Annual going well.....until.......

[Earl]

Just stopped by my friendly A&P in the midst of my annual for the second or third time to see how things were going.   Compressions were good, gear swing perfecto, pulled, inspected and minor adjustments to both mags, O2 bottle off for hydrostatic test, recent fuel tank leak repair job looking great......had a small leak around the fuel selector valve that they discovered and had removed to replace the gaskets and ack, it has a small crack........not repairable.....

 

Just curious if anyone has had a similar problem and what the part costs.  The do not think the core will be worth anything because the crack is near the threads.   I guess after five years of annual inspections costing around $1,800 I was due for something.

[N601RX]

There was a almost new one on e-bay a few days ago off a salvaged K model

[Earl]

I saw that one when I did an internet search.  Thought it was for a 1979 model but maybe its the same part.  Too good to be true as they were only asking $50 for it.  I will contact them.

[N601RX]

I may have had the one for the K and S mixed up.  I've purchased several things from the person who has the K valve listed and have always been happy with what he sold me.

[KSMooniac]

Check LASAR too.  

[M20F-1968]

I have a fuel selector and  separate fuel strain from an Ovation with 400 total hours on them both (see pictures).  If that works I can be reached at (617) 877-0025 or at johnabreda@yahoo.com

The blue colored fuel selector looks like an H&E but is made by a different company.  This may be able to be used as well.

I do not have much information about it.

 

John Breda

[Skywarrior]

Earl -

 

Where have you been getting $1,800 Annuals?! 

 

Chuck

[Earl]

Earl -

 

Where have you been getting $1,800 Annuals?! 

 

Chuck

H&L Aircraft based at KRYY.  They have been doing my annuals since I bought my Mooney.  Very thorough and reasonable.  Here is the cost of my last three annual inspections:  $1,205.14, $1998.21 and $1,578.34.  Bear in mind I am a maintenance fanatic so when I have an issue I don't put it off for the annual.  I get it fixed.  Over that period of time I also had over $10K of other maintenance costs.

[Earl]

I have a fuel selector and  separate fuel strain from an Ovation with 400 total hours on them both (see pictures).  If that works I can be reached at (617) 877-0025 or at johnabreda@yahoo.com

The blue colored fuel selector looks like an H&E but is made by a different company.  This may be able to be used as well.

I do not have much information about it.

 

John Breda

John:  Thanks for the reply.  I already found the part at LASAR.

[Earl]

Got my final bill for my annual.  Had to replace my battery as well.  Between that, the new fuel selector valve replacement, left and right magneto inspection and repair and having my O2 bottle hydro tested and recharged the total was $2,699 plus another $1,000 for the valve.  By far the most expensive annual since I have had the Mooney.

[AndyFromCB]

Wow, I would love to get that bill ;-) I've owned aircraft now for 3 years and never have seen an annual that wasn't 5 figures.

[KSMooniac]

Not terrible... just average your costs over the last 6 years and you'll feel better!

 

Rule #1 is still NEVER ADD UP ALL THE COSTS.

[sreid]

Wow, I would love to get that bill ;-) I've owned aircraft now for 3 years and never have seen an annual that wasn't 5 figures.

Three years of 5 figure annuals would be 2/3 of the street price of a lot of our airplanes. Your mechanic wouldn't cut it for a lot of us...

[AndyFromCB]

Three years of 5 figure annuals would be 2/3 of the street price of a lot of our airplanes. Your mechanic wouldn't cut it for a lot of us...

 

I'm kind of hoping this is the end of these for a while, replaced everything that needed replacing, all these little 1/2 hour charges do add up. But I still don't see how an annual can only cost $2500 unless nothing what so ever is broken.

[KSMooniac]

They can cost even less than that, if nothing is broken and only the normal filters, O-rings, etc. are changed.   Way less if you do owner-assist style (and of course don't count your time!).  Your plane, however, is more complex than many others especially considering all of your installed equipment that is supposed to be checked out.

[GaryP1007]

I have a fuel selector and  separate fuel strain from an Ovation with 400 total hours on them both (see pictures).  If that works I can be reached at (617) 877-0025 or at johnabreda@yahoo.com

The blue colored fuel selector looks like an H&E but is made by a different company.  This may be able to be used as well.

I do not have much information about it.

 

John Breda

Hey John, how's the "F" project progressing?

[Earl]

Actually the labor charge for the annual inspection was $975 and all the extras added up to the $3,700 total.  But that is actually high in my five year's of Mooney ownership experience.  But again, as I stated above I am diligent on maintenance and don't wait for annual inspections to fix problems.  But if I spent over $10K on my annual inspections every year for 3 years I would really have to wonder.  What could possibly come up each year that wasn't there the year before?  Seems to me this is a plane that must have been neglected and you are paying to catch up.  Then again, what am I saying?  A simple fuel selector valve would have cost me over $3K if I bought it new.

