Don Maxwell - The Mooney King! Thanks For Sharing Your Knowlege!

[Yetti]

I am good with my a little cranky IA and his sidekick.  Heck of a lot of knowledge in his head.

[flyboy0681]

It pains me to say this - and on this site it's nothing short of sacrilege given Don's stellar reputation -  but when my J was bent up last month I was told by several people to contact him to discuss the situation. We spoke initially for about 15 minutes at which time he asked me to send the pictures, which I did. I never heard back from him, even after leaving several phone messages and two emails over a period of a week and a half.

 

 

[RobertGary1]

On 10/27/2017 at 3:30 AM, M20Doc said:

It would be nice if Don would share some of his vast Mooney knowledge here with the rest of us, but I've yet to see one post offering advise or guidance to anyone.

Clarence

A lot of it Ian on his website. You can download It. 

-Robert

[MrRodgers]

I really appreciate all of the comments and sharing of personal experiences here.  The positive and not so positive.

Thanks to everyone for engaging in the sharing of your experiences.

 

Michael Rodgers

Santa Monica, Ca.

Edited November 3, 2017 by MrRodgers

[mike_elliott]

On 10/27/2017 at 6:30 AM, M20Doc said:

It would be nice if Don would share some of his vast Mooney knowledge here with the rest of us, but I've yet to see one post offering advise or guidance to anyone.

Clarence

Don's loyalty is to Trey Hughes, the MAPA employee, so he spends his time on the MAPA list vs. here. He told me between phone calls and spending time answering emails and on the MAPA list, he is spread too thin to be on another forum. That said, Your contributions here are second to none, Clarence! You are the Don of the North for sure! Your only issue is your infatuation with those darned clorox bottles and Cherokees  If you were here in the colonies, I certainly would have my plane worked on by you, Clarence, and I am a picky guy. Thanks for your selfless contributions here.

[Andy95W]

"Don of the North" sounds like something out of Game of Thrones.  Just sayin'.

[kmyfm20s]

I guess it is time for me to come clean. I never mentioned my experience before because it has been my observation that if anyone says anything negative about Dmax they got dog piled on and part of this story is embarrassing to me.

I first want to say have great respect for Dmax’s knowledge. I have learned a lot from his articles and I know he has contributed a lot to the Mooney community. This is why I chose him to do my PPI because I was buying this plane unseen. I wanted the Guru to tell me the truth about this plane and if it was as advertised, I asked him to be my eyes, ears and test pilot which he had no problem with. He always answered the phone calls and was easy to talk to. He was very likable! Clearly he has a lot positive reviews but unfortunately I had a negative experience with his shop. My experience was with a PPI, I am sure the plane was never looked at after sitting in the shop for 3 weeks or maybe it was a newbie mechanic that was put in charge of my plane, I don’t know. This was a plane that the previous owner had annuals with him for several years prior and for sure the last annual before I bought the plane. He didn’t hesitate to throw money at this aircraft. 

Unfortunately after purchasing this plane the best thing that happened to me from a financial perspective but not from an ego perspective was that I put the on it’s belly.  Ironically it was the first landing at my home field bringing it home from purchasing it in Texas. It was at exactly my 2930th hour of flying and I have a MSC on field. (FWI, I even went though my check list and the gear down light turned out to be the speed brake light in reality. I was on an IMC approach which changed to minimums just prior to landing. Let me just say I thought I greased the landing but was shocked by the sudden and violent stopping of the prop. Speed brakes were new to me and gave me the sensation of the gear being down and they required just enough manifold pressure to keep the horn from going off, a story to be told latter). 

This list is from memory of the missed items on this PPI from 4 years ago. The rest I can’t remember off hand.

1. Frozen break caliper. This would have been obvious to any mechanic that even taxied the plane.

2. Oil filter I requested to be saved by previous owner after last oil change to be inspected. Still sitting in back seat when I received the plane untouched. Even after asking about it.

3. Inop air conditioning system. Only worked at idle on warm days not under power on hot. I am now an A/C pro if anyone needs help. Prior owner who is good guy replaced virtually every part to chase down the Gremblins but minor success.

4. 2 induction pipes with several small holes creating EGT’s to be all over the place. Even after I ask him to fly the plane to check the GAMI spread. Prior owner said he never could run LOP so I was going to have that looked into being corrected since it was at the shop.

5. Some shaft that for the A/C compressor that had an AD and was 5K for the part itself that was never mentioned. The engine shop would not put the engine back together with out replacing and insurance wouldn’t cover it because it should have been done in their opinion. I wanted it replaced regardless but it was frustrating. 

