Pirep on Wetwingologist

[PMcClure]

Thought it may be helpful to give a PIREP on Wetwingologist in Fort Lauderdale. I had a serious leak on the right tank that wasn't getting any better and decided to reseal with Edison at Wetwingologist. Communication was great and I had the month of August when I knew I would not be flying so Edison worked me in during this time. I flew down, dropped off the plane at Banyan FBO and spent the weekend in Fort Lauderdale with my wife. In September, I flew back to FXE to pick up the plane. I had to reschedule due to weather and Edison was not available to meet me on the new date and he left the plane at Banyan. The tank repair looks excellent but I did experience an issue that left me a little disappointed. All 6 fuel sending units (2 manual site indicators, and 2 each wing inboard and outboard) were frozen on 2-5 gallons. Wings were full of fuel. Edison was unavailable so I had to decide to depart as is. I was able to free the manual gauges with a swift smack. And I freed 1 of the in wing sending units with some maneuvers in air. But ultimately I had to have the units removed, cleaned and re-installed by my home shop. Edison offered to fix the issue, but I would have to fly back to FXE and spend a day or 2 in a hotel. Ultimately, we worked out a compromise on the cost to repair but I would have preferred that their functionality was verified before putting the aircraft back in service. I am still working to insure the sending units are working correctly and it is really a pain in the @#$ to have to deal with this after paying so much for the repairs and also having spent so much $$ and time installing and lining out the new CIES sending units 2 years ago. All and all, I would do it again with Edison, but thought this info may be helpful to the next guy....

A few suggestions:

1. Plan on replacing the wing drains when doing a reseal. I think it was $500 per side. He does not quote this in advance but you surely will want to do it when going to all this trouble. 

2. Banyan was a nice FBO but expensive. 100 gallons of fuel at over $9/gallon, plus $50 per day ramp fee and $50 each way tow to Edisons. After some discussion, they gave me a discounted rate and comped 2 days of ramp fees. Still well over $1000. South Florida is always expensive, but Jeeze Louise! 

3. The warranty is nice, but consider the cost of returning to FXE to have work done. Round trip air fare, Banyan services, hotel, etc... 

 

[carusoam]

Nice pirep PMc… thanks for sharing the details…

Let us know what gummed up the works when you find out.

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

Thought it may be helpful to give a PIREP on Wetwingologist in Fort Lauderdale. I had a serious leak on the right tank that wasn't getting any better and decided to reseal with Edison at Wetwingologist. Communication was great and I had the month of August when I knew I would not be flying so Edison worked me in during this time. I flew down, dropped off the plane at Banyan FBO and spent the weekend in Fort Lauderdale with my wife. In September, I flew back to FXE to pick up the plane. I had to reschedule due to weather and Edison was not available to meet me on the new date and he left the plane at Banyan. The tank repair looks excellent but I did experience an issue that left me a little disappointed. All 6 fuel sending units (2 manual site indicators, and 2 each wing inboard and outboard) were frozen on 2-5 gallons. Wings were full of fuel. Edison was unavailable so I had to decide to depart as is. I was able to free the manual gauges with a swift smack. And I freed 1 of the in wing sending units with some maneuvers in air. But ultimately I had to have the units removed, cleaned and re-installed by my home shop. Edison offered to fix the issue, but I would have to fly back to FXE and spend a day or 2 in a hotel. Ultimately, we worked out a compromise on the cost to repair but I would have preferred that their functionality was verified before putting the aircraft back in service. I am still working to insure the sending units are working correctly and it is really a pain in the @#$ to have to deal with this after paying so much for the repairs and also having spent so much $$ and time installing and lining out the new CEIS sending units 2 years ago. All and all, I would do it again with Edison, but thought this info may be helpful to the next guy....
A few suggestions:
1. Plan on replacing the wing drains when doing a reseal. I think it was $500 per side. He does not quote this in advance but you surely will want to do it when going to all this trouble. 
2. Banyan was a nice FBO but expensive. 100 gallons of fuel at over $9/gallon, plus $50 per day ramp fee and $50 each way tow to Edisons. After some discussion, they gave me a discounted rate and comped 2 days of ramp fees. Still well over $1000. South Florida is always expensive, but Jeeze Louise! 
3. The warranty is nice, but consider the cost of returning to FXE to have work done. Round trip air fare, Banyan services, hotel, etc... 
 

