Maintaining "By The Book"

[Tom-D]

It sure doesn't mean the A&P is at his house, 30-45 minutes away, mowing his lawn or having a beer.

That's only your opinion, and not in agreement with the FAA.

They see it as long as every thing goes well, that is good enough, but when some thing goes wrong, you did bad.
As long as the A&P is willing to sign the return to service and take responsibility for the maintenance, the FAA is good with it, because that's who they are coming after.

 

[cgrab]

I don't touch my plane until I read over the parts and service manual and then discuss it with my mechanic. Even if he is doing the work instead of supervising me I want to know what is going on.
I printed out the lube order and maintenance intervals and have them posted on the wall of my hangar.
After each annual we discuss what we will do next year. For instance, I'm pricing a set of hydraulic hoses for my plane so I'll have them for this year. They were good for the last annual but my mechanic says they are near the end of the bathtub curve and recommends replacement.