First annual

I have a couple of questions about acronyms used here.

AMU - I was maintenance in the Air Force for 10 years before I got into ATC and it was aircraft maintenance unit...but there seems to be an alternate meaning used here and Atomic Mass Unit is all I can find.
IRAN - used in reference to parts...is it a company?
 
AMU is something you don't discuss with your wife, or 'aviation monetary unit' or something like that, equal to the amount of money courtney love spends on coke in a day, or $1,000
IRAN I think is "inspect/repair as needed"
 
AMU is the oh so clever acronym Aviation Monetary Unit which is thought to be currently at an exchange rate of 1,000USD.
 
I just finished mine.
$750 for the annual.
$1,100 for the stuff found during the annual. They did a flap motor mount stiffener replacement & 406MHz ELT install. They found the baffles by the alternator broken. Turns out the alternator fan threw two blades (hard to see) and vibrated the crap out of the baffles. I carried the old alternator down and got a new fan put on it. They repaired the baffles. They also put a new scat hose on the alternator.
The ELT was a complete install. There was not upgrade from the old 121.5 available. All new wire & had to slightly modify the panel to get the remote switch to fit.
I did the labor for cleaning and oiling the air filter, and changing the oil & cleaning the oil filter. (Challenger filters). I also replaced the arm that connects the flap shaft to the position potentiometer then calibrated the system. That saved me a few bucks.
 
rolivi said:
AMU is the oh so clever acronym Aviation Monetary Unit which is thought to be currently at an exchange rate of 1,000USD.
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AMUs are in shortage, as most of us know.
However, we actually currently have overstock from some old supplies so if you'd like a few AMUs (please limit 5 per customer), I will let them go for $1099 each, just because y'all are such a great bunch.
Standby for mailing address, I got it somewhere here, dangit, it is our payment processing center in Nigeria ....
 
BigBadLou said:
...so if you'd like a few AMUs (please limit 5 per customer), I will let them go for $1099 each, just because y'all are such a great bunch.
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If I can put together a group buy can we get a 10% discount? Just let us know where to post our RTN and Account numbers and we'll clean out that surplus for you.
 
BigBadLou said:
AMUs are in shortage, as most of us know.
However, we actually currently have overstock from some old supplies so if you'd like a few AMUs (please limit 5 per customer), I will let them go for $1099 each, just because y'all are such a great bunch.
Standby for mailing address, I got it somewhere here, dangit, it is our payment processing center in Nigeria ....
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I'm just waiting on a transfer from Nigeria myself, then I purchase some...
 
BigBadLou said:
AMUs are in shortage, as most of us know.
However, we actually currently have overstock from some old supplies so if you'd like a few AMUs (please limit 5 per customer), I will let them go for $1099 each, just because y'all are such a great bunch.
Standby for mailing address, I got it somewhere here, dangit, it is our payment processing center in Nigeria ....
Click to expand...

A bargain. I heard somewhere that most shops mark up their supplies an outrageous 30%-40% ;) :D
 
GRG55 said:
A bargain. I heard somewhere that most shops mark up their supplies an outrageous 30%-40% ;) :D
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Sometimes a lot less than that. If a guy wanted to make good profit, he'd leave aviation and sell something else. Markups in many other sectors go as high as 1000%.
 
The IRAN thing was pretty confusing. I googled IRAN and there were pictures of a Lycoming engine.
 
Sell that thing and get an RV! Condition inspections will be a lot cheaper than annuals and you'll have way more fun flying.:)
 
That's been the plan all along. I'm going to build an RV-7 and sell the Cherokee when it comes time to buy an engine. In the meantime, I'm building time and experience.
 
My first pre-buy, on a Warrior back in 1999, just about killed my interest in owning .

The bill was $5000 ($7150 in today's money) just three months after the same shop had done the pre-buy and found "nothing wrong". The list was seemingly endless, and included everything from a push-rod missing the rotater cap to the front fork being bent 3 degree out of spec. Oh, and the strobes on the plane weren't STC'd for it, so they had to come off and be replaced with identical ones that were.

I gritted my teeth, wrote the check, and fixed everything. Only later did I find out that the FBO was going bankrupt, and they were desperate for cash. As a new owner, they saw me as a flotation device.

Live and learn, indeed.
 
Timbeck2 said:
The IRAN thing was pretty confusing. I googled IRAN and there were pictures of a Lycoming engine.
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That acronym is quite commonly used to describe an engine that has been opened up and inspected after a prop strike (sudden stoppage). Lycoming has a detailed teardown, preparation and inspection procedure for this, so that might be why a picture of one of their engines came up on the search.
 
