SantosDumont Posted July 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 2 hours ago, jaylw314 said: Did the first IA get paid yet? No I haven't paid him anything yet... which makes it awkward. I feel like I owe him for his hours worked... but I also feel if there's no logbook entry then there should be no payment. The only thing we really did was a couple compression checks and put the plane on jacks and do a gear check. He seems reluctant to do any more and told me that he's leaving Saturday for Osh and will be gone the rest of the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted July 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeev said: Man, sorry about your troubles. Since you are taking it to a shop I have had good success with Len over at EGA (VGT). He is a by the book IA but is realistic and has a lot of experience. He maintained my J for over 10 years and continues to with the new owner. I will call him and get a quote. I looked in my logbook and it had been maintained by Apex at HND for 10 years before I bought it. I talked to them today and they quoted me $2700 for an annual at their VGT shop... but I still have to get it to VGT somehow, so I still need to find an A&P willing to sign off on a ferry permit. Might as well get a quote from Len as well while I'm at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylw314 Posted July 18, 2019 Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, SantosDumont said: No I haven't paid him anything yet... which makes it awkward. I feel like I owe him for his hours worked... but I also feel if there's no logbook entry then there should be no payment. The only thing we really did was a couple compression checks and put the plane on jacks and do a gear check. He seems reluctant to do any more and told me that he's leaving Saturday for Osh and will be gone the rest of the month. It would be good to clarify with him whether he believes he started the inspection or not. AFAIK, if he believes he did not start an annual inspection, then you can pay him for a normal logbook entry for what he did (checked the compressions and swung the gear). Then you would not need a ferry permit, since the annual was not started, and you have documentation to support that conclusion (assuming the plane is not out of annual due to calendar date yet). Or you could just bail on him, get a ferry permit to be safe, and take it to the other guys. I assume the #2 IA you just spoke with would be willing to sign off on the ferry permit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted July 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 5 minutes ago, jaylw314 said: It would be good to clarify with him whether he believes he started the inspection or not. AFAIK, if he believes he did not start an annual inspection, then you can pay him for a normal logbook entry for what he did (checked the compressions and swung the gear). Then you would not need a ferry permit, since the annual was not started, and you have documentation to support that conclusion (assuming the plane is not out of annual due to calendar date yet). Or you could just bail on him, get a ferry permit to be safe, and take it to the other guys. I assume the #2 IA you just spoke with would be willing to sign off on the ferry permit. He said "if you are happier with what you were told by others about your engine then your should use them to do your annual". Unfortunately the plane is out of annual, otherwise I would have flown it to a shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted July 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2019 5 hours ago, pwnel said: You should reread what @kortopatessays above. You don't need another IA, that bit is done. I HIGHLY recommend folks to get Mike Busch's latest book on aircraft ownership so you understand your rights as Paul K explains. This exact scenario with Continental compressions and being forced into an unnecessary overhaul scenario is described in there. https://www.amazon.com/Mike-Busch-Airplane-Ownership-troubleshooting/dp/1073748952/ At this point I'm tempted to sign up for their managed maintenance service. $750 seems like a bargain compared to all the time and heartache I've spend on this annual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwnel Posted July 19, 2019 Report Share Posted July 19, 2019 Just now, SantosDumont said: At this point I'm tempted to sign up for their managed maintenance service. $750 seems like a bargain compared to all the time and heartache I've spend on this annual. You're getting the free advice anyway from Kortpates above as he's the Savvy Mooney person. Far as I know they don't take new customers in the middle of an annual. But check with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted August 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2019 I ended up calling all four shops up at VGT. I decided to use Lone Mountain because they actually immediately emailed me a quote with maintenance line items. They weren’t the cheapest quote, but their response was exactly how I want to be treated by a service provider. Problem now was that now I had to get it up there. Took me 2 days to put the plane back together. I tried to get one of the other mechanics to sign that my plane was safe to ferry but they weren’t interested in getting involved in small airport politics. Lone Mountain wanted $600 to send someone to inspect it. I ended up getting my CFII (who’s also an A&P IA) from CA to come out and I spent Marriott points to put him and his wife up room on the Strip. He inspected it and signed that it was safe to ferry. The following monday 8AM I called the FSDO to get a ferry permit. The guy that answered the phone said that I had to make an appt to go down there and appts are only available Tue - Thu, which was a bummer because I had to work out of town all week. Made an appt for the following Tuesday 9AM. The ASI emailed me Tuesday morning and wanted my 8130-6 and log entry. Got down to the FSDO and the ASI asks me why I even made an appt, because we could have done this all over email! The government at work. Finally was able to ferry the plane over to VGT this morning. Got a transition over Nellis and when I got to VGT was able to hear some excitement. Some tweaked out dude had jumped the fence and was running across the runways. They sent a van out to get him. Then he jumped out of the van and ran across the other runway and jumped the fence. They sent the police copter after him and followed him over to the walmart parking lot. In the meantime tower sent me and a couple cessnas on extended downwinds. Anyway this whole maintenance thing was too much drama. I’ve been down for two months and for what I thought I was going to save I’ve easily spent triple in my time. I also thought I would be able to better control the quality of the maintenance... which turned out to not be the case. Pretty much decided I’m never going to try to do an annual in my hangar ever again... and might even just give up on certificated airplanes and build an RV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy Posted August 9, 2019 Report Share Posted August 9, 2019 Don't move out of certified too soon. There is some talk now that the FAA is working on a new system that would allow those of us with "legacy" airplanes to exchange our "standard airworthiness" certificates for something called a "special airworthiness certificate" and then be able to avail ourselves of many of the new innovations now only used in experimental or sport aviation classes. I can't wait to see this. Talk about a move in the right direction! It might even include something akin to a "reapirman's certificate" for the specific airframe allowing the owner to work on it even without an A&P rating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantosDumont Posted August 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2019 45 minutes ago, cliffy said: Don't move out of certified too soon. It’s too late! I already read the specs for the RV-8! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy Posted August 10, 2019 Report Share Posted August 10, 2019 Yes but the sun beats down on you mercilessly in that clear canopy! :-) OH wait, you can fly upside down and avoid the sun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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