Grumman AA-1B

Ron Levy said:
The reality is exactly what the owner told the poster and what Jesse said -- generally speaking, insurance companies will require a check with an instructor unless you have some number of PIC hours in the Grumman type you'll be insuring with them.
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And it's funny that insurance companies don't care about the checkout CFI's time in type, because if that same CFI doing the checkout was buying the airplane for himself and had no time in type, he'd be required to find another CFI (with possibly no time in type) to do the "checkout". So he'd be fit to checkout someone else in the airplane, just not himself. So if you're using your own airplane to get checkout out in, make sure your CFI has insurance. Lots of freelance CFIs don't have insurance. Or add them to your insurance policy for the purposes of the checkout process. Hint, if the insurance company charges extra for this, you probably don't want to use that CFI. ;)
 
RoscoeT said:
And it's funny that insurance companies don't care about the checkout CFI's time in type, because if that same CFI doing the checkout was buying the airplane for himself and had no time in type, he'd be required to find another CFI (with possibly no time in type) to do the "checkout". So he'd be fit to checkout someone else in the airplane, just not himself. So if you're using your own airplane to get checkout out in, make sure your CFI has insurance. Lots of freelance CFIs don't have insurance. Or add them to your insurance policy for the purposes of the checkout process. Hint, if the insurance company charges extra for this, you probably don't want to use that CFI. ;)
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Got balls? You could do the required time uninsured.
 
Tom-D said:
Got balls? You could do the required time uninsured.
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Yep, or find someone with a Grumman who might let you hang onto the controls during a couple $100 hamburger runs. Now you have time in type.
 
Tom-D said:
Got balls? You could do the required time uninsured.
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I did it way back when I first bought a AA1. The seller gave me about an hour of 'instruction' but not instruction, handed me the keys and off I went. Most of my first 15 hours was solo. When I got my first passenger, I realized things were different when both seats were filled. A CFI would have been useful just for the added weight to learn how it handled
 
RoscoeT said:
And it's funny that insurance companies don't care about the checkout CFI's time in type,
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Not always true. Again, ask your insurer, because I've seen policies requiring the instructor to have some minimum time in type. I know that some policies for Grummans waive the dual hours number if the instructor is an AYA PFPI and the PFP is satisfactorily completed (which typically takes me about 1.5 to 2.0 in the airplane compared to the 5 hours dual I've seen required by the same insurer). Norris Hibbler at Aircraft & Marine can provide details.
 
Well here it is, will be mine in a few days!
 

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Nice looking, but Looks dangerous with that propellor-thingy on the front and those 2 wings. Not like any plane I have ever flown.
 
It looks like the fuel leak on the left wing is coming from where the fitting assembly that is bonded to the spar. How easy is that to fix?
 
jdennis1989 said:
It looks like the fuel leak on the left wing is coming from where the fitting assembly that is bonded to the spar. How easy is that to fix?
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Bonded to the spar?? Doesn't it simply have a pipe threaded hole with a curtice drain installed?
 
I will be taking it to Fletchair if all else fails. They told the previous owner over the phone that it was probably an o-ring that would require taking the wing off to get to.... After putting fuel in the wing myself and looking for the leak, this is where I found the leak. The mechanic that the owner took it to put some kind of sealant there, but it looks like he either didn't do it right, or put the wrong kind of sealant over it. I have the parts catalog, and this looks easy enough to fix without having to fly it over to Fletchair and have them try to BS me into taking the wing off.

I was just wondering if anyone else has come across this issue in either a Grumman or similar fuel system.

If the mechanic would have just cut the inspection hold 5 more inches to the right, this leak would have been fixed easily.
 
jdennis1989 said:
I will be taking it to Fletchair if all else fails.
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Of course -- you're in Texas. :doh:

They told the previous owner over the phone that it was probably an o-ring that would require taking the wing off to get to....
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That's not something you do yourself with a screwdriver and a wrench, but it's less of a job than one might think.

After putting fuel in the wing myself and looking for the leak, this is where I found the leak. The mechanic that the owner took it to put some kind of sealant there, but it looks like he either didn't do it right, or put the wrong kind of sealant over it. I have the parts catalog, and this looks easy enough to fix without having to fly it over to Fletchair and have them try to BS me into taking the wing off.
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David Fletcher doesn't "BS" anyone about Grumman maintenance -- the advice he gives is something upon which you can bet your life (and I do, every day). And you don't have to take it to Fletchair to pull the wing -- the process is well-described in the AA-1-series maintenance manual (available in .pdf form to AYA members on the AYA web site). But if you want a second opinion, call Ken Blackman at Air Mods NW or John Sjaardema at Excel-Air.

If the mechanic would have just cut the inspection hold 5 more inches to the right, this leak would have been fixed easily.
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Regrettably, mechanics don't get to choose where the inspection ports will be, and airplane designers seem to have little regard for maintainability.
 
jdennis1989 said:
I will be taking it to Fletchair if all else fails. They told the previous owner over the phone that it was probably an o-ring that would require taking the wing off to get to.... After putting fuel in the wing myself and looking for the leak, this is where I found the leak. The mechanic that the owner took it to put some kind of sealant there, but it looks like he either didn't do it right, or put the wrong kind of sealant over it. I have the parts catalog, and this looks easy enough to fix without having to fly it over to Fletchair and have them try to BS me into taking the wing off.

I was just wondering if anyone else has come across this issue in either a Grumman or similar fuel system.

If the mechanic would have just cut the inspection hold 5 more inches to the right, this leak would have been fixed easily.
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It's a very rare occasion that I manage to 'patch' a fuel leak with some kind of surface sealant, pretty much it always requires disassembly and doing it right. Luckily a shop like Fletchair can probably do it in pretty minimal time, wings on and off is a very simple thing on an AA-1B
 
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