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Annual Time, It’s No Cessna!


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I have been doing owner assist Annuals on my Cessna 140 for many years and started stripping the Mooney today for annual.  It’s no Cessna!  I can strip my Cessna in a few hours now that I have done it a few times.

I removed the engine covers and built a rack so that I could safely store them without threat of them getting stepped on.  I pulled 26 covers from underneath the right wing and pulled all the fuselage covers except the belly covers.  I took time to go get a creeper for the hangar and lumber to build the panel rack.  I had about six hours in it including a diversion to visit with a Mooney driver that landed.  I plan on doing the other wing and belly Pans in the morning and then see what it takes to get out the interior.  They are supposed to start the annual Monday.

As an aside, the gentleman that did the prebuy inspection and first annual said that it was the most corrosion free Mooney he had seen in thirty years.  I now know why he said that.  Everywhere I looked inside looked like brand new.  I have yet to see the tiniest bit of corrosion.  Before coming home with me she lived her entire life in a hangar where she was born, in Kerrville, Texas.  There is a lot to be said for a dry climate.

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Dang! I made a list of fasteners at annual in January, but not panels. Let's see how my memory goes:

  • Cowl, 1
  • Cowl cheeks, 2
  • Left wing, 3
  • Right wing, 4
  • Radio bay access, 1
  • Belly, 1 (thank you, previous owner!)
  • Fuselage tail, 5
  • Doghouse, 2
  • Spinner, 1 + 3 blade covers

I think that's all. Plenty of dzus fasteners instead of screws, but still plenty o' them.

I'll stop by tomorrow for the fastener list and see what I mis-remembered.  ^_^

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I did my first owner assisted annual the first of this month. And I believe half the weight of my plane is in screws!!!!!! Have fun, and sounds like you will learn a lot about your plane.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Yes, getting familiar with the ship is the reason I do it.  The savings will be minimal.  I know my Cessna from spinner to stern light after many annuals.

Hank, I never thought of using Dzus fasteners everywhere.  It would be a huge undertaking.  Is it worth it?

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Please point out in my writing where I &itched and moaned.  I love my Mooney and am perfectly willing to do what it takes to keep it reliably, safely and legally airworthy.  I did, however, contrast the job against what it takes on my other aircraft.

As far as powered drivers go, I doubt if there is anyone here who appreciates them more than myself.  I am 68 years old and grew up in my Dads auto repair shop.  Beyond the powered valve grinding machine and a few clunky electric drills I don’t recall a power tool of any kind in that shop before the early to mid sixties.  In addition to that, in the Army I was trained in maintenance, troubleshooting and repair of the Nike Hercules missile, a 43 feet long, two stage nuclear warhead equipped missile.  It had hatches with well over a hundred screws on each and no power tools.  The best we had was a speed handle and a Philips bit.  Although we had crewman to remove and replace hatches for us, we still got our share of dealing with those screws using hand tools, so believe me, I understand and appreciate modern drivers.

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There is no reason to remove all the wing panels. The manual clearly shows which panels to remove. Some are there for ease of assembly but don’t expose anything new for inspection. 

You want to have the manual out and open to ensure you’re following it  

-Robert

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Yes the manual shows specific panels that need to be removed.   From the first owner assisted annual I removed all the inspection covers.  I like to clean each bay and like to spray corrosion X into each bay.  Yes it take me a day to open up the patient for it's annual colonoscopy.:o

 

I do all the cleaning, lubing and corrosion protection as well as my own inspections.  Reinstalling the interior parts is what I hate the most.:(

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2 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

I have read that, too, but haven’t found a way yet to inspect each rib bay for rodent nests, for instance, without removing all of the inspection panels.  

To each their own. 

Jim

That’s a bit unexpected. With an inspection mirror you should be able to see the entire bay with one panel. 

-Robert

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3 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Amen!  It takes me a full day to open her and almost a full day to button her up when we are done. But I do a lot of cleaning and inspecting along the way.  I also do ALL of the service work and for that my IA gives me a $200 owner assist credit against my bill. 

A good deal for both of us, I think. 

Jim

$200 to open and close is a little stingy. I do quite a bit more than that -- jack up the plane (in my hangar), remove cowl (and all those panels that are specified in the manual), lube everything per manual, change oil, oil filter, service Challenger air filter, r&r plugs, wheels, disassemble and lube PFS exhaust, remove seats and carpet, all the grunt work, etc. but even if it were just the access panels off and on it is saving the A&P more than 2 or 3 hours. (My credit is well over half the flat rate annual cost.) 

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1 hour ago, Bob_Belville said:

$200 to open and close is a little stingy. .... (My credit is well over half the flat rate annual cost.) 

I agree. It takes me more then 4h to remove all necessary access panels and cowl and as much to put them back. Plus additional work and repairs I do; we do it in my hangar.