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Well $1535 later, my mags are on their way home from Montana where they performed the.."we can rebuild them...stronger...faster than ever before" surgery on them. I think besides the case which is painted gloss black, they have very few parts in them that are original. For those who have the Cherokee 140 and have to wade through the engine mount confusion where in the parts manual it give you several part numbers and one with an asterisk with no explanation, they are Lord 9613-40 and the top two are installed yellow side out, the bottoms are installed white side out.
 
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Jay Honeck said:
My first pre-buy, on a Warrior back in 1999, just about killed my interest in owning .

The bill was $5000 ($7150 in today's money) just three months after the same shop had done the pre-buy and found "nothing wrong". The list was seemingly endless, and included everything from a push-rod missing the rotater cap to the front fork being bent 3 degree out of spec. Oh, and the strobes on the plane weren't STC'd for it, so they had to come off and be replaced with identical ones that were.

I gritted my teeth, wrote the check, and fixed everything. Only later did I find out that the FBO was going bankrupt, and they were desperate for cash. As a new owner, they saw me as a flotation device.

Live and learn, indeed.
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You know, this is why I opted for overseeing the annual instead of a pre-buy. No doubt, things are different when you are buying a $400,000 Bonanza versus a $60,000 "other". But since a pre-buy guarantees nothing, I don't think they are always necessary. I just had MY first owner annual. No surprises because I trusted the guy I bought from and could see from previous invoices and my own eyeballs that the $60,000 airplane looked good.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Well $1535 later, my mags are on their way home from Montana where they performed the.."we can rebuild them...stronger...faster than ever before" surgery on them.
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I was faced with this very same problem at my condition inspection this year. It was time for a mag overhaul...

...So I installed an all-electronic ignition system. I now use automotive spark plugs, the plane starts like a car, and it runs oh-so much smoother.

Reason #1,321 I jumped into the Experimental/Homebuilt world. Since buying my RV I've had the joy of tossing my antiquated vacuum system and both magnetos in the trash.
 
Jay Honeck said:
I was faced with this very same problem at my condition inspection this year. It was time for a mag overhaul...

Since buying my RV I've had the joy of tossing my antiquated vacuum system and both magnetos in the trash.
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When u had mag trouble last summer, we figured out which one it was and sent it to Kelly for IRAN. Not too bad . . .

I'm keeping my antiquated vacuum system, thank you, because it makes my antiquated autopilot work, and THAT let's me relax a lot more flying cross country.
 
Hank S said:
When **I** had mag trouble last summer, we figured out which one it was and sent it to Kelly for IRAN. Not too bad . . .

I'm keeping my antiquated vacuum system, thank you, because it makes my antiquated autopilot work, and THAT let's me relax a lot more flying cross country.
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Fixed that for ya.
 
Jay Honeck said:
I was faced with this very same problem at my condition inspection this year. It was time for a mag overhaul...

...So I installed an all-electronic ignition system. I now use automotive spark plugs, the plane starts like a car, and it runs oh-so much smoother.

Reason #1,321 I jumped into the Experimental/Homebuilt world. Since buying my RV I've had the joy of tossing my antiquated vacuum system and both magnetos in the trash.
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I'd love to ditch the vac system off my 185, right now it just goes to my AI and a vac gauge, everything else is electronic.

Even having a alternator failure in IMC, with the AP, GPSs and EHSI on I'd have plenty of time to get down.
 
It's sort of disturbing how many things get farmed out to other shops. To me, it means that the shop that you are using is somehow afraid of doing the work. Yes, sometimes it's a matter of not having the correct tooling. But IMHO, your experienced guy will eventually acquire the correct tooling. Sending out hoses to be built? Sounds like a load of horse manure... I put brand new fuel and brake hoses on my bird last year... Total cost, about $200 (with brand new fittings). I've seen guys that "send them out" and then end up paying $1k for the trouble...

500hr inspection on mags? That can be pretty easy too (depends on the mags, of course). At least half of the time, it was a handful of q-tips to clean out gunk, a bunch of visual inspection, two drops of non-detergent oil, a dab of grease on the plastic cam, and re-time and reassemble. Guys are paying $500-$600 for that job, and I've literally done it at my kitchen table for $6.

My best friend was having starter issues on his Debonair, and had his local mech do 10 minutes of "troubleshooting" to help him diagnose it. He billed him $100 for 10 minutes of work, and then told him to order a $550 starter. I watched him disassemble the starter. It was actually caused by the screws that hold the brush assy had come loose and fallen out. $6 for new screws, and a tube of loctite, and his starter was as good as new.

I have yet to do an annual on an airplane that doesn't result in about 30 - 60 discrepancies to be corrected (my own included). Usually, very few are actual airworthiness items, but the others if left long enough could develop into AW items.

Get acquainted with FAR 43, AppA "preventive maintenance" and get to work ;-)

- YMMV! I'm wrong about something, maybe we find out where, maybe not...
 
