Annuals ... More Harm Than Good?

The annual on my Citabria, completed as part of the sale was just shy of $2200, including some discrepancies I found in my pre-buy inspection of it. The annual was done out of state about 2.5 flight hours away - too far for my local mechanic, and took almost three weeks. When I finally took possession of the airplane I noted some things that would not pass muster with most good mechanics, such as:

1) Removed, cleaned, reinstalled and re-routed the throttle cable to address a sticky throttle cable issue - but did not use fireseal on in the hole in the firewall the throttle cable passed through. Right behind that hole is the header tank for the inverted fuel system. I also noted missing grommets around wires and again a lack of fireseal.

2) Multiple instances of wires cable tied to the engine mount with no protective tape underneath them. Add a little grit and several hundred hours of vibration and you'll have a log entries for "removed engine mount", "installed re-built engine mount".

3) The compression test was done after warming the engine at idle, not immediately after flying it for 45 minutes or so to bring it fully up to operating temperature.

4) Both clips connecting the tailwheel springs to the control arm were faulty - one was badly bent and the other was broken.

5) The right brake felt like something was bending, before and then again after the annual. About 3 flight hours after the annual, the clevis connecting the brake extension rod to the master cylinder snapped. Upon removing the two machine screws holding the boot cowl together on the bottom, it was obvious:
- no one had looked up in there for years, given the dust, dirt, etc and accumulated grease and oil that indicated the two halves of the boot cowl had not been separated for a long time); and
- the clevis had obviously been bent for a long time, flexing each time the brake was applied, until repeated bending led to metal fatigue and failure. This was 3 flight hours after an annual inspection where a very easy to open access panel wasn't, with the result that the brake linkage was not examined, even though the difference in brake feel indicated something was not right.

It could have just been a "off" few weeks, but I suspect that's a pretty average annual for that AP/IA.

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So...I'm a big believer in annual inspections. But I am also a big believer in owner assisted maintenance. The owner learns a lot about their airplane and maintenance in general, and the owner is assured the required inspection checklist and subsequent maintenance is actually done.
 
I have also wondered about this exact question and what data there is to support the requirements for the inspection. I would probably do them on my aircraft even if not required.

Vague recollection here but isn’t the rate of failures in experimental higher?
 
I inspect mine...before each flight. o_O
PeterNSteinmetz said:
I have also wondered about this exact question and what data there is to support the requirements for the inspection. I would probably do them on my aircraft even if not required.

Vague recollection here but isn’t the rate of failures in experimental higher?
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PeterNSteinmetz said:
what data there is to support the requirements for the inspection.
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I dont believe the inspection was ever data driven. It's simply a minimum like any other calendar requirement. Many moons ago only the CAA (FAA) could perform annual inspections and at one time every annual inspection required a new AWC issued. Once they started to authorize others (IA/AI) the 12 month requirement stayed but the AWC renew went away. Don't know on the E/AB side but someone here on PoA does track that data I just dont remember who.
 
Doc Holliday said:
I’m saying the selling of signatures took a huge leap when the FAA lowered the requirements and lowered the testing for IA’s.
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So what exactly has changed in regards to requirements and testing?
 
I have always believed that an aircraft owner with an aptitude for maintenance should take an active role in caring for his plane. I disagree that somehow newer IA's are to blame for poor maintenance or pencil whipping logbook entries. This sort of stuff went on 50 years ago when I started flying. There are good and poor mechanics just like in any other field of employment.
 
Jdm said:
So what exactly has changed in regards to requirements and testing?
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The old test was administered by the FSDO, and was an essay style test. Typically 10 questions concerning regulations, AD's and applicability to various models. The applicant had to apply, the application was accepted, then the applicant showed up with his own research material (back then typically microfiche). The test took the best part of the day, and was graded on how well it was answered with regards to references being correct.

The FSDO had the IA population kept to a certain number and had greater oversight (IMO).

Then, about 20 years ago the test was changed to a multiple choice format of about 50 questions. Anyone could apply that had 3 years of A&P experience, take the test (very easy) and then have an IA issued to them. The ranks of the IA exploded, with many just wanting the designation in order to sell their signatures.
 
Have you been to your FSDO recently ? I seriously doubt there are many qualified inspectors working to administer a test like in the old days. The last time I visited the FSDO, I watched the inspector dig in a reference manual 30 minutes for instructions how to sign his name to an 8610 form.

Things change, rules and regulations change. Our entire society is being dumbed down, IMHO. There are still good mechanics out there..and poor ones as well...just like in the old days.
 
Doug Reid said:
Have you been to your FSDO recently ? I seriously doubt there are many qualified inspectors working to administer a test like in the old days.
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Has nothing to do with the change of the IA test. And there are plenty of Airworthiness Inspectors at each FSDO. It's Operation Inspectors that are in short order.

Doug Reid said:
The last time I visited the FSDO, I watched the inspector dig in a reference manual 30 minutes for instructions how to sign his name to an 8610 form.
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So you fault him for wanting to be correct? The instrument examiners at OKC will kick back applications that aren't followed to the letter of the guidance. A few extra minutes in completing the form is no big deal.

Doug Reid said:
Things change, rules and regulations change. Our entire society is being dumbed down, IMHO. There are still good mechanics out there..and poor ones as well...just like in the old days.
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The IA exam was dumbed down, too much. And the FAA lowered the standards for IA, dramatically. And it shows.
 
I like annuals, not necessarily the repetitive crap but fixing stuff that is broke and replacing stuff that hasn't broke yet.

Seriously considering replacing all the elevator cables in all our airplanes next year for another one of those "fix before broken" measures. At a minimum, the side of the elevator cables that does all the work. The 182L up elevator cable looks like a whopping $160.
 
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Jdm said:
So what exactly has changed in regards to requirements and testing?
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In addition to the reduced testing requirements as mentioned above, the IA renewal requirements followed suit. Before, the only way to renew it was by actually preforming a minimum set of IA specific work over a specific time period and documenting it on a form for renewal. Now you can go online and watch some videos and take a quick test for it if you choose. No hands-on work required for renewal.

For example, prior to the IA changes we had probably a dozen or 2 IAs out of 650 mechanics at my old Part 135 day job. After the changes, with our Part 135 mx recurrent tests "qualified" as IA renewal material, that number quadrupled. While most were good mechanics few understood the actual requirements of IA work. The reason a majority who got it was only to pick up some beer money on their days off. Unfortunately, several made some bad decisions on that lack of knowledge with one getting his AP suspended. Lucky for him the DOM kept him on paint prepping until he got his ticket back. After a couple years the numbers of IAs decreased as it wasn't as "fashionable" any more when reality struck.
 
Doug Reid said:
There are still good mechanics out there..and poor ones as well...just like in the old days.
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Agree. But the ratio of good to poor as slowing been shifting toward the poor side across all levels in aviation in the last generation. So unless they "smart up" things in the next decade or so that slippery slope we're on will get progressively steeper.
 
no worries....there will be an A&P shortage and that will take care of the crappy ones. lol :D
 
bnt83 said:
Seriously considering replacing all the elevator cables in all our airplanes next year for another one of those "fix before broken" measures. At a minimum, the side of the elevator cables that does all the work. The 182L up elevator cable looks like a whopping $160.
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Cables can be made to last a lot longer than they do. A good inspection can find places where the cable is touching the airframe, either constantly or intermittently through vibration or tension changes as the controls are moved. The airframe manufacturers really weren't all that careful about looking for stuff like that when they assembled the airplanes. Pulley bearings will seize up as age and dirt ruin their lubrication, and the cable skids over them. Add a little grit and the cable suffers. Parked outside in the wind, even with the control-column control lock in, the surfaces will still move some and the cables will wear over pulleys and rub strips. External gust locks that hold the surfaces immobile are far better. Cables are made with a heavy waxy grease in them, and that tends to dry out, exposing the wires to corrosive elements. Stuff is available to fix that. Cables passing near batteries can suffer corrosion if the battery box is in poor shape and its drains or vents are busted. Wire bundles and hoses will rub on cables if not properly restrained.

An exception are stainless cables. The metal fatigues and only lasts about a fourth as long as a galvanized cable. Common in seaplanes. Cessna uses them exclusively in the '96 and on restart stuff. In our 2006 172SP there was a rub strip on an L-bracket that lifted the cable over the aileron autopilot servo in the right wing, and that rub strip was made of some hard plastic. It ate through the outer wires of that cable in 600 hours. Cessna came out with a horribly overpriced fix, a new bracket with a different fairlead and a bunch of other parts to address rapid cable wear in both wings and the cabin ceiling.

Cables might be inexpensive. It's the installation that can be frustrating and costly. An example are the aileron cables in some airplanes, passing over pulleys that are nearly inaccessible but have to come out to get the swaged cable ends through.
 
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Dan Thomas said:
Cables might be inexpensive. It's the installation that can be frustrating and costly. An example are the aileron cables in some airplanes, passing over pulleys that are nearly inaccessible but have to come out to get the swaged cable ends through.
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Very true
 
Whoever says it takes 17 hours to do an annual on a Cessna 150 shouldn't be wrenching on Cessna 150s or anything else for that matter. Yes, I've done it under the watchful eye of an IA. Just isn't that much to inspect.

That said, $85 is cheap, though if the guy is that slow maybe not so cheap. Took two guys a day to do my Cherokee.
 
steingar said:
Whoever says it takes 17 hours to do an annual on a Cessna 150 shouldn't be wrenching on Cessna 150s or anything else for that matter. Yes, I've done it under the watchful eye of an IA. Just isn't that much to inspect.

That said, $85 is cheap, though if the guy is that slow maybe not so cheap. Took two guys a day to do my Cherokee.
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Consider an 8 hour day, 2x8= 16 hours.
 
Doc Holliday said:
Consider an 8 hour day, 2x8= 16 hours.
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On my Cherokee. Larger, lots more interior to pull and more inspection panels. More ADs too, if I'm recalling correctly. And one of the guys doing it was me, probably the most ham-fisted mechanic in the history of machines who shouldn't be allowed to wrench on a bicycle no less an airplane.
 
steingar said:
On my Cherokee. Larger, lots more interior to pull and more inspection panels. More ADs too, if I'm recalling correctly. And one of the guys doing it was me, probably the most ham-fisted mechanic in the history of machines who shouldn't be allowed to wrench on a bicycle no less an airplane.
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I've annualed PA28 Cherokees, as well as Cessna 150's. Not much difference between the two time wise.

But I'll defer to your obviously higher level of expertise. ;)
 
Doc Holliday said:
I've annualed PA28 Cherokees, as well as Cessna 150's. Not much difference between the two time wise.

But I'll defer to your obviously higher level of expertise. ;)
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So it takes you two days of solid labor to inspect a 150?
 
steingar said:
So it takes you two days of solid labor to inspect a 150?
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To do it correctly, yes. If it is an aircraft I've done before, and no problems arise, maybe a little less.

Just looking around the internet at various FBO's and repair stations I see they all advertise a C-150 annual between 15 to 18 hours of labor as well.

Keep in mind that time includes paperwork. The AD compliance on a never seen plane can consume a few hours alone.
 
Not counting the discretionary stuff I had done, my 140 took about that much.
 
May as well add my 2¢...

If something breaks on an aircraft you can have a very bad day, so I don't mind having an annual inspection once a year. After 3 annuals there have been discrepancies to correct on each one. Nothing major, but issues that could lead to something major if left uncorrected. I don't think inspections are inherently bad for aircraft, they're designed for that. If something breaks during inspection then it was probably time for that part to be replaced.

As far as the regulatory burden, unfortunately the rules must be written for the weakest link. Think about that large flying club with pilots of various levels of skill and proficiency and what they do to the aircraft. That alone is the primary reason I decided to leave the club ranks after 25 years and join the owner ranks. Would you feel comfortable flying a club aircraft that hasn't been looked at in 24 months? I wouldn't...
 
Doc Holliday said:
To do it correctly, yes. If it is an aircraft I've done before, and no problems arise, maybe a little less.

Just looking around the internet at various FBO's and repair stations I see they all advertise a C-150 annual between 15 to 18 hours of labor as well.

Keep in mind that time includes paperwork. The AD compliance on a never seen plane can consume a few hours alone.
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Paper work? Do that on your own time!


Just kidding.
 
Anybody have statistics for accidents where maintenance was the probable cause that separates undone maintenance from things that were worn out due to maintenance?
 
Here is what I plan for:
- 4 to 6 hrs to open up
- 8 hrs for inspection and service
- 6 hrs to close
- 2 hrs paperwork.
This is what the IA took for payment on my last annual. He did the inspection and paperwork, I did everything else.
fluke_116_323_hvac_combo_kit.jpg
 
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Tom-D said:
Appendix D to Part 43—Scope and Detail of Items (as Applicable to the Particular Aircraft) To Be Included in Annual and 100-Hour Inspections
(a) Each person performing an annual or 100-hour inspection shall, before that inspection, remove or open all necessary inspection plates, access doors, fairing, and cowling. He shall thoroughly clean the aircraft and aircraft engine.

where does it say the inspector can delegate anyone anyone can it.
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where does it say that he cannot delegate certian tasks to someone else? Tasks such as removing plates and covers, cleaning, etc.
 
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