First annual

[Casey]

So it's time for the first annual since I bought my Bravo. I'm scheduled to go in at the end of the month. Any advice for me? Thanks!

[jlunseth]

Bring your wallet and your banker's phone number.

[Casey]

2 minutes ago, jlunseth said:

Bring your wallet and your banker's phone number.

Yea I was planning on that part. 

[kortopates]

Yes, if this is your first airplane as well as your first annual consider signing up with our Savvy Maintenance program - most clients feel they save much more than the yearly cost of Savvy on their annual. At the very least Savvy will help you understand what are airworthy items, what are discretionary items and what items you may like to defer till after annual to either do yourself if you'd like or even do elsewhere etc. See https://www.savvyaviation.com/savvyaviation-home/savvy-services/savvymx/ for details.  

[Danb]

Paul what would we reasonably expect to save in say a five year period. Also for those who use MSC's are the centers generally acceptable to Savvy?

[Marauder]

46 minutes ago, Danb said:

Paul what would we reasonably expect to save in say a five year period. Also for those who use MSC's are the centers generally acceptable to Savvy?

Piece of mind. I really liked Paul's help in reviewing the problems I had this past Fall. Nice to have a second set of eyes on a problem. He also walked me through the Gami procedure and I found that I could run LOP, although I am partial to fuel burning ROP for the speeeeeeeeeed.

[carusoam]

Advice for first time Turbo owners, getting to know your exhaust system...

There are these V clamps on the exhaust system.  There is an important thing to know about how to use them and how not to use them.

There have been too many failures to keep the hot exhaust gasses in the pipes during flight.

There are ways to know how well the system is working.

There are things to consider for the day the system is not working.

And there are things to keep in consideration related to proper cooling of the turbo.  Easy to do, but gets plenty of misunderstandings to go with it....

PP ideas only, not a mechanic or turbo owner...

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

1 hour ago, Danb said:

Paul what would we reasonably expect to save in say a five year period. Also for those who use MSC's are the centers generally acceptable to Savvy?

That's impossible to really say. The majority of our clients continue to renew because they value the maintenance oversight and representation they get. But the customer/owner still makes all the decisions. What Savvy ensures is that you are never that guy that read about here on MS over and over again that goes in for annual and then goes to pick up their airplane have a unexpected astronomical bill. As a Savvy client, we follow a step by step process where the inspection is does first before any maintenance is authorized. The completed inspection results in a list of issues or defects that the shop will estimate; plus any squawks or maintenance the owner may want completed along with the annual. With the list in hand, Savvy will advise what discrepancies are really mandatory, what are discretionary etc as stated above.  Areas were we routinely save our clients $$ is in avoiding unnecessary work such as pulling cylinders that don't really need to be pulled yet or the shop isn't properly following SB03-3 that provides very specifics and calls for Borescope exams which we always ask for with every annual. Often what is quoted by a shop as mandatory is not mandatory at all.  But we are also adamant on counseling on what recommended item should be done for safety; for example we always advocate performing the 500hr MAG IRANs - but that is not an overhaul but an IRAN - Inspect and Repair as necessary.  But we would not recommend cleaning injectors based on time or hours alone. A maintenance contract includes Data Analysis and through your actual flight data we'll be able to tell you if your injectors need cleaning. As anyone knows that follows Mike Busch we utilize a on condition maintenance philosophy with some exceptions including magneto inspections.

Bottom line is, our IA's will go over the shops provided list of estimate for each item with our recommendations and then you'll authorize each tasks. As a result you'll have a very good idea on what your annual will total too before any of the maintenance is performed beyond the inspection. If you are interested in doing some of the discretionary work on your own after, we'll help you defer those items to do on your own as well.  The choice of maintenance facility is usually a joint process. We have shops we can recommend but beyond competence on the airframe all we really require is a shop to agree to our process of estimating all work and requiring authorization before work is performed - to solely protect you!  That's how we keep our clients happy.