does your mechanic test fly your airplane after annual?

[rwabdu]

Got an annual from a new mechanic, my second year of airplane ownership. He said the plane is good to go and signed off on it but mentioned he usually test flies every aircraft he annuals, however, he didn't have time to test fly or test run my airplane. Should I fly it without him test running it? should I let him fly my airplane at all? I am a little hesitant about that, could insist he ground runs it only before I fly. nothing major on the annual, adjusted the timing on the magnetos, fixed breaks, oil change, etc. What do other mechanics do when completing annual? 

Edited May 9, 2023 by rwabdu

[PeteMc]

Mine does not fly it unless I tell him there is flight control issue that warrants it.

But they do usually run it up and check for oil leaks, etc.

 

[PT20J]

This comes up every so often and some make a big deal of it. In reality, thousands of airplanes undergo annual inspection each year without the mechanic flying the airplane afterwards with absolutely no problems. Many great maintainers are not pilots. The airlines don't have the mechanics fly the airplanes after maintenance. I flew for two part 135 operators and the airplanes flew scheduled revenue flights immediately after being returned to service by the maintenance department. The only time a test flight was required -- and this was done by the line pilots, not the mechanics -- was if the controls had been disconnected or a new engine or cylinder installed. Think about it: if you don't trust the mechanic, do you want him or her to crash your airplane? Get a mechanic you trust and do a good preflight and go flying.

Skip

[MikeOH]

I'm only up to six annuals but none of the three different shops have test flown the plane.  It bugged me the first year, but I came to accept that it is pretty normal. @PT20J lays it out well.

I do take a long time to 'preflight' after an annual; I pull the top and cheek cowls, for one.  And, yeah, I've found stuff

[PT20J]

The preflight is what will save you. People make mistakes. I have a friend that worked at the United Airlines maintenance depot at San Francisco and she has stories that will make your hair stand on end. One tip I picked up was that they made it a rule that no one could set a tool down on the airplane while working on it. This was after numerous incidents of opening inspection panels and finding tools inside the airframe. Try it. It's really hard as the most convenient place to set tools is often the airframe. I always inventory my tools after any maintenance.

After maintenance I have found all the screws on the spinner loose on a Beaver, the pitch links on a Schweitzer 300 unsafetied, a throttle control missing a cotter pin, and an inspection plate not reattached and stowed inside the wing on my airplane. I once flew an C-152 aerobat and during a hammerhead, a cleco fell out of a lightening hole in the rear of the wing and got trapped between the aileron and the wing causing a control problem. I don't think a test flight would have found any of these things.

Skip

[EricJ]

No test flights here, and I wouldn't want somebody else flying my airplane, anyway.    I've always done owner-assisted annuals, so I'm usually the one doing the runup checks, too, with the IA just observing.   I even understand why many IAs won't even ride along for the test flight;  they have no idea what kind of pilot you might be.

+1 that a very thorough pre-flight and runup is warranted after any major maintenance or after an annual.   A good leak-check runup should be done, too, since typically fuel and other fluid lines may have been disconnected for maintenance or access to filters or screens.

I'm in the middle of my annual right now.    I'll be glad when it's done. 

[hammdo]

Ditto - I do my own…

-Don

[PT20J]

Gotta do the post flight run up and leak check. I fly it around to warm it up before the annual to do the compression check hot and drain the oil warm also, although we never could do that at the museum and it didn't seem to make a difference.

[DCarlton]

I've done a post maintenance test flight with my mechanic in the right seat but no mechanic has ever flown my aircraft.  I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to it though if they were added to the insurance as an authorized pilot.  

[hubcap]

3 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

I've done a post maintenance test flight with my mechanic in the right seat but no mechanic has ever flown my aircraft.  

^^^^This^^^^
My mechanic is not a pilot.

I prefer to not let anyone, except me, fly Myrtle.

[MB65E]

I’ve flown everything I’ve released with my signature on it except for a few exceptions. For him to not even do a run up post maintenance is unacceptable.  
-Matt 

[hais]

You might find this useful for creating your post- maintenance pre-flight routine:

 

https://youtu.be/lTi1qKbwoAU

[kortopates]

Although our maintainers don’t do a test flight, they should be doing run-up checks including leak checks will even the log entry will often reflect this.

What i think the big mistake many pilots do is show up on a weekend day to fly their bird home after annual. Arriving after the shop is closed isn’t a smart move if you do find an issue or question doing the preflight. The smart pilot though will do a short return to service flight above the airport - depending on the work done and make sure all is functioning before departing into IFR conditions.


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[toto]

I don’t let any other *pilots* fly the plane, much less other mechanics

 

[RobertGary1]

Only mechanics who flew my plane were with a MSC.  Never had a non Mooney shop do that. 

