Maintenance

Some financial analysts predict that the tax reform recently enacted will see corporate earnings grow in the 8 to 12 percent range in 2018. As all of us in the general aviation industry know, this projected growth could have a positive trickle-down effect for our market. In my segment of the industry – avionics manufacturing, […]

Some years ago, I had one of those “what in the world are they thinking?” conversations with a pilot who was towing gliders as a volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol. While he thought it was important to volunteer for a good group, he was ready to quit because of a screwy power reduction procedure […]

A piece of aviation history roared to life for the first time in a decade last week in an important milestone toward first flight. Crews at Basler Turbo Conversions in Oshkosh started the No. 1 engine in That’s All Brother, the C-47 that led 800 other aircraft in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The […]

If you’re setting up a personal hangar for light DIY wrenching, it’s worth following the lead of maintenance shops that know what’s good. Walk through a real maintenance hangar and you won’t have to look hard to spot the Snap-On tool logo. Whether it’s a gigantic rolling tool cabinet or a pair of cutters, there’s […]

When I was in junior high and going to Air Explorer meetings at the Des Moines Airport, I was like every other kid in our group. During breaks from the private pilot ground school, we’d go into the maintenance hangars and out on the ramp to get close to the airplanes that we dreamed of […]

The FAA published Airworthiness Directives this week that affect certain Piper Cherokees and turbo Bonanza airplanes. The proposed Piper AD (PDF) was prompted by reports of corrosion found in an area of the main wing spar that’s not easily accessible for inspection. The AD would require installing an inspection access panel in the lower wing […]

Daylight Saving Time got switched off over the weekend, to the anguish of more than a few of my friends. Not only do they like sunlight of an evening, the return of Standard Time means they can no longer deny the nearly imminent arrival of winter and its challenges to aviating. It also seem to […]

Ever since the Wrights, one of the vexing problems of aircraft maintenance has been access to the nooks and crannies of the machine. Maintenance technicians have spent major portions of their lives with flashlights and mirrors peering through inspection ports trying to assure that all is well within; at significant expense, major assemblies have been […]

A leaking oxygen hose fitting likely led to the fatal crash of a turbonormalized Mooney M20 Acclaim off the coast of Atlantic City on Sept. 10, 2015. Dr. Michael Moir, a dentist from Gaylord, Michigan, was the only one aboard the aircraft, which flew on autopilot without contact with ATC for more than two hours […]

Some years ago I had an engine stoppage in a Piper Aztec. It was during climbout, shortly after I had shut off the aux pumps. Yes, I had shut them off one at a time. I turned the pumps back on and the affected engine restarted. A bit of troubleshooting revealed that the left engine […]