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

[Danb]

Ross totally agreed, even though I’m deficient in wrench turning, I’m knowledgeable in the systems including determining problems of the craft. I honestly feel in complete compliance with 91.7. I do easy things myself like oil changes, installing baffeling tires..all the easy stuff, no chance of me pulling a cylinder or taking apart the mags..know my limitations 

[Shadrach]

16 minutes ago, Danb said:

 no chance of me pulling a cylinder or taking apart the mags..know my limitations 

Also an important axiom! A few years ago I came across an older C172 owner safety wiring his prop unsupervised (why he had it off I've no idea).  He was doing a horrible job of it and some of the bolts were safetied in the wrong direction. This guy had not learned his limitations in his 60 odd years of flying.  He was nice enough though and accepted the help of our local A&P who torqued and safetied it properly. Hats off to you, I sometime run across folks that are all confidence and no competence. Scary thing around airplanes.

[Danb]

Ross I practice with my safe tying tool, you wouldn’t want me to use it on the plane yet, I’m to uncoordinated to tie the oil filter on, a friend does it for me.

[MBDiagMan]

12 hours ago, MyNameIsNobody said:

I personally despise character defamation on a website.  We have the rule of law and courts in the United States.  Cujet this is NOT the venue to “voice your concerns”.  It strikes me as lowbrow and beneath character of those I would care to spend time with.  I am glad Don has taken the high road.  

On another note: I used to be a very loyal MAPA guy.  The information for a new owner was VERY valuable.  I did not care for the online section.  Their escalations made me, YES ME, look tame.  The magazine became stale for me as I gained knowledge and experience so I discontinued participation.  For a new owner those articles are G.O.L.D.  This was “pre” Mooneyspace...

I wouldn’t be writing such libelous posts under any circumstances.  It’s just not how I operate, but I would expect someone writing such a post to include links and references to hard clad evidence.

[exM20K]

12 hours ago, MyNameIsNobody said:

I personally despise character defamation on a website.  We have the rule of law and courts in the United States.  Cujet this is NOT the venue to “voice your concerns”.  It strikes me as lowbrow and beneath character of those I would care to spend time with.  I am glad Don has taken the high road.  

 

So, should I check with you before I recount a bad experience with a mechanic or other service provider?  I didn’t see @cujet launching  ad hominems like,, for example, you did. I’m glad he or she told their tale, and were I contemplating doing business with dmax, I’d ask him about it.  

My understanding of defamation is that it requires a false statement.  You know his or her report to be false?

-dan

[exM20K]

39 minutes ago, MBDiagMan said:

I wouldn’t be writing such libelous posts under any circumstances.  It’s just not how I operate, but I would expect someone writing such a post to include links and references to hard clad evidence.

And you know this report to be false how? I’d expect someone throwing around acccusations of tortious slander or libel against another individual to include links and references to hard clad (sic) evidence.  See how that works?

-dan

[ArtVandelay]

I personally despise character defamation on a website.  We have the rule of law and courts in the United States.  Cujet this is NOT the venue to “voice your concerns”.  It strikes me as lowbrow and beneath character of those I would care to spend time with.  I am glad Don has taken the high road.  

Shadrach ask him to.
If you can post a glowing recommendation he should be able to post an opposing view.

[Niko182]

19 hours ago, MyNameIsNobody said:

I personally despise character defamation on a website

I'm really gonna have to disagree with this statement. What's the basis of yelp and Google review,
and even this website. It's to simply get information on certain aspects of something. This post happens
to be about Don Maxwell's shop (I don't know the guy and have nothing against him). If people had bad experiences
They should discuss them. If they had good experiences, they should recommend the shop. If you think this website is
bad, spend 10 minutes on Reddit, and you'll be blown away by all the terrible things written on there. but it appeals to my
generation, more than older generations.

[Guest]

I’m not taking sides on this.  Don has been asked about his side of the events by gsxrpilot, Paul, so he must be aware it’s being discussed.  This is an open forum where Don has the equal right to state his side of what went on if he so chooses.

Clarence

[Danb]

Don has nothing to gain by responding to this post, he’d be better off ignoring it.

He is a stand up guy, those who know him will attest. We all have issues with certain items over the years, of our maintenance, many subjective some not.

[bradp]

One thing I'm learning as I go through another year of aircraft ownership is that if you have a good relationship with your AP/IA and something didn't go as planned, there is a place for constructive feedback.  Mechanics like everyone else, aren't perfect and aren't infallible.  We all (should) get that.  However, the good ones will want to know about when things didn't go as planned so they can improve next time and avoid the same pitfall.  As an owner/operator / customer I feel that it's my responsibility to be part of that QI/QA process.  If I have a good relationship with the mechanic it doesn't mean I'll be heading for the hills....