Thanks for the pirep.


What’s the reseal cost these days?
What happens to the fuel in your tanks when you arrive? I would hope you don’t have to pay to refill your tanks from empty.
Any damage to the paint from the work?

[Hank]

9 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Thanks for the pirep.


What’s the reseal cost these days?
What happens to the fuel in your tanks when you arrive? I would hope you don’t have to pay to refill your tanks from empty.
Any damage to the paint from the work?

I arrived without lots of fuel, on purpose. I paid for new fuel up to the caps, I think it was 52.2 gallons for my 52-gal tanks; it was a separate payment direct to Banyan (an amazing FBO, complete with Mooney-priced boats for sale inside). 

Because his process is mostly manual scraping with solvent applied only to stubborn areas, the risk of paint damage is minimal. I had none. 

When I left my plane on a Saturday, Edison drove me across town to airline home. My Mooney was ready on time, and he was right on the estimate. I think he gave me a small discount for being a MAPA member.

I'm a happy customer. 

[PMcClure]

I did arrive low on fuel (about 15 gal as I recall) as I was not sure if I could reuse it or not. The bill from Banyan was for 99 gallons for a 89.5 gallon plane :). I did not notice any paint damage, however, the manual sight gauges are now crazed and foggy. If I had to do it again, I would replace these new. Cost - I don't want to go look at that invoice again, but over the wire was nearly $14,500. From what I can tell the quality of work looks excellent. Only disappointment was the fuel sending units. I am not familiar with the detail operation of the CIES gauges, but avionics shop that repaired them reported sealant on the mechanism. Also, the installation of those things was very tricky so it doesn't surprise me that they may have been disturbed during this type of work. I just wish it would have been identified before turning the plane back to me. 

[FlyWalt]

8 hours ago, PMcClure said:

plus $50 per day ramp fee and $50 each way tow to Edisons.

EXCUSE ME!!!!!!???????

At that price, I will give up my flying job, rent Edison's ramp space, buy a tug and work there full time managing the aircraft movement and storage. The only reason FBOs charge that kind of crap is because aircraft owners are simply paying the bill. I will be avoiding FXE when we are in the area for Thanksgiving. Thank you for the heads up.

[Tom 4536]

7 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Thanks for the pirep.


What’s the reseal cost these days?
What happens to the fuel in your tanks when you arrive? I would hope you don’t have to pay to refill your tanks from empty.
Any damage to the paint from the work?

In September Weep-No-More charged me $8900 to strip & reseal both tanks (36gal ea) on my 231.

No extras for fuel, hanger or other airport fees.

No damage to the paint, but the wax was gone. I just had to reapply Wash n Wax to bring the shine back.

 

[jcolgan]

I am scheduled for a reseal  at Wetwinologist Ft Lauderdale this summer and am trying to plan out everything.  

Is it necessary to drop the plane off at Banyan or is that only if you can’t arrive on the date you’re supposed to?

It looks like it is a short drive or long walk to the tri-rail train station to get down to MIA to get back home.  Is it a safe area to walk or should I just get an Uber?

Safe to leave Bose headsets and Stratus in the plane, or remove all valuables? I was told it would be outdoors a few days during the leak check.

Any pre or post work measures advisable? I assume a good coat of wax to help seal against the salt air and abrasions would be good. Fuel cap seals are good as sitting out in a few rain showers seems inevitable. Anything else?

Saw the recommendation to have the sump drains replaced. General consensus that’s a good idea to do at the time? I have one original and one that’s been replaced and both are working fine.

Any information or lessons learned would be appreciated. 

I just replaced all landing shock discs and normally land well, so am hopeful I can do this once and have it last the rest of my piloting years as me and my M20C are both close to being 60 years old. 

[Hank]

I left my Mooney at Wet Wings, with the canopy cover on. Handed the keys to Edison.

Call.and talk to him about it. Fuel after the seal came from Banyan, and he took me over in his golf cart to pay the bill.

You'll likely need to get over to the commercial airport KFLL for the ride home. Edison can advise on that, too. When I went back to pick it up, due to airline schedules I had to arrive after dark, and taxied to a hotel across the street from KXFE. Uber will likely be better, but I was there in 2010 . . .