Your Fastest Non-Repairitive Annual?

[Brian Scranton]

Going on 4 weeks here...mind you, my A&P is understaffed and dealing with lots of external factors (health/family) and I have been owner assisting (I think I put in roughly 20-25 hours). I was able to, with his guidance, get a lot done; remove/replace belly panels, replace all oil/fuel/air hoses per RayJay AD, change oil, clean/gap plugs, replace vacuum pump, clean injectors, check fuel screen, repack bearings, grease fittings, lube all trim/push rod connectors...and then some. 

So, I ask you--without a major repair, how long does your annual usually take?

 

[Immelman]

No repairs, only annual and associated servicing: 2 days maybe 3.

That's with me working full time, the IA doing the inspecting as needed (it doesnt take too long), and half-time help from an A&P. IOW 20-30 man hours which is in line with that an MSC will be charging you.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Immelman

[Brian Scranton]

 

1 minute ago, Immelman said:

No repairs, only annual and associated servicing: 2 days maybe 3.

Well, sheeeittt.....

[Joe Zuffoletto]

4 weeks! Holy cow!

I just got my Acclaim back from annual last Friday. No repairs, took 10 days. 10-14 days is typical.

[mike20papa]

If you have a good set of logs - well organized and documented on the AD's and service bulletins.  Show the documentation in an orderly fashion and that you know what's the tach time and what's "due" - that's the first thing to talk about when you go see an IA.  Then they usually will respect your efforts at an "owner assisted" annual.  Fastest I've done one is about 4 days when I work with my usual IA.  He may not spend more than 30 min. looking at the AC & 30 min. looking over the paper work.  If they have to go online and start researching AD's and checking serial numbers on old yellow tagged parts... etc.  The time can get out of hand.

[flyhigh603]

Im pretty sure the service manual states 35 Hrs for average annual 

[Mooneymite]

10 minutes ago, flyhigh603 said:

Im pretty sure the service manual states 35 Hrs for average annual 

When I get an owner-assisted annual on an my aircraft which is "well known" to both me and my IA, it takes about 3 8-hour days of my labor + whatever the IA decides to do over and above what he observes me doing, so 35 hours would be "spectacular" for a Mooney that just gets wheeled into a shop.

An owner assisted annual is faster in number of days because I am not limited to 8 hour days.  There are some tasks that go more quickly because I've done them 18 times, but other tasks, just take a lot of time no matter how familiar they are.

Perhaps the fast annual trick is to enlist an IA that has a seeing-eye dog?  

My pre-purchase annual (as a totally clueless buyer) took about 4 hours.  

[Hank]

Mine averaged two to three weeks as owner-assisted at a moderately busy shop; over time, I was entrusted with more tasks, often accomplished in the evenings and on weekends.

I just finished my 2nd annual with a dedicated A&P/IA at my hangar. We start at 0800 Friday morning, and are generally finished by lunchtime Sunday. After work the week before Friday morning, I remove all inspection panels, the belly, spinner, etc., and have the logbook and Service Manual ready to go. After he leaves on Sunday, I start buttoning back up . . .

[Shadrach]

Brian,

I feel for you! Most of us have been there...

I do things differently now.

When my mech shows up the plane is on jacks, de-cowled and all necessary inspection panels removed. We go through the AD list first and proceed with compression checks. He then continues the remainder of the inspection while I clean the plugs. He and I have come to an agreement that we do only an external inspection of the injectors.  I am so familiar with how my airplane should be running, I would pick up an injector issue on the engine monitor within seconds of it occurring.  The physical inspection can be completed in about 8-10 hours.  I have never had a squawk free annual.  This year the prop was overhauled along with a rebuilt steering horn from LASAR and a few other niggles.  I did the bulk of the prop installation the day before the inspection. My mechanic torqued the prop bolts and I safety wired it, after which he inspected. I installed the horn while he went over the airframe with a flashlight and a mirror. At the end of the day, this years annual took two and a half days of my time and one day for my mechanic.  

Try to keep the working environment clean, divide the labor appropriately and stay on task.  Give the plane a thorough look over several weeks ahead of annual; you don't want to find a torn intake boot, cracked exhaust or a seeping governor on the day of the inspection.  For instance, this year I knew the seals on my prop had gone brittle and had herniated (they were 10 years old). I didn't wait for my IA to tell me "your prop hub situation will need to be addressed", I called my prop shop and scheduled the overhaul. I did communicate the situation to my IA ahead of annual.

There are folks that I work well with and folks that I don't work so well with (they'd likely say the same of me). There have been a few years when the plane has been down for a month and it sucks. I once had to retrieve my plane form a shop after my relationship with their DOM degraded.  It was a very sad saga that I'll not go into here.

 I have also had outrageously expensive annuals where I received very little for my maintenance dollar. We once paid $9000 for little more than an inspection, a steering truss replacement and really thick new AD binder.

You'll get through it, just keep checking the boxes.

[mooniac15u]

My plane just came out of annual.  10 working days total time from dropoff to pickup.  It would've been a day or so less but I had them install a Reiff heater and it took a day for the adhesive to cure.

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, flyhigh603 said:

Im pretty sure the service manual states 35 Hrs for average annual 

I'd like to see that reference.  When I was working as a shop rat, 15-20hrs was budgeted to inspect a single engine retract.  By this rational it must take over a week just to inspect a Beech B58.  A pressurized twin like a C421 must take weeks to inspect.

[TWinter]

Using the same shop mine is usually done in a week..He complains that it really takes him 40 hrs + on the Mooney, but typically annuals are done in 40. Cost is about $2000 if I walk away with a clean bill of health and no problems.

 

-Tom

[Yetti]

Dont leave the simple owner maint till annual. Plugs and oil slightly before. The inspection part is probably a day. The rest is a week. The waiting for others to pull their stuff together was 2 months.  Fixing the others stuff took two days. 

More stuff gets upgraded each time

[Oldguy]

Mine usually takes about 40 hours, although this year was bit longer due to a new ignition harness. But it is so worth it!

Hardest part is ALWAYS removing, inspecting and replacing that dang oil screen. I think a hand on the end of a tail would be a great appendage to have for doing that.

[Sabremech]

I don't keep track of my hours and I seldom can work on mine for two straight days, so it takes me a month to get mine done.

[cliffy]

It takes me about 2 weeks working 4 hrs a day. I'm too old to do 12hrs+ a day anymore, and I don't have to! I get the local shop IA to look it over (I want another set of eyes on it). It takes him @ 2 hrs max (including a full gear swing several times) and we make  game out of it. I'm anal and don't let things go by but I always leave an Easter Egg for him to find just to keep him interested. :-) He and I think alike, if it needs fixin' it gets fixed.  

[takair]

If I don't have to make repairs, I plan two full days for airframe and two days for engine and paperwork...so about 4 solid days.  That said, there is always something to do so it is usually 5 long days for minor fixes.  I think 10 working days planned is reasonable for a shop, assuming there are some things needing attention.  Owner assist would vary by person, familiarity, hours spent, chit chat, etc.