[MrRodgers]

6 hours ago, Niko182 said:

I'm really gonna have to disagree with this statement. What's the basis of yelp and Google review,
and even this website. It's to simply get information on certain aspects of something. This post happens
to be about Don Maxwell's shop (I don't know the guy and have nothing against him). If people had bad experiences
They should discuss them. If they had good experiences, they should recommend the shop. If you think this website is
bad, spend 10 minutes on Reddit, and you'll be blown away by all the terrible things written on there. but it appeals to my
generation, more than older generations.

I am going to chime in here since it was me who started this thread/topic in the first place.  The original post was about my experience and appreciation of Don's service to me in the purchase of my first airplane.  I went to his shop from Los Angeles because of his reputation and his knowledge about Mooney's.  I was not disappointed in any way.  The fact that somehow this thread has devolved into some of the recent comments I have seen is disheartening.  Yes, we share information on MS and it's a valuable resource for all of us.  The information that each of us share however is subjective to our own experiences and judgements and will not always line up with what others might think. That's okay.

For me I cannot speak highly enough about the services and ongoing commitment that Don and his staff have shown to me.  He is an invaluable resource for anyone at anytime and from personal experience continues to remain a resource for me long after my PPI and the first Annual done at his shop.

[MBDiagMan]

16 hours ago, exM20K said:

And you know this report to be false how? I’d expect someone throwing around acccusations of tortious slander or libel against another individual to include links and references to hard clad (sic) evidence.  See how that works?

-dan

So exactly where did I claim to know anything?  I simply stated that I personally would not post negative comments under most any circumstances, but for those who choose to do so, they should have hard clad evidence.  Without it, they are operating in a way that I can’t reapect.

For those who are comfortable posting such things, it’s their business, but I personally won’t engage in such behavior.

[MyNameIsNobody]

10 hours ago, Niko182 said:

I'm really gonna have to disagree with this statement. What's the basis of yelp and Google review,
and even this website. It's to simply get information on certain aspects of something. This post happens
to be about Don Maxwell's shop (I don't know the guy and have nothing against him). If people had bad experiences
They should discuss them. If they had good experiences, they should recommend the shop. If you think this website is
bad, spend 10 minutes on Reddit, and you'll be blown away by all the terrible things written on there. but it appeals to my
generation, more than older generations.

Good for you.  Water off my back Mooney brother...

[MyNameIsNobody]

13 hours ago, teejayevans said:

Shadrach ask him to.
If you can post a glowing recommendation he should be able to post an opposing view.

Um, O.K. Whatever gets you through the day Mooney brother...

[MyNameIsNobody]

17 hours ago, exM20K said:

So, should I check with you before I recount a bad experience with a mechanic or other service provider?  I didn’t see @cujet launching  ad hominems like,, for example, you did. I’m glad he or she told their tale, and were I contemplating doing business with dmax, I’d ask him about it.  

My understanding of defamation is that it requires a false statement.  You know his or her report to be false?

-dan

Yes, check with me.  I am free for consult like next March Mooney brother...

[ilovecornfields]

21 minutes ago, MBDiagMan said:

So exactly where did I claim to know anything?  I simply stated that I personally would not post negative comments under most any circumstances, but for those who choose to do so, they should have hard clad evidence.  Without it, they are operating in a way that I can’t reapect.

For those who are comfortable posting such things, it’s their business, but I personally won’t engage in such behavior.

Publishing only positive outcomes without negatives ones is known as “publication bias” and clearly results in a distorted and inaccurate representation of “the truth.” If you have a positive experience, that’s great. Go ahead and share it. If you have a negative experience, you should share that too. We’re all adults and can make our own choices. I haven’t seen “iron clad evidence” of anything presented on Mooneyspace so I don’t think it’s fair to apply a different standard just because someone’s experiences differ from yours.

[Marauder]

So tell me. Which is fake news?

Marauder’s girl?




Or Marauder’s girl?







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[FloridaMan]

What if both are true? 

[kmyfm20s]

14 minutes ago, Antares said:

What if both are true? 

Kinda like how shallow Hal sees it:)

[Danb]

Holy crap, the Marauders chicks are hot

[Jerry 5TJ]

29 minutes ago, Danb said:

Holy crap, the Marauders chicks are hot

Attributed to climate change, perhaps.  

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Marauder said:

So tell me. Which is fake news?

Marauder’s girl?




Or Marauder’s girl?







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Is this a before and after?

 

[cujet]

On 9/4/2018 at 10:52 AM, Shadrach said:

 I am sure he has a different view of the events leading up to the failure.  It would be interesting to get that perspective as well.   

No, he does not. That's why he hid the broken parts from the owner. 

[ziggysanchez]

This is a bit long. I'll try to shorten it up as much as possible.