6. Tail strike damage. (Prior prop strike disclosed by owner). 

7. Flap completely out of rig with some adjustment tabs damaged(not really sure what they are) 

8. Plane out of rig. These last 2 Items I requested to be check on a test flight with the prior mentioned GAMI test.

Those are the stand out items. Some others I can’t remember but were minor. When flying home the plane was slow and had to be flown fairly ROP because being out of rig and the induction leaks. Thankfully everything except #5 was covered by insurance. I of course went ahead and overhauled the engine for the extra expense. The plane has been amazing since repaired and is very fast, flys true and has been reliable. It is a solid plane now with damage history that hasn’t change the performance at all. The best shops and people can over look planes and I highly recommend getting a different shop to do the PPI than the shop that has done the prior annuals on it.

 

 

[Bravoman]

It is also good IMO to have a different shop then the one you regularly use do an annual every few years. I did that this year with my Mooney and was happy to learn from another Mooney  expert that my regular shop has been doing a very good job.

[Yetti]

The frozen brake caliper could have happened on the ramp at any point after a rain.  Sure it would have been nice if the last person that touched them had cleaned and lubed them. The concerning one I heard about was not torquing the bottom spark plugs and then having one spit out during a Mooney safety clinic in Dallas.  There is also some  outsource suppliers that have let Don down.     All in all it is important to be involved in the maintenance of your plane.   Just writing a check will get you into trouble.

[lwikle]

Don is the only one that touches my airplane....

 

[ArtVandelay]

3 hours ago, lwikle said:

Don is the only one that touches my airplane....

 

 

So unless you are located at his airport, do you fly it to him every time you need maintenance?  Do you fly him to your airport? And if he retires do you sell the plane?

[kmyfm20s]

3 hours ago, Yetti said:

The frozen brake caliper could have happened on the ramp at any point after a rain.  Sure it would have been nice if the last person that touched them had cleaned and lubed them. The concerning one I heard about was not torquing the bottom spark plugs and then having one spit out during a Mooney safety clinic in Dallas.  There is also some  outsource suppliers that have let Don down.     All in all it is important to be involved in the maintenance of your plane.   Just writing a check will get you into trouble.

It was more than being left in the rain but I understand what your saying. I agree being that being involved with your maintenance is important. I’m hands on with my plane. Change the oil, filter, bore scope, compression check at every change. My mechanics signs off on my repairs I do myself and a MSC does the annuals. I fly my children in it and it needs to be safe! 

[Marauder]

As someone who has gone through 28 annuals on a Mooney with a number at MSCs, the quality of an annual is only as good as the guy who turns the wrench and the one looking over the guy’s shoulder to make sure they are turning the wrench in the right direction and on the right item. I personally enjoy being told by a shop that something is an airworthiness issue and should have been addressed at the last annual. Only to have me point out they did the last annual.

I have heard horror stories from people on most of the MSCs and seen the poor workmanship first hand several times. It’s not different than any other profession.

Your butt is on the line and you owe it to yourself and your family to be an educated consumer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Andy95W]

5 hours ago, lwikle said:

Don is the only one that touches my airplane....

 

That's really not true anymore.  I was talking about engine mounts with him this summer.  In Don's own words, spoken directly to me: "Well, I don't do that anymore, I have guys who do it for me.  But that is how I did it in the past."

Don Maxwell is a great Mooney mechanic and a wonderful person who will gladly give his expertise to anyone who asks for it.  How many people fit in that category?

But even the best shop is only as good as its worst mechanic.  And if you have a new mechanic, or an average one who has a bad day, then mistakes will happen and things can get overlooked.  And with all that being said, I would still rank his shop as among the best in the country- probably top 3, definitely top 5.

[exM20K]

A couple of observations from a 20+ year mooney owner and someone involved in the aviation business: communication matters, and good help is nearly impossible to find right now.

Communication: most of the unhappy customers seem to be first time and PPI customers, while most of the happy people seem to be long-time customers. This is unsurprising. I don’t doubt that these experiences, good and bad, are accurately reported. I do believe that when you have a long time relationship with a shop (or any vendor), then both parties communicate expectations better.

I’ve used Air Mods since the mid 90’s, and I’ve found that Dave speaks my language. We have a clear understanding of the scope of work before it’s done. Ditto the late Kevin Surrell, who I really miss.