Timbeck2 said:
Well $1535 later, my mags are on their way home from Montana where they performed the.."we can rebuild them...stronger...faster than ever before" surgery on them. I think besides the case which is painted gloss black, they have very few parts in them that are original. For those who have the Cherokee 140 and have to wade through the engine mount confusion where in the parts manual it give you several part numbers and one with an asterisk with no explanation, they are Lord 9613-40 and the top two are installed yellow side out, the bottoms are installed white side out.
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Ouch... that hurts... Sorry to hear that! Which mags were they?
 
thomasdr72 said:
I put brand new fuel and brake hoses on my bird last year... Total cost, about $200 (with brand new fittings). I've seen guys that "send them out" and then end up paying $1k for the trouble...
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Not everyone drives airplanes with carburated engines that are gravity fed without a remote mounted oil cooler...Not everyone wants to put rubber hoses on...

You are more and more a minority with each passing year. No one is building new airplanes and installing new O-300. Its kinda sad really. All new aircraft are loaded with about as much complexity as they can cram in it, and none of the parts are cheaper.
 
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bnt83 said:
Not everyone drives airplanes with carburated engines that are gravity fed without a remote mounted oil cooler...Not everyone wants to put rubber hoses on...

You are more and more a minority with each passing year. No one is building new airplanes and installing new O-300. Its kinda sad really. All new aircraft are loaded with about as much complexity as they can cram in it, and none of the parts are cheaper.
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Cub crafters are using the 0-200 in their new aircraft.
 
I thought I explained that...possibly in another thread. I sent then in for the 500 hour and they were so worn out they completely overhauled them.
 
Yep, the deluxe repair kit for a bendix mag is about $480 or so, with about an hour or so worth of labor to rebuild the mag... Probably not too bad for repair station prices...
 
bnt83 said:
Not everyone drives airplanes with carburated engines that are gravity fed without a remote mounted oil cooler...Not everyone wants to put rubber hoses on...

You are more and more a minority with each passing year. No one is building new airplanes and installing new O-300. Its kinda sad really. All new aircraft are loaded with about as much complexity as they can cram in it, and none of the parts are cheaper.
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Very true... Nothing like removing your $25k engine that can be field overhauled, and installing a $75k diesel, that has a TBR instead of a TBO. --Yes, you can do the preflight runup by holding down one button, but when it comes time to fix just pull out your checkbook and start praying...

V/r,
 
thomasdr72 said:
Yep, the deluxe repair kit for a bendix mag is about $480 or so, with about an hour or so worth of labor to rebuild the mag... Probably not too bad for repair station prices...
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There is no way you'll overhaul these per the book in an hour. I should know, I actually have the real book and it was latest revision within the last two years.

When a friend asked me to resurrect two ebay mags I laughed at him and told him to read said manual... The CM factory overhauled mags he did buy, (cheaper than two new slicks IIRC) looked like brand new. No wear on the dog ear flanges. No dings in cases anywhere. Bright golden alodine where surfaces were not painted. No pitting whatsoever on the impulse stop pins, impulse coupling parts shafts etc. As far as I could tell, they were brand new. There's NFW a shade tree guy is going to give you that kind of quality in a realistic amount of labor and time. How many of them would even dye penetrant inspect the aluminum cases? Those dog ears crack very easily just from using the wrong gasket...
 
MMOV

My mileage obviously varies

Food for thought....they told me that the Kelly Bendix magnetos were POS. This was in response to "I could have bought new ones for the price I paid to overhaul my old ones." They said the parts they used were from Slovakia or....some sort of vakia.
 
So far my first annual on the current Cherokee 140 is up to ~$12k. :yikes: But when you break it down, it's not really all that bad.
Only about $900 for inspection, and fix the sqawks found.
Then the rest being eaten up by 2 new (to me) nav/coms, 2 VOR/GS indicators, New intercom, new (to me) audio panel, new com antenna,
full strip and re-paint with 4 colors.
I figure that If you count my labor, this will total out at about $20k. But in actual cash spent, we'll have in it (including purchase price) about what it will be worth. :D
 
What I tell guys who buy an older and supposedly less expensive airplane is to figure 25% of the purchase price for the first annual inspection, especially a twin. Usually it comes in under that number, but not always.
 
bluerooster said:
So far my first annual on the current Cherokee 140 is up to ~$12k. :yikes: But when you break it down, it's not really all that bad.
Only about $900 for inspection, and fix the sqawks found.
Then the rest being eaten up by 2 new (to me) nav/coms, 2 VOR/GS indicators, New intercom, new (to me) audio panel, new com antenna,
full strip and re-paint with 4 colors.
I figure that If you count my labor, this will total out at about $20k. But in actual cash spent, we'll have in it (including purchase price) about what it will be worth. :D
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How can you rationalize these up grades as an annual?
 
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