Summit Aviation.

[m20flyer]

Has anyone here used Summit Aviation in Middletown, DE? Thinking about using them for an annual.

Also, how long do the ON bladders last? Do they have a service life?

[mooney2201]

i have bladders and love them,,,lost a little fuel.but they dont leak..you can get fourth bladder to make up for the lost fuel,however my bladder cant go 5 hours,without a stop,,,if you want great mooney service,call freeway maintence 1 301 262 6544 they have a satellite airport away from restricted washington airspace,,,ridgely airport,it just ten minutes from summit airport...great work authorized mooney center,,,hope this helps

[m20flyer]

i have bladders and love them,,,lost a little fuel.but they dont leak..you can get fourth bladder to make up for the lost fuel,however my bladder cant go 5 hours,without a stop,,,if you want great mooney service,call freeway maintence 1 301 262 6544 they have a satellite airport away from restricted washington airspace,,,ridgely airport,it just ten minutes from summit airport...great work authorized mooney center,,,hope this helps

Sorry, do you mean summit aviation?

Edit: I see that there is a summit airport, too. Thanks!

[John Pleisse]

No experience with Summit. I have useD Rob Danzi at Sussex Aero in Gerogetown. Experienced, competent and reasonable. I also know Dan Towery (well known Bonanza ABS recommended IA) at Delaware Air Park. Great reputation and a great guy.

[jetdriven]

Our bladders were installed in 1991. no leaks and no bladder repairs or changes.

Three things I dont like. One, the old style fuel caps are Rapeon expensive and the o-rings even, are 120$. They changed the caps in the new kits. Two, you lose some fuel capacity, but they offer a 64 gallon kit to get around that. Three, the bladders collapse slightly when ran low and upon filling up, it takes a few minutes for the fuel to settle in and often results in being 2 gallons less than full if you are in a hurry.

[Alan Fox]

My Bonanza had the last 10 or 12 annuals done there before I purchased it , the average annual was about 7K , use your own judgement....

[m20flyer]

Good to know. would you trust them to do an annual? besides expensive, whats your opinion of the place?

[Marauder]

Has anyone here used Summit Aviation in Middletown, DE? Thinking about using them for an annual.

Also, how long do the ON bladders last? Do they have a service life?

Hi. I checked out Summit but they appear to be geared towards all of that helicopter retrofit stuff (big iron). Even though they were cordial during my visit, it was clear GA was not their primary interest. I spoke to their avionics shop about an upgrade at the same time and said they could do the work, but never bothered to call me back after I left my contact information with them.

The guy you want to see is Dennis Glick, Dutchland Aviation in Smoketown, PA. Very experienced with Mooneys and very reasonable.

As for the bladders, I had mine installed in 1991 and they have been fine. As mentioned by another poster, the O rings are extremely expensive. They offer a new cap but it is not flush mount (looks like a Piper cap). Very happy with the bladders. I had mine installed by O&N.

[230KT]

Hi. I checked out Summit but they appear to be geared towards all of that helicopter retrofit stuff (big iron). Even though they were cordial during my visit, it was clear GA was not their primary interest. I spoke to their avionics shop about an upgrade at the same time and said they could do the work, but never bothered to call me back after I left my contact information with them.

I have a somewhat different perspective of Summit. I've been working with them for about two years on a non-Mooney aircraft I fly, and have been pleased with their responsiveness and willingness to explain the problems to me. Understand though that they have a contract with my employer and work on several of our aircraft, so they're more worried about our business than a one-off transient annual inspection. Their helicopter retrofit work is a big part of their bottom line, but that work occurs in a separate hangar with different mechanics than those who work on GA fixed-wing aircraft. The GA hangar seems to be consistently full of a wide variety of aircraft, most recently a Cessna 206, a Fairchild, a King Air, and a Kodiak. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Mooney there, and they probably do more turbo-prop work than piston, so it might be wise to ask how much Mooney experience they have (if that's important to you). Otherwise, be clear about your timeline for getting the work done, and they're usually pretty good about making that happen...especially if you're likely to be a repeat customer.

[Marauder]

I have a somewhat different perspective of Summit. I've been working with them for about two years on a non-Mooney aircraft I fly, and have been pleased with their responsiveness and willingness to explain the problems to me. Understand though that they have a contract with my employer and work on several of our aircraft, so they're more worried about our business than a one-off transient annual inspection. Their helicopter retrofit work is a big part of their bottom line, but that work occurs in a separate hangar with different mechanics than those who work on GA fixed-wing aircraft. The GA hangar seems to be consistently full of a wide variety of aircraft, most recently a Cessna 206, a Fairchild, a King Air, and a Kodiak. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Mooney there, and they probably do more turbo-prop work than piston, so it might be wise to ask how much Mooney experience they have (if that's important to you). Otherwise, be clear about your timeline for getting the work done, and they're usually pretty good about making that happen...especially if you're likely to be a repeat customer.

I am wondering if the guy i met with had anything to do with the GA side. He whisked me through a hangar that had a Cessna having avionics work done and took me on a personal tour of the hangars where the helicopters were being retrofitted. Considering I told him what I was looking for and provided my contact information, i would have thought being a Delaware resident and based in the state they would have wanted to try to get my business. If you have never seen a Mooney there, probably a good indicator that they don't work on them much.