Should one be Cautious After an Annual?

MBDiagMan

MBDiagMan

Final Approach
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Doc
My plane just came out of annual and is sitting in my hangar ready to fly. My plan HAD BEEN to fly around awhile keeping the airport in gliding range before venturing off on a sure enough cross country flight.

They put my Mom back in the hospital last night and I need to go over there. I plan on leaving in about an hour and a half.

Am I taking a risk just climbing in, doing a thorough run up and heading off for 100 mile flight?

They tightened up the push rod tubes and replaced the rocker arm cover gaskets in the process. They also replaced brake pads.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
 
You might be more at risk flying distracted while thinking about your mom. Don't mix fatigue with that, too. Might be safer to drive... or not... you're call. Just mentioning it so you'll think about it.

Never had anything fail right out of Annual here, really. Any mechanic can make a mistake, but with a solid pre-flight and run-up, I'd fly it. Someone just signed it off as Airworthy.

Careful of the stuff that happens in your head when a loved one is ill, though. It's very distracting for flying.
 
I would take off and circle above your airport for perhaps 30 minutes then if all is well head off to your moms. If that is not doable then be sure to monitor your oil pressure very carefully during flight. Given the work you describe I would think a oil leak would be a likely failure if one was to occur.
 
I know it sounds trite but there is always a risk, and you should always be careful. With that said, if it is weighing on your mind I suggest plotting a course that goes directly from intermediate airport to airport. As John T said, spend a little time close to home, just in case. Use that time to gain altitude and make the trip at as high an altitude as you can. Altitude is your friend when you have engine problems in flight.

edited to add:
We lost and engine a couple of years ago about 7 hours after an annual at about a thousand feet and 4 miles to the nearest field. I sure wish we had a little more altitude so we could have reached that airport instead of that highway. The first 7 hours after the annual was a cross country that took us right over Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades. TWICE!. I sure am glad the failure waited until we were back in civilization or we would have a few more well fed alligators down there.
 
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Thanks for the quick response.

My Mom has been in and out of the hospital so much recently, that I've accepted the fact that things are bad and gradually getting worse. I was emotional about it at first, but she is at Peace with her maker and making all of us pretty calm about it.

My mental state about it is not such that flying will be a problem. It's only about 120 driving miles but it's through some of the worst traffic DFW has to offer.

Thanks again for the quick responses.
 
Doc, I added a little personal story to my post right after hitting enter and while you were posing. You might want to go back and read it. I thought it was interesting since it happened to me.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Thanks for the quick response.

My Mom has been in and out of the hospital so much recently, that I've accepted the fact that things are bad and gradually getting worse. I was emotional about it at first, but she is at Peace with her maker and making all of us pretty calm about it.

My mental state about it is not such that flying will be a problem. It's only about 120 driving miles but it's through some of the worst traffic DFW has to offer.

Thanks again for the quick responses.
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Then the important thing is to be there for you and your mom. Is there a chance something will go wrong with the plane? Yes, every time you fly. ;)

Sorry to hear about your mom. End of life stuff sucks for parents and kids, but is all part of the circle of life. Glad to hear she is at peace with it. That is a wonderful gift for her to pass onto her family and friends. I hope things workout well for you and your family in this diffiçult time.

Good luck, be safe. :D
 
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Add a couple of thousand feet of altitude for mom, if it makes you feel better.

The twin drivers will be along soon to tell us single drivers that we're all nuts for even attempting flight in such dangerous single-source-of-propulsion machines. :)

If it's your day for an in-flight failure, it's your day for an in-flight failure. Fly safe, give your mom a hug for all of us.
 
Always be careful. I've picked up planes after engine overhauls to find issues with them. I had my annual done right before Oshkosh one year. The day before we were to go, I went over and picked up the plane from the mechanic. I hopped in and did a quick flight around the vicinity of the airport and came down and open up the cowling and look for obvious things wrong (one of the A&Ps, not the IA however) was with me at that point.

