned the the hard way too. If you have any doubt, back out. Good luck and I finally go to fly my plane after 7 months. Troy

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Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

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I know a guy, but he is in jail right now. I will let you know when he gets out. I have learned the the hard way too. If you have any doubt, back out. Good luck and I finally go to fly my plane after 7 months. Troy

Ready to meet up? Weather looks great this weekend.

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jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

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For my money, it's either Don Maxwell Longview or Boyd in Houston. I think Boyd is several hundred cheaper than Don, but is well known and recommended in the Mooney community. Of course, Maxwell is the gold standard. I'm much more relaxed after my bird has spent some time in Don's shop.

Boyd? I had an extremely unpleasant dealing with him and I don't think anyone recommends him. I don't know how an inspector can be confined to a wheelchair and have his wife "do the inspection items" for him and get away with it. Not to mention the litany of broken, loose, and missing items which culminated in an inflight fire and a ruined alternator.

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gsxrpilot Grand Master

gsxrpilot

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Boyd? I had an extremely unpleasant dealing with him and I don't think anyone recommends him. I don't know how an inspector can be confined to a wheelchair and have his wife "do the inspection items" for him and get away with it. Not to mention the litany of broken, loose, and missing items which culminated in an inflight fire and a ruined alternator.

Interesting, I hadn't heard that. I know a few local Mooniacs who have used him successfully as well. I might PM you for more details.

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  • 1 month later...
dlmorris Explorer

dlmorris

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More Blue Ski Aviation Blues-Finally figured out why we wern't able to get 36 in. of manifold pressure following annual at Blue Skies Aviation-San Marcos, TX. Discovered bleed air hose to standby vac chafed on #2 alternator fan housing dumping upper deck pressurized air through the 1/4 inch opening. Got hose replaced. MP fine. Note to self: Avoid Blue Skies Aviation unless I want to spend the following year fixing what was overlooked or done by them.

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  • 4 years later...
Shaune Newbie

Shaune

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Just read this. Dave Morris is a liar. Also anyone reading this should call other shops and ask what kind of customer Dave is. He goes back and works on things that ships have done to his aircraft and then after MessiNg it up, tries to get a refund or just does not pay his bills.he tried to force me to give him free service from a coupon that expired a year previously, then threatened me with violence.

I worked at amok why, one of the things I did was make lenses. I made him a

lense and then three months later he calls and said it cracked, after sending pictures it was apparent l that someone went behind and over tightened the screws on the lens. Something I know better than to do. Tired of people like this. No one at KHYI will touch Dave’s aircraft, that says a lot.  

 

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Shaune Newbie

Shaune

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On 10/3/2015 at 6:34 AM, dlmorris said:

More Blue Ski Aviation Blues-Finally figured out why we wern't able to get 36 in. of manifold pressure following annual at Blue Skies Aviation-San Marcos, TX. Discovered bleed air hose to standby vac chafed on #2 alternator fan housing dumping upper deck pressurized air through the 1/4 inch opening. Got hose replaced. MP fine. Note to self: Avoid Blue Skies Aviation unless I want to spend the following year fixing what was overlooked or done by them.

 

 

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Of course blue Skies is responsible for everything on your plane, after all when you get an annual j some thin everything f is all of the sudden new right? Of course blame blame blame, I guess we made sure that your hose would rub right? It’s obvious that it could not have occurred in its own. 

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Shadrach Grand Master

Shadrach

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5 hours ago, Shaune said:

Of course blue Skies is responsible for everything on your plane, after all when you get an annual j some thin everything f is all of the sudden new right? Of course blame blame blame, I guess we made sure that your hose would rub right? It’s obvious that it could not have occurred in its own. 

If you annual the plane and return it to service, you are indeed responsible for the airworthiness of that plane when it was returned to service.   I have to say the odds of anyone seeing this nearly 5 year old post were slim. In your infinite wisdom, you've decided to resurrect and showcase this mess with a poorly articulated shitpost nearly 5 years after the incident.  The OP has not posted here in a year and a half and did not post much prior to that.  This thread would have been relegated to the dust bin if not for your own actions.  There's an old fighter pilot expression that sums up your post...all b@lls, d!ck and no forehead. You come off as thoughtless, emotional and impulsive.  I cannot imagine any reasonable adult doing what you've done here.  Perhaps the current state of the world is affecting your judgement. The best thing you could do would be to delete your posts and focus on maintaining relationships with your current customer base. 

Edited by Shadrach
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