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Flat tire on landing


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My partner landed to get fuel at a moderately busy class delta this past Sunday and had a flat on touchdown.  Unfortunate, but everyone was fine as was the plane.

The bill was a bit more of a shock than I expected though.  So I'm curious if this is line with others experience and we just need to suck it up or if we should complain a bit.

The breakdown was:

  • Callout fee ($200)
  • Mechanic 3.5 hours * $159.
  • Tube, Tire, misc materials: $255

Total was a bit north of $1000

The materials cost seems fine to me, a bit more than if we'd bought the same thing ourselves but not incredibly so.  The callout is annoying, but par for the course.  The mechanic rate is pretty insane, like 60-100% more expensive than any mechanic we've hired before, but the part that surprised me was 3.5 hours to do the tire change??

 

Edited by druidjaidan
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Cost of doing business, especially on a weekend. At my old shop 3.5hrs of labor would have run you $340 alone so at least the labor is cheap, however it should be more like 2 hours of labor time. A callout fee is pretty standard on a weekend, especially on a Sunday. A cheapy tire and tube (6.00x6) size should run about $200. It all depends on what brand of tire and tube they used and what their mark up is.

I had my nose wheel go flat after getting an IFR clearance and pulling out on to the runway a few Saturdays ago. I was very lucky to be at my home airport. Within 3 minutes of shutting the engine down a friend bought a spare M20 nose wheel assembly and we swapped it out right on the spot to get it back in the hangar. 

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The charges don't seem unreasonable to me considering the service provided. The mechanic came out on a Sunday and took care of your issue so your partner wouldn't be stranded. No one was hurt including the airplane and continued on its way. Don't complain but be grateful for the greatest possible outcome. The alternative would've been ugly. At best he would've been stranded.

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5 minutes ago, druidjaidan said:

Sorry the labor was in no way cheap.  

You asked a question and N6758N answered and now you are going to debate with him?  If you believe it unreasonable then argue with the mechanic.  Don't ask for feedback and challenge it though, not clear the point on that. 

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8 minutes ago, druidjaidan said:

Sorry the labor was in no way cheap.  It was $159 per hour, $556

My apologies...I thought you meant it was a total of $159 for the labor, not 3 hours at that rate. Sounds like a biz jet MRO shop rate...

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same happened to our partner. Nose tire flat on landing, stuck on runway. It was $100 just to get the plane on a dolly and off the runway and then about what you paid, about $300 for a tire and tube, there abouts. This guy wanted to jack the plane and swing the gear to make sure nothing got damaged ( :rolleyes: )

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Just now, OR75 said:

pilots are allowed to change a tire I believe

That is true, the problem usually is when you are away from home without tools or airport friends around. However, given a floor jack and a strong steel pipe, you can jack any Mooney to change a single tire. So, if you carried a spare tube and tire with you and a few tools, you might be able to get away with doing it yourself.

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52 minutes ago, M20F said:

You asked a question and N6758N answered and now you are going to debate with him?  If you believe it unreasonable then argue with the mechanic.  Don't ask for feedback and challenge it though, not clear the point on that. 

I think you might misunderstand my response.  It was just clarification that I meant 3.5hours at $159/hr. 

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1 hour ago, PTK said:

The charges don't seem unreasonable to me considering the service provided. The mechanic came out on a Sunday and took care of your issue so your partner wouldn't be stranded. No one was hurt including the airplane and continued on its way. Don't complain but be grateful for the greatest possible outcome. The alternative would've been ugly. At best he would've been stranded.

Oh I'm grateful, or at least my partner is =).  I wouldn't wish him to be stranded, we got great help in the past when similar issues struck us so I totally understand.  Also just because someone helped doesn't IMO give them a blank check.  A lot of it is reasonable, the materials cost is reasonable, the call out fee is reasonable.  The shop rate is....annoyingly high (places we normally go to are 80-120/hr), but the field rate is what the field rate is and just means I wouldn't go to them in the future.

So the main question probably not clear:  My reaction was WTF 3.5 hours to do the tire?  Seriously?  But I've never done it myself yet so I didn't know if that was reasonable.

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First, I am glad everyone came out of this in one piece.

