Maintenance recommendations

[richardheitzman]

Well, let me throw my hat in the ring on this one. I feel any company that does great work can survive the few bad issues that pop up. If not then they were not a good company in the first place. I have know most of the service centers you all mentioned for years now, and most if not all have done great service for the Mooney community. There are good days and bad days for them all. If someone had a bad experience at a service center, then this would be a great place to air it out and educate others on the issues. If there is bias because you are the customer complaining then so be it. We all understand that.

 

So on the flip side of the coin, the "bad customer". Mechanics love to talk about the bad customers. Like the guy who put his 30K+ engine overhaul on his credit card, picked up his aircraft and flew away, and then denied the charge the next day. Or the owner who picked up his aircraft and left after paying with a hot check valued at over 6K. Or the owner who didn't pay or pick up his aircraft for three months, because he was "out of the country" (free rent right?).

I like to say that when I open my service center in the near future I will have to "cultivate" my customer base. Keeping the good ones and "firing" the bad ones. We like customers who explain what they want, put it in writing, pay on time, and understand what a "estimate" is. (it means + or - 20% of the total bill in my book). I love customers who call often to check status so I can talk about progress, and who dont call to often to check status because they are annoying the hell out of me. I love customers who trust me to make the right decision to keep the aircraft in airworthy status and understand that I know they are not a bottomless pit of free money to me. I like customers who realize that sometimes I spend a freaking half day pulling out a stuck screw because some other A-hole left his easy out imbedded in the screw head and I am down to my last diamond head drill bit. I like a customer that comes in and tells me "lets review the list before you start working on it" and dont make me chase them down for a freaking week while the aircraft sits there screwing up my schedule.

So both sides of the coin there.

 

R

[rocketman]

psjny78.

There is a reason why your posts are deleted. The administrator of Mooneyspace is very wise to not let this "arena" deteriorate to "Topix" like discussions to vent frustrations and ill will. If everyone was allowed to post negative comments as you have so frequently under so many headings, this would be nothing less than a frustrated populace of political minded agendas to oust opponents with disagreements. Please stop posting anti-Cole statements. Your mission is accomplished.

There are other posts you have started with enjoyment and enthusiasm by others. Stick to these and find out what Monneyspace people are about. Were not about trashing, destroying, and elimination. Were about building our small numbered airplane owners to be better more cost efficient and safer.

If you want to continue trashing, please register and post on Topix. This is where you need to be for repeated incinderary comments. I want to learn about my plane, not about your isolated once in a life time experience with one MSC, good or bad.

And for what its worth, I am not a strong supporter for Joey Cole. I have had work done there and it was done well and professional, but way to expensive. I am not his follower, nor am I his hostile evil slayer to destroy him because of one bad experience. Because you constantly post negative comments does not make him any worse off than any other MSC. Each and everyone of them would likely have people like you that would like to publicly berate them because of a bad experience. But they don't. 

Please respect the wishes of the majority and move on to other topics (not Topix) that we all enjoy learning about.

 

[gregwatts]

I, too, joined this forum for intel. I want to hear about the good and the not so good. Perhaps trashing Cole Aviation was a bit harsh, but if th OP had an issue, I am interested. All the same, if someone does an outstanding job, I want to hear about it.

Good companies do make mistakes...and good companies rectify their mistakes.

There are also bad customers. Some customers can never be satisfied.

I would hate to see censorship take place on this forum. I personally have found useful info in between all of the expert opinions.

Just sayin'..........

[danb35]

Quote: rocketman

Please respect the wishes of the majority and move on to other topics (not Topix) that we all enjoy learning about.

[bnicolette]

I also would like to hear of a shop/mechanic that overlooked things especially to the extent that somebodies life was put in danger.  I for one like to read accounts of peoples close calls (Never Again, articles) or accident reports as it helps me learn.  I think that psjny78 had good intentions with his account of what happened to him.  I have no doubt that if that happened to me I would let the Mooney community know of that situation.  Absolutely, everybody makes mistakes but when you pay for an annual and certain things are to be checked, I expect those things to be checked well.  I don't want somebody that is just "checking the boxes".

We all know that there are going to be problems between shops and owners from time to time, but I think negligent things should be disclosed on a factual basis.  I can't imagine somebody about to take their airplane in for maintenance and not wanting to know if that shop has mis-managed some one else's maintenance event to the extent that an accident was possible because of it?

BTW, I also would like to know of good service as well.