As for wing access panels: normally I remove only ones specified in SM. Easy way to recognize them was to replace screws after the paint job with new, stainless steel ones. I don't need to consult the SM to do that anymore. :)

 

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Hi, Bob. Yes, I do all of that too.  And more. It generally falls within my definition of "service work".  Also in my hangar, with my jacks, manuals, and mostly my tools.
I guess, though, that the $200 credit I mentioned requires some context.  He only charges me $800 plus a reasonable hourly rate for whatever his time is into any repairs or upgrades that we identify.
We have a good relationship that I value greatly.
 
I'd say he's giving you more than a $200 credit. A proper annual, without repairs or installations, is worth at least $1700.

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8 hours ago, RobertGary1 said:

There is no reason to remove all the wing panels. The manual clearly shows which panels to remove. Some are there for ease of assembly but don’t expose anything new for inspection. 

You want to have the manual out and open to ensure you’re following it  

-Robert

Except for on an airplane which you’ve never seen before and other things indicate that it is in a condition that warrants deeper inspection. 

Clarence

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35 minutes ago, Yetti said:

Interested to know how you came up with that number.

https://www.aglaviation.com/pricing-rates

M20s non turbo, 23 hours $1610 labor only plus oil, filters...

AGL is a MSC with pretty competitive shop rates in our rural area. 

Too low?

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Let's break it down

Inspection airframe, Engine, Paperwork.   and it is a known plane.  I spent 4 hours checking the ADs and the IA and I spent another 2-3 reviewing

Open up the plane, owner a day, lubing takes several hours but owner supplied.

Owner supplied oil change.

If the airplane is all opened up inspection should be 2 - 3 hours, tail huckbolts, control rods, all linkages.   The pilot should know about these things from preflighting, by checking for sloppyness.

gear swing and emergency extension can be all owner supplied under the watchful eye of the IA.   Check preloads.

owner takes off jacks warms it up and goes over for compression, timing, engine inspection. about an hour.  Owner takes spark plugs out and puts them back in, properly tourqued

Paper work is probably 2 hours

Owner spends umpteen billion hours putting the plane back together

I count up about a days worth of time for the IA.  What I like about my IA is he focuses on things that will kill me, like tail falling off and corrosion.

 

 

 

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54 minutes ago, Yetti said:

Let's break it down

Inspection airframe, Engine, Paperwork.   and it is a known plane.  I spent 4 hours checking the ADs and the IA and I spent another 2-3 reviewing

Open up the plane, owner a day, lubing takes several hours but owner supplied.

Owner supplied oil change.

If the airplane is all opened up inspection should be 2 - 3 hours, tail huckbolts, control rods, all linkages.   The pilot should know about these things from preflighting, by checking for sloppyness.

gear swing and emergency extension can be all owner supplied under the watchful eye of the IA.   Check preloads.

owner takes off jacks warms it up and goes over for compression, timing, engine inspection. about an hour.  Owner takes spark plugs out and puts them back in, properly tourqued

Paper work is probably 2 hours

Owner spends umpteen billion hours putting the plane back together

I count up about a days worth of time for the IA.  What I like about my IA is he focuses on things that will kill me, like tail falling off and corrosion.

 

Sounds like what I do including about a day of IA time.

I do ask Nathan of AGL to R&R (including safety wire) the oil screen and he's cleans and repacks the wheel bearings. He can do those items much more efficiently than I can. I don't mess with the fuel selector valve or the fuel filter. I want Lynn's eyes on those critical areas. 

Of course our gentle readers should understand several of the tasks we're discussing are not on the list of pilot approved preventive maintenance and your A&P/IA must be willing to "supervise" and sign off your work. It's potentially your neck and his licences at stake. 

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6 minutes ago, HRM said:

Does the nose lower cowl need to be removed for annual? I have found that to be an incredibly demanding (set of)  task(s).

No, not on our Es. (Though I've had mine on and off several times lately working on the SabreCowl. It is tough for one person.)

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7 minutes ago, Bob_Belville said:

No, not on our Es. (Though I've had mine on and off several times lately working on the SabreCowl. It is tough for one person.)

Thank god for small favors! 

A HF "Ratcheting Tie-Down Strap" is your friend when working it alone.

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Many moons ago I took my private checkride in a cessna 140. Had to learn to fly a nosewheel 172 when I got my instrument rating. The 140 only had a single KX170B.

I had a fair number of hours in my logbook before learning to fly a nosewheel. Cessna 140, Aeronca, Decathlon, Swift, J3. Flew a supercub too but it was on floats, and a 150hp c-150 on floats.

 

-Robert

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On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:49 AM, mike20papa said:

As you bitch & moan about ALL THOSE SCREWS .. just think of the "good 'ol days" before electric screw drivers  - not all that long agoooo.... 

That's why they made Yankee screwdrivers, way before electric drivers.

PritchImage result for yankee screwdriver

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