If it occurred on landing, I will make an assumption it could not taxi to the maintenance hangar. There was likely some type of cart/trolley involved to get it over there and off of the active runway. I agree with the parts price - not outrageous, but not cheap. Also, the situation was not conducive to price haggling. The callout fee varies with airport size from what I have experienced. A "moderately busy class delta" would likely have bizjet maintenance on call and the hourly rate would tend to support that thought. As for the time, it depends on when the clock started. I have seen some callout services where the clock started with the call and some where it did not start until the service person was on site.

But all in all, your cost looks like right around 1 AMU. Not cheap but nothing to lose sleep over. Emergency maintenance was required and provided.

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I know the numbers are shocking but a sunday call out is double time and if the shop rate is $80 an hour....

of course if it had been a smaller airport you may have gotten away a lot cheaper. most of the small shops will work with you.

Brian

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It took me 30 minutes to remove and replace one main tire... You can use a big axle shaft or bolt that matches the inside diameter of the hollow trailing link and Jack from there just a half inch off the ground. That's with no previous experience doing it on my own, but I had seen it done before, which helped. One important thing if you do it on your own is to align the dot on the tire sidewalk opposite the valve stem for balancing purposes. Shop probably figured your partner was transient and may as well put the screws to you. Sorry to hear it.

 

 

 

 

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Nose wheel is much faster than a main (which one was it?)--you don't have to remove the brake pad bolts or do any safety wiring with a nose wheel...so, let's say 20 mins for him to drive to the airport, 20 mins to figure out what's up, 20 mins to get to his shop to get the tow, 30 mins to hook up the tow, pull the plane to the hanger and unhook...20 mins to remove the wheel, 10 to open the rim, 10 to inspect, 20 to inflate and put the rim back together and 20 to remount...that gets you to ~2.75 hours...add in a little padding, and you get your 3.5 pretty easy. Plus, some shops have a 1.5 or 2x weekend on-call rate, which might be the $159/hour...he's probably $100/hour on a Tuesday. Your buddy was there--how long was the dude on the job? Either way, you're talking $200 extra to get your plane back in the air. Not worth worrying about IMO. They say the cheapest thing you put in an airplane isn't the fuel...it's the pilot :)   

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1 hour ago, druidjaidan said:

Oh I'm grateful, or at least my partner is =).  I wouldn't wish him to be stranded, we got great help in the past when similar issues struck us so I totally understand.  Also just because someone helped doesn't IMO give them a blank check.  A lot of it is reasonable, the materials cost is reasonable, the call out fee is reasonable.  The shop rate is....annoyingly high (places we normally go to are 80-120/hr), but the field rate is what the field rate is and just means I wouldn't go to them in the future.

So the main question probably not clear:  My reaction was WTF 3.5 hours to do the tire?  Seriously?  But I've never done it myself yet so I didn't know if that was reasonable.

Emergencies happen and when they do it's reassuring to have someone local and willing to come out on a Sunday and get you on your way.

I had a fuel valve leak one time on the ground at a little airport without any shops on the field. Not in my Mooney but in an Arrow I had rented. The rental office arranged for someone to drive out from another airport 40 miles away! The mechanic came out fixed it and we were on our way. I never saw the bill but I can only imagine! 

 

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Being very generous on times.

Get tug and retrieve airplane 45 minutes

Open shop, change tire 1 hour

Paperwork 20 minutes

Put tools away clean hands 20 minutes, close shop

The variable would be did you get charged for the drive to and fro the airport.   $200 was just to interrupt the BBQ

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I carry a spare nose tube. With tooling to change. On the road. 

Maybe the bead was really tough. It can be hard to get the tire off. What brand tire and tube? 

I guess the question is what's reasonable on a Sunday call out? 

$750? 

I think the guy dipped in a bit, but sounds like everything was taken care of. 

-Matt 

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A little high yes but your partner was on his way in a couple of hours.  I had a nose wheel flat away from home and the mechanic was already there on the field $600  +/- and 1.5 hours later I was on my way.  We changed the the tire with the plane on the taxiway.  We weighted the tail with sandbags took off the wheel went to shop and did the tire.

 

 

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