[mooneym20d]

Quote: Bnicolette

I also would like to hear of a shop/mechanic that overlooked things especially to the extent that somebodies life was put in danger.  I for one like to read accounts of peoples close calls (Never Again, articles) or accident reports as it helps me learn.  I think that psjny78 had good intentions with his account of what happened to him.  I have no doubt that if that happened to me I would let the Mooney community know of that situation.  Absolutely, everybody makes mistakes but when you pay for an annual and certain things are to be checked, I expect those things to be checked well.  I don't want somebody that is just "checking the boxes".

We all know that there are going to be problems between shops and owners from time to time, but I think negligent things should be disclosed on a factual basis.  I can't imagine somebody about to take their airplane in for maintenance and not wanting to know if that shop has mis-managed some one else's maintenance event to the extent that an accident was possible because of it?

BTW, I also would like to know of good service as well.

[mooneym20d]

Quote: N601RX

So how did they explane that one?

[rocketman]

What makes you think that (1) these are the wishes of the majority, (2) you are the arbiter of the wishes of the majority, or (3) the wishes of the majority are relevant to a privately-operated board?

It's Craig's site, so his policy controls.  However, if his policy prohibits threads warning other users about poor mx experiences, I think it would be helpful if that were clarified, as I don't recall seeing it clearly stated anywhere.

 

Yes it is Craigs site and he deleted this thread once before. If one has a complaint say it once. If done over and over, its retributon or vengence and I assume nobody really wants here.

 

[Lionudakis]

Quote: jetdriven

I especially love the mechanic type who decide to take a bunch of things apart that you didnt authorize, dont check what you told them to, and put everything back together loose and misrigged.  Then charge you two grand for it.

But he was an experienced and "recommended" mechanic, and expensive as hell, so it was good maintenance by the checklist of requirements.  Alternator post melting off on its first cross country, cowl flap link broken, loose aileron pushrod nuts notwithstanding.

[Lionudakis]

Quote: Sabremech

While we're at it, let's set up a section for shops or mechanics to share their experiences with owners and pilots who refuse to pay their bills and maintain their airplanes IAW the FAR's. It could also include those owners who have a mechanics lien against their airplane for failure to pay the bill. This way when one of these bad owners brings their airplane to you because they can't find anyone to work on it, you can check the list and tell them to take their plane elsewhere.

 It would be interesting to see which list is longer!

[jetdriven]

AXH. Houston TX.

It was actually a "tag-team" match with a shop and an avionics shop to fleece me for the maximum amount. They sure did, 2200$ for a prebuy and that included one alternator swap, which failed at 2 hours and again at ~30 hours due to an undertorqued output terminal and a hand tight field wire.  "BM" somehow rigged the aircraft -2 on the ailerons with rigging boards, and the flaps were 0 on one side and -1 on the other.  Trashed the emergency gear extension cover plastic, lost the link for right cowl flap, and bungholed the 500$ plane power alternator install.  They also locked the aircraft in the hangar until I paid them i full. 

The "IFR static certification" must have been something, the static hose was completely off the right side fuselage port. Not sure how he measured the altimeter but yet still charged me 60$ extra for an adjustment of it,   "D.J." also spend two hours labor on a KI-201C indicator which was indicating improper without prior approval.   Then they also ripped the wires out of the autopilot disconnect sonalert that was mounted under the glareshield and lied about it.

The shop was initials B. M.

The avionics shop owner is D. J. and his shop is "J. A."

If you want to spend 2,000 and get nothing in return, in fact have to re- repair everything they touched, this is the place to go.

 

 

[Lionudakis]

I've heard a few shops remove the alt. so the whole system never gets checked for leaks.

[jetdriven]

how do you check the static system for leaks per FAR 43 appendix E then?

Our aircraft has an Aerosonic encoding altimeter.

 

In addition to the transponder tests required for VFR, IFR aircraft are required to have their altimeter and static system inspected and certified.

These tests are more involved and usually requires the removal of the altimeter and altitude encoder for bench testing and adjustment.

• 
  
• The altimeter is subjected to a series of tests to insure it meets the minimum requirements for accuracy and repeatability.
  
• The altitude encoder is checked against the primary altimeter and adjusted as required to insure data correspondence.
  
• After the equipment has been inspected and reinstalled in the aircraft, a static system leak check is performed. Leaks in the static system can cause significant errors in the altitude reporting equipment (and airspeed) and are sometimes difficult to locate.
  

[Lionudakis]

Oh, I didn't say it was correct, just what's done.