[47U]

If the shop is following the Mooney 50 hr/100 hr/Annual Inspection Guide, pre inspection and post inspection engine runs are required.

[bradp]

One tip is if your plane is coming out of maintenance and you are test flying it, expect to be a test pilot.  

After paint I had a rigging issue such that the plane wanted to bank hard left.  Insta test pilot.  

The procedure after major engine work was fully decowled engine, inspect.  Run up.  Inspect.  First break in flight   (Done by another mid-RR / mechanic). Decowl   Inspect   Fly home   

Another time I heard a rattling on landing coming from the empennage.  It was a snap on ratchet.  I definitely kept that one.  Lottery winner? 
 

 

[RLCarter]

Not sure what the percentage of A&P/IA’s are also pilots , but I’d guess it’s low…. A run up is required and so is a return to service flight which is a SOLO flight. As far as letting them fly it after service I don’t see the issue 

[1980Mooney]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

...People make mistakes... I have a friend that worked at the United Airlines maintenance depot at San Francisco.. One tip I picked up was that they made it a rule that no one could set a tool down on the airplane while working on it. This was after numerous incidents of opening inspection panels and finding tools inside the airframe. Try it. It's really hard as the most convenient place to set tools is often the airframe. I always inventory my tools after any maintenance.

Good advice.  During the review of the disastrous Apollo 1 fire in 1967 that killed Grissom, White And Chaffee, the Command Module was disassembled.  Inside the space capsule, which had been assembled in a clean room environment,  a wrench socket was found.  

[Shadrach]

On 5/9/2023 at 2:04 AM, RLCarter said:

Not sure what the percentage of A&P/IA’s are also pilots , but I’d guess it’s low…. A run up is required and so is a return to service flight which is a SOLO flight. As far as letting them fly it after service I don’t see the issue 

^^^^^This….I would never expect a maintenance technician to perform a post maintenance test flight.  Indeed I would probably forbid it unless done by a Mooney savvy individual with lots of experience with vintage Mooneys. 
I’ve had some bad maintenance experiences over the course of 20 years of ownership. I regret allowing a handful to perform maintenance on my bird, allowing a mechanic to fly it doubles the chances of additional headaches.

All the above being said, there are few “experts” in the US, Canada and Caribbean that I would exempt from my no fly policy.

[JayMatt]

I suggest doing the work on your own annual at least once. 1. it will save you a lot of money. 2. it will help you appreciate the cost you pay for an annual because it sucks lol. 3. you will learn a ton about your airplane and it will really help ease your mind when it comes to what has been checked. I do absolutely every piece my AI will let me do along with hitting everything with tri-flow. I follow the manual and go through every item and he'll go through all the items after me that I'm not allowed to do and verify it all. it's a tedious process but also kind of fun to do. He didn't test fly mine but he did do a startup and warmup. I don't think there is a need to actually fly. Just run it on the ground a good 30 minutes and put it under a load with the prop several times to test it. After that, if there were any issues they should have been caught. 

[Pinecone]

11 hours ago, PT20J said:

One tip I picked up was that they made it a rule that no one could set a tool down on the airplane while working on it. This was after numerous incidents of opening inspection panels and finding tools inside the airframe. Try it. It's really hard as the most convenient place to set tools is often the airframe. I always inventory my tools after any maintenance.

In the USAF every tool box has foam inserts with cutouts for each tool.  Last step before releasing the aircraft is to open EVERY drawer and visually confirm that every cutout has a tool.  If one is missing, it MUST be found.

[Austintatious]

I fly professionally and the mechanic who keeps the airplane up is not legally allowed to fly the aircraft... Such is the case for many...

IMHO, since they may not even be capable or allowed to fly the aircraft... My rule is that after major maintenance, repair, ECT.... they better be at least WILLING to ride along.  I have accepted aircraft out of maintenance before and told the mechanic to hop in for the test flight... I had one say "uhh, give me another half hour with the airplane".  Jerk.

[201Mooniac]

While my plane is rarely test flown other than by me, my MSC owner is a Mooney pilot (former owner) who I have flown with on long flights and trust his flying, he is the only one I allow to test fly but that really doesn't happen unless there is a condition only noticeable in flight.  Post maintenance run up always happens though.

[Will.iam]

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

In the USAF every tool box has foam inserts with cutouts for each tool.  Last step before releasing the aircraft is to open EVERY drawer and visually confirm that every cutout has a tool.  If one is missing, it MUST be found.

Same requirement for dropped pen or pencil you find it or the aircraft is grounded until you do. Commercial aviation not so much, as i have gone down pass the rudder pedals to get a pen only to find way more of them including water bottles rags sunglasses and a mag flashlight.