[AndyFromCB]

Actually the labor charge for the annual inspection was $975 and all the extras added up to the $3,700 total.  But that is actually high in my five year's of Mooney ownership experience.  But again, as I stated above I am diligent on maintenance and don't wait for annual inspections to fix problems.  But if I spent over $10K on my annual inspections every year for 3 years I would really have to wonder.  What could possibly come up each year that wasn't there the year before?  Seems to me this is a plane that must have been neglected and you are paying to catch up.  Then again, what am I saying?  A simple fuel selector valve would have cost me over $3K if I bought it new.

Earl,

 

Just depends how anal one is about keeping an airplane in tip top shap. My last annual had a 49 discrepancies, I elected to fix 40 of them. Only 8 eight were airworthy issues and would have been about $1500 to fix. Big issue was engine mount chafing, and that was close to $6000 with engine R&R.

 

The rest were minor issues, mostly a bunch of rod ends that would eventually need replacing plus I elected to touch up paint.

 

I still don't see how one can get a labor charge for annual of $975, on a Bravo it's a 32 hours job, two guys going at it full time for 2 days, I was there for a half a day and saw them work. My shop charges $2500 flat fee. So all and all the annual added up to be about 19K. The airplane was previously maintaned at top gun and LASAR in CA so no major deferred maintenance either. Just a bunch of little things in a 3500 hour airframe. Now it's maintained by Silverhawk, another MSC and a great shop, but not cheap. Little things like a worn seat rails took 16 hours to remove and reinstall. Lots of rivets there.

 

I already expect my next annual to be giant as well as I'll be doing fuel tanks.

 

I don't really think it's unexpected to annualy spend about 5% of aircraft's new price on average on maintance over the years.

[aviatoreb]

Not terrible... just average your costs over the last 6 years and you'll feel better!

 

Rule #1 is still NEVER ADD UP ALL THE COSTS.

 

I follow rule #1.  Or I wouldn't bear flying.  In fact I just maintain the airplane as needed and never add up costs.  The only hourly cost I notice or pay attention to is fuel.  Its more fun that way and keeps me flying.

 

In annual right now and joy of joys, I'm getting 3 cylinders overhauled - to my surprise the cylinder farey is visiting me this week.

[carusoam]

EB,

Half way to TBO with a turbo Mooney. The cost of greatness is a few cylinders along the way. If you don't wear them out, you haven't been flying, fast...

Just my observation, this is not a scientific collection of data. Ymmv.

It does seem challenging to get good cylinder pressure data for Continental engines.

Best regards,

-a-

[Earl]

Earl,

 

Just depends how anal one is about keeping an airplane in tip top shap. My last annual had a 49 discrepancies, I elected to fix 40 of them. Only 8 eight were airworthy issues and would have been about $1500 to fix. Big issue was engine mount chafing, and that was close to $6000 with engine R&R.

 

The rest were minor issues, mostly a bunch of rod ends that would eventually need replacing plus I elected to touch up paint.

 

I still don't see how one can get a labor charge for annual of $975, on a Bravo it's a 32 hours job, two guys going at it full time for 2 days, I was there for a half a day and saw them work. My shop charges $2500 flat fee. So all and all the annual added up to be about 19K. The airplane was previously maintaned at top gun and LASAR in CA so no major deferred maintenance either. Just a bunch of little things in a 3500 hour airframe. Now it's maintained by Silverhawk, another MSC and a great shop, but not cheap. Little things like a worn seat rails took 16 hours to remove and reinstall. Lots of rivets there.

 

I already expect my next annual to be giant as well as I'll be doing fuel tanks.

 

I don't really think it's unexpected to annualy spend about 5% of aircraft's new price on average on maintance over the years.

I usually visit the shop 2-3 times during the annual and they have a complete annual checklist for a Mooney (they do a fair number of them every year) and the base shop charge is $975.  All the panels are open for inspection, gear swung, etc.  If I recall I asked the nearest MSC and his flat rate was only $1,100 for the annual plus all the extras. 

[AndyFromCB]

Earl,

 

What's the hourly rate? Everything around here 80 an hour including my local guys. 32 * 80 = 2500 sounds about right. So you must either have a lower shop rate or the guys are not charging for all their time. 

 

Andy

[fantom]

Earl, What's the hourly rate? Everything around here 80 an hour including my local guys. 32 * 80 = 2500 sounds about right. So you must either have a lower shop rate or the guys are not charging for all their time. Andy

.....or not everything is getting done per spec.