Good people are hard to find: it’s not just CFI’s that are scarce because of airline hiring. A&P’s and IA’s are also in very high demand. The shop owners are probably not turning wrenches any more and rely on hired staff. I’ve seen very high turnover at a large local shop here in the Chicago market first hand when they made absolute hash of a top overhaul. We settled up on the excess labor and unneeded repairs and are still friends, but it was a level of frustration that is new to me and which I attribute to the inexperience of the line techs.

Unfortunately, there is no immediate solution to the drain of experienced techs to the airlines, other than shop owners recognizing that they have to work extra hard to retain their experienced help.

[RobertGary1]

2 hours ago, Andy95W said:

That's really not true anymore.  I was talking about engine mounts with him this summer.  In Don's own words, spoken directly to me: "Well, I don't do that anymore, I have guys who do it for me.  But that is how I did it in the past."

Don Maxwell is a great Mooney mechanic and a wonderful person who will gladly give his expertise to anyone who asks for it.  How many people fit in that category?

But even the best shop is only as good as its worst mechanic.  And if you have a new mechanic, or an average one who has a bad day, then mistakes will happen and things can get overlooked.  And with all that being said, I would still rank his shop as among the best in the country- probably top 3, definitely top 5.

But that worst mechanic is supervised by Maxwell. That must be worth something. 

-Robert  

[Cruiser]

Every business has happy and disappointed customers. The hope is (for the company) that the happy ones vastly outnumber the disappointed ones. 

Sometimes disgruntled customers are unreasonable customers but happy customers are never mistaken. So the balance gets skewed a bit. Anyway, as a business grows in age and experience it develops a reputation. Over time if the driving force behind the reputation changes, the reputation is likely to change also.

A couple of things.

1. A good mechanic is usually not a good communicator.

2. Smart mechanics have good communicators in the office talking on the phones (this costs money)

3. Happy customers need both.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, exM20K said:

A couple of observations from a 20+ year mooney owner and someone involved in the aviation business: communication matters, and good help is nearly impossible to

Unfortunately, there is no immediate solution to the drain of experienced techs to the airlines, other than shop owners recognizing that they have to work extra hard to retain their experienced help.

The labour pool for GA shops to pick from is very small.  In order to get and retain good help wages are going up and shop rates are going to follow.  The margins in most shops is razor thin as it is and will only get worse.

Clarence

Edited August 26, 2018 by M20Doc

[Bob_Belville]

I'm told that fixing lawn mowers pays better than fixing airplanes in this area. So does a mechanic working for a decent size auto dealer. Often with better benefits and less liability.

[RobertGary1]

42 minutes ago, Bob_Belville said:

I'm told that fixing lawn mowers pays better than fixing airplanes in this area. So does a mechanic working for a decent size auto dealer. Often with better benefits and less liability.

I’m not sure I believe that. Maybe the top guys at a dealership with factory training all around but the majority are probably not doing that well. At least in the labor market in california few would spend money fixing a mower. Cheaper to get a new one. 

-Robert    

[Bob_Belville]

44 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I’m not sure I believe that. Maybe the top guys at a dealership with factory training all around but the majority are probably not doing that well. At least in the labor market in california few would spend money fixing a mower. Cheaper to get a new one. 

-Robert    

A $2000 riding mower needs to be serviced - oil, filters, belts, lubed, blades sharpened, etc., at $200+, every year in our climate. Even in CA. If not by the home owner then by a lawn service company in which case the frequency would be much higher.   

[steingar]

I don't care if God himself has been taking care of the airplane, I want someone who's never seen it to do the pretty inspection.  I double want that someone to be the mechanic who's going to be working on it after I buy it.  Don Maxwell is a treasure to the Mooney community, but he's not infallible.

[FloridaMan]

I hate to interrupt your little 

On 8/26/2018 at 4:03 PM, RobertGary1 said:

But that worst mechanic is supervised by Maxwell. That must be worth something. 

-Robert  

Less than you'd think. Perhaps @cujet can elaborate on this a bit. 

[Shadrach]

On 10/27/2017 at 6:30 AM, M20Doc said:

It would be nice if Don would share some of his vast Mooney knowledge here with the rest of us, but I've yet to see one post offering advise or guidance to anyone.

Clarence

I'm not local to Don so I've never had my plane there.  I will say that he's been pretty generous with his time via phone. 

[Shadrach]

12 minutes ago, Antares said:

I hate to interrupt your little 

Less than you'd think. Perhaps @cujet can elaborate on this a bit. 

You're just itching to tell the rest of your story...!

Edited August 28, 2018 by Shadrach