In Oct. of 2016 I traveled to Longview, TX to pick up my 231 from the Maxwell's after purchasing it from them.  Just before I took off for home there was a puff of smoke in the cockpit that came from behind the panel on the co-pilot side. After shut down Don, Paul and myself searched for what the culprit could be but to no avail. Don started and ran up the plane and there was no indication that anything was wrong. No more smoke, no indications of any failures, nothing. So he told me to let him know if I ended up having the issue again. I launched from KGGG to OKC without any issues on that flight. About two or three weeks later after putting a few hours on the plane I turned on the master switch and had another puff of smoke from behind the panel larger than the first one I had experienced in Longview. I pulled the cowl and found a place on the firewall next to the heater box where it looked like a wire had been arcing but didn't see any wires that looked like they could be the culprit. After speaking with Don and sending pictures he suggested I bring it back to them to look at again. It ended up being a chaffed battery cable. 

After replacing the cable everything was put back together and I was sent on my way. Taxied to the runway, accelerated for takeoff and just after rotation lost electrical power in the aircraft. Everything went offline that was electrically powered. I didn't retract the gear thinking it may not come up and if it did I may not get it back down so I left everything as it was and flew the pattern to land and taxied back to Maxwell's. Everything did come back online before landing. There was an electrical burning smell in the cockpit when I landed so I suspected it must be connected with the issue that I had flown in for them to fix. While troubleshooting the problem Don put his hand over the starter and it was too hot to touch. Anyway, turns out to be a starter solenoid failure that Don said he had never seen or encountered before. I won't get into all the details because it would take too long but It ended up frying my starter and completely draining the battery. By now it's after 6pm so I end up having to stay in Longview overnight at a hotel (which I had planned on possibly having to do anyway not knowing if my first issue was something they could fix in a day.) I was given a courtesy car and  Don and I were able to have dinner together. It was cool to be able to talk aviation with him.

The following morning Don locates a starter and solenoid and sends someone to pick it up in Dallas. By later that afternoon the starter and solenoid arrive and are installed in the airplane. It's getting late in the afternoon, so Don does a run-up on the plane and I can tell he doesn't like something he is seeing. After spending a considerable amount of time in the airplane he shuts it down and tells me he was getting  an amperage indication on the JPI 900 that doesn't make sense. We go in his office,  he makes some phone calls and I don't think he ever got the answers he was hoping for. Again, its after 6pm on my second day and a Friday night in Longview and he and Paul are still there trying to work out the issues on my airplane. Don suspects the battery may have been affected by the incident i had the previous day so he wants to run another battery test and let it charge overnight again. He told me He didn't want me flying it home at night until he knew it wasn't going to give me problems. I agreed. I didn't want to fly it at night either...lol.

I called and made a hotel reservation again for that night before heading out to dinner with Don and Jan (his wife) who decided to join us. Again, I enjoyed getting to spend time with Don and Jan, (who I had only met that day) and getting to know them. You learn a lot about people when you spend more than just a few minutes with them. They were both extremely apologetic for the problems I was having, even though these were problems they neither created nor could have predicted. Sometimes these things just happen. At dinner Jan insisted that I stay with them in their home that night so I wouldn't have to incur the expense of another night in a hotel. I respectfully declined because I had already made a hotel reservation and I didn't want to impose.

The next morning (on a Saturday) I show up at the shop. The battery has already been installed and Don has done a run-up and determined that everything is ok. Thirty minutes later I'm in the air and on my way back home to OKC.

This isn't the only time Don and his staff have provided me with this level of service. When I had two cylinders fail earlier this year and was AOG in Idabel, OK. Paul (Don's son) and Tom were there within 12 hours of the failure diagnosing the problem and pulling the two cylinders. The cylinders failed on a Thursday night at around 11pm. I sent Don a text at midnight which he responded to immediately. Paul and Tom arrived the next morning (Friday) in Idabel between 10:30 and 11am and I was back in the air by the following Wednesday before dark.

This is the reason it's difficult for me to believe that we have heard the entire story from some of the posters to this thread. I have no doubt that Don and his mechanics have missed some things on a PPI and unintentionally overlooked some things on an annual inspection and probably messed some things up. Every one of you on this forum who are aircraft mechanics have made those same mistakes while working on aircraft and will make them again. We're all only human. But having a failure after some sort of maintenance or repair doesn't automatically make it maintenance induced  (like in my case.)

Don Maxwell Aviation is the best shop I've ever dealt with (I'm sure there are others....I'm just speaking for myself) and after having spent a fair amount of time with Don and his family he has definitely earned and is worthy of the respect and admiration so many have bestowed upon him in the aviation community. 

Just my 2 pennies.

Edited September 7, 2018 by ziggysanchez