Do you take better care of your airplane

E

evapilotaz

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Do you take better care of your airplane?

Someday airplane ownership is in the near future for me. I suck at maintaining my vehicles. I never change the oil at the right intervals. Schedule maintenance never happens unless something breaks. I hope I'm better at maintaining an airplane.
 
I take extreme care of my airplane... since I'm betting my own bacon on it everytime I fly. I always make sure it's in good enough condition to take off and fly it on a long cross country flight at a moment's notice in case it's needed to do so. I'll be flying it from Texas to Wisconsin for Airventure on Sunday morning and it's ready to make the trip right now.
 
Yes...I drive my cars hard and into the ground only doing major services and waiting for a light to come on to fix something.

My plane is another story. Clean and regular maintenance on schedule.
 
Your attention to babysitting minor maintenance wanes after 20 years or so but generally yes. I like good equipment. My trucks, wheelers, snow goes, etc are all well kept, as is my airplane.
 
Don't buy one if you are not going to maintain it like your life depends on it.

Your life depends on it.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Except, there's no consensus on what standard of detail that corresponds to.
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Good point.
But to someone that is aware they maintain their other vehicles in a less than ideal way, they know they are slacking on some known items.

In a car that's fine. In a plane, I would say don't knowingly slack on anything.

But your point is good. He may not realize he is neglecting something because there is not a set standard for it.
 
As Gordon Baxter said "Pulling off to the side of the road in a small airplane [due to a breakdown] will get your name in the papers."

John


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Take good care of all my stuff, I'm not, nor would I ever bee, rich enough to through money away for poor maintance.

Cars follow the manufactors mx schedule (not the dealers), house is cleaned and mowed often, any paint scratches or whatever is addressed when found, plane is the same way.


It's much easier and cheaper to keep something in great shape, compared to letting something fall into disarray and trying to bring it back.
 
Pride of ownership,combined with peace of mind,drive me to keep the plane ,clean polished and well maintained. Also have two mechanics I trust completely. One in Fla and one in Ma.
 
evapilotaz said:
Do you take better care of your airplane?

Someday airplane ownership is in the near future for me. I suck at maintaining my vehicles. I never change the oil at the right intervals. Schedule maintenance never happens unless something breaks. I hope I'm better at maintaining an airplane.
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You may want to reconsider aircraft ownership. Otherwise find a trustworty A&P (in terms of both skills and honesty) and entrust him/her with full responsibility for your airplane's maintenance. I also suggest assisting him/her with as many maintenance jobs as possible. There's a certain level of understanding and appreciation that comes from doing so.

Rich
 
evapilotaz said:
Do you take better care of your airplane?

Someday airplane ownership is in the near future for me. I suck at maintaining my vehicles. I never change the oil at the right intervals. Schedule maintenance never happens unless something breaks. I hope I'm better at maintaining an airplane.
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I would ask you to thoughtfully consider *why* you don't maintain your vehicles better.

Is it a lack of time/money? Is it because they're always in use and putting them in the shop is a hassle? Is it because you're distracted...you *would* spend the time/money/effort, but it just doesn't cross your mind? Is it because you don't realize there are things that need attention?

Some of those things might not be as big a deal for an airplane. My mechanic has a key to my hangar, and if I notice something that needs his attention, I can call him up when I know the plane's going to be unused for a few days, and ask him to take care of it. No muss, no fuss--just write a check when it's done.

It's a lot harder for me to put my car in the shop, as it's my only one and I use it daily. (That said, I do also maintain my car to a high standard as well.)

If your car maintenance suffers because you're too lazy to take care of things, or you just don't notice stuff unless a light comes on or a chime starts dinging, well...I don't know that I'd want to fly in your plane....
 
I would say yes. However, I've had the same car for thirty years, so I probably maintain it fairly well also.
 
evapilotaz said:
Someday airplane ownership is in the near future for me. I suck at maintaining my vehicles. I never change the oil at the right intervals. Schedule maintenance never happens unless something breaks. I hope I'm better at maintaining an airplane.
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I hope so, too.