Next morning, I note we're going through fuel at a great rate (Margy was flying). Setting down at JYO (a 20 minute flight from VKX) I go find a mechanic (mean while Margy starts taking apart the access panel to the boost pump which was overhauled at annual and we figure is a good place for the leak). By the time I get back with the mechanic (he's going how do you get her to do that for you. I pointed out she just finished doing the annual).

Kicking on the boost pump showed one of the fuel fittings was only finger tight and hadn't had a wrench put to it. Minutes later we were on our way, but I'm glad we were someplace close to land (I computed the fuel "burn" at 60 GPH). We didn't see any evidence of the leak after the test flight because fuel on a hot day evaporates pretty quickly and doesn't leave much of a trace (especially on a blue airplane).
 
denverpilot said:
Add a couple of thousand feet of altitude for mom, if it makes you feel better.

The twin drivers will be along soon to tell us single drivers that we're all nuts for even attempting flight in such dangerous single-source-of-propulsion machines. :)

If it's your day for an in-flight failure, it's your day for an in-flight failure. Fly safe, give your mom a hug for all of us.
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Hmm, do they annual one-half of a twin at a time, so you have redundancy?
 
Thanks for all the warm replies. I'll be heading to the airport and checking more on the weather in a little bit.
 
Praying for the best for your mom.

And, more than one aircraft has suffered a maintenance induced failure...

One of my dad's Navions quit about 50 feet in the air after takeoff following an annual where the handle for fuel selector was put on the wrong way (took off on a nearly empty tank).
 
denverpilot said:
The twin drivers will be along soon to tell us single drivers that we're all nuts for even attempting flight in such dangerous single-source-of-propulsion machines. :)
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My wife pointed out to me yesterday that I'm not comfortable flying a single over a cornfield. ;)

Actually, even in a twin I'm more cautious after an annual or any maintenance. I have been known for my post-annual test-flight to include flying to another state (and not one nearby), but I don't like doing it that way. My preference is to get a good 30-minute test flight in where I can fly the plane around, test all the systems for functionality, etc.

So I'd say yes, you are taking an increased risk, but whether or not that risk is something you're concerned about is another matter entirely. I find it's not uncommon to have one or two things not working properly after maintenance, but it's also rarely been something that's actually a safety of flight issue.
 
jtheune said:
I would take off and circle above your airport for perhaps 30 minutes then if all is well head off to your moms. If that is not doable then be sure to monitor your oil pressure very carefully during flight. Given the work you describe I would think a oil leak would be a likely failure if one was to occur.
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That's why I would land and inspect after your 30 minute flight test. Then comes the cross country.

-Skip
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My wife pointed out to me yesterday that I'm not comfortable flying a single over a cornfield. ;)
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Glad to know she has the same perspective as everybody else on this board.
 
wabower said:
Glad to know she has the same perspective as everybody else on this board.
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Most people on this board do have a keen sense of the obvious. ;)

I haven't had my single engine currency in months. I'm planning on keeping it that way.
 
flyingron said:
Kicking on the boost pump showed one of the fuel fittings was only finger tight and hadn't had a wrench put to it.
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Why wasn't that done prior to sign off and button up?
 
Yeah I think the last step when buttoning up any fuel, hydrualic, or oil system is to use it and check for leaks. Duh
 
DO the Preflight ---->

Discrepancies I have found after inspections

changed the oil, forgot to fill the tank after.
repaired fuel leak, forgot to fill the tank.
Changed a tire, forgot to key the axel nut.
completed the annual, found battery disconnected.

people touch stuff, stuff happens.
 
Saw this the other day while looking for another NTSB that happened a while back here in MT.

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20060616X00752&key=1


During the recent annual inspection the left-hand control yoke had been removed from the left-hand control column in compliance with a current FAA airworthiness directive; the control yoke was subsequently reinstalled to its respective control column. After taking off and beginning a left turn, the pilot experienced no aileron control input, impacting terrain in a nose low attitude. A post-accident examination revealed that the left-hand control yoke had not been properly reinstalled or verified that that installation was correct.




The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The failure of maintenance personnel to properