Great maintenance shop in Pittsburgh area

[bnicolette]

Hi all,

I hope it is not out of line to "plug" a local shop on the forum.  I have done a lot of reading on this forum and others about the use of a MSC or not.  I personally have divided feelings on the subject myself and don't want to start a thread debating that topic.  I have noticed that the "Resources" tab on this forum is not active and it would make a good spot for us to post on pleasant experiences we have had or post good shops we have been to.  With the price of gas going through the roof, it is now more than ever hard to justify flying hundreds of miles to get to a MSC for those of us that don't live close to one or a at least a "good one".

I am one of those guys that likes to have my plane looked at by another set of professional eyes more than once a year.  In fact with the amount of flying I do, I have been having it looked at once a month so far.  The costs are minimal for that extra "warm and fuzzy", that things appear to be normal.  Probably overkill for many, but that is just my personal preference.  I fly for a living and after every flight, our plane is looked at from nose to tail and obviously not just a "walkaround".  I try to operate my personal airplane just like we do our corporate airplanes; within reason obviously.

I just wanted to post for those that are reasonably close to the KLBE area, that there is an excellent shop/mechanic located there.  http://www.aeroinnovationsinc.com He maintained our corporate jets at 84 Lumber when they had a flight department and we never missed a trip due to a mechanical issue.  Their team of mechanics where "bar none" the most meticulous group of mechanics that I have ever worked with.  He is now located at Latrobe (Arnold Palmer Regional) Airport.  His shop is EXTREMELY orderly and has tooling to handle whatever kind of maintenance you require.  He is very accommodating when it comes to scheduling maintenance and the airplane is done when he says it will be done.  I have never had any issues after maintenance has been done with my Mooney or with the jets.  He is not the cheapest mechanic on the block, but as we all know, we get what we pay for.

Again, I have had great experiences with Dave (Aero Innovations) and just wanted to relay that to members of this board who might be geographically close and need a good dependable shop for maintenance.

Brett

PS - If this sort of thing is inappropriate for the forum, please don't hesitate to let me know and I will delete it.

[Ned Gravel]

Brett:

Your post is very appropriate.  We often spend too much time worrying about the things not done correctly and not enough time thanking those that have done things correctly.

Your words represent the opinion of a professional who considers himself lucky to be dealing with the folks he is commenting about.  These are words worth reading.

Know that, because of what you have written, I would be inclined to make use of the services of Aero Innovations should I ever need service on my aircraft while in that part of the USA.  Thank you for that.

[richardheitzman]

Great job with taking the time to talk them up. Customer Testimonial (good or bad) is the best way to find a good (or stay away from a bad) service center or any type of services period. Pass them my contact and I will see if they want to come on board as a AmSafe Service Center. I am always looking for good facilites like this.

Richard Heitzman

rheitzman@amsafe.com

830-822-8068

[bnicolette]

Thank you guys for the replies.  I wasn't sure about that post obviously, but feel better about it now. 

Bnicolette<-----------Newbie at forums!!