I sometimes get to work on airplanes that have had "inexpensive" maintenance. The problem with "inexpensive" is that it's not inexpensive. Defects accumulate if they're not looked for, or if they're cheaply haywired to avoid fixing them properly.

And defects left like that tend to create other defects. Cracks get longer and eventually the whole thing must be replaced rather than repaired. Repairing the crack early would have saved the item. Corroding steel hardware in aluminum structure will eventually take the structure with it. Worn tube or wire clamps will chafe the tube and destroy it, or chafe wiring and cause a short and maybe some serious burn damage. Worn or seized cable pulleys or fairleads destroy the cable. Broken cooling baffles let air escape and overheat cylinders and heads and maybe end up with shortened cylinder life. Nylon ties, which are way cheaper than Adel clamps, chafe engine mount tubes and weaken them, resulting in mount repairs a hundred time more expensive than a few of the right parts. Poor maintenance of gear retraction systems can result in a gear-up landing, maybe a serious accident, and often a writeoff.

Or the prebuy that finds it all when the next guy wants to buy the airplane could result in a badly devalued aircraft.

No different from a car, really. Poorly maintained vehicles fall apart sooner and bring much less trade-in or resale value. Sometimes they leave you stranded. Sometimes they kill people.

Dan
 
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I'm lazy when it comes to taking care of my vehicles. It's a hassle getting it to the shop.why dont shops just offer pickup and delivery service.
 
evapilotaz said:
I'm lazy when it comes to taking care of my vehicles. It's a hassle getting it to the shop.why dont shops just offer pickup and delivery service.
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Perhaps renting would be a better and safer option for you.
 
The sad fact is there is a huge number of GA aircraft owners who are in a hobby that is expensive and they are in over their heads. They look for any and every way to skimp on maintenance. Interestingly enough some of this same group will spend big dollars on the latest avionics, headsets, tablets and assorted gee whiz goodies before even considering put an extra dollar into the engine or airframe.

The used market is a good example of this and becomes evident to the shopper. Lots and lots of junk out there and very few "maintained" aircraft.
 
I will say I am the same with my cars. Probably not as detail oriented as I should be. A little less vigilant about driving, etc. I bought a motorcycle 15 years ago and maybe because the risk is higher I drive it and maintain it completely different than my cars. I got the plane about a year ago and now I'm obsessed with maintenance, washing, waxing, ADs, certs, etc. I had a similar debate before buying (convenience of owning a plane vs. convenience of having someone else maintain it.). If you have any inkling that you might not obsess over the details, its best to rent. It's not effective, as it relates to time or cost, to own. However the piece of mind knowing how strictly it is maintained, and the convenience of having it sitting there waiting is why I chose to own instead of rent.
 
People are different.

I am not a good maintainer of lots of stuff... I do a good job with other stuff. I keep my aircraft well maintained because it's important.

Sounds like you know it may be a challenge but that's a good thing.

Entrusting the care of your plane to a mechanic sounds good but there's a bit more to it. You need to assume full and final responsibility even if that means just paying attention to what your mechanic says and what he or she is doing.

I first went to what still appears to be a good shop but they cost me more than it had too because they didn't know Maules so it cost me for them to learn. Owner assisted work cost me more than not doing so (as it should, but not sure I learned that much). I ended up with a couple on my airport and they did a fine job.

I finally built a kit plane. I know I did a good job and the maintenance is better than ever in my opinion. Opinions may vary but building can make you an excellent maintainer. Have a hangar out back with a HVAC'd shop is best of all.

Good luck on your next steps.
 
Shawn said:
Yes...I drive my cars hard and into the ground only doing major services and waiting for a light to come on to fix something.

My plane is another story. Clean and regular maintenance on schedule.
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The strategy for affording airplane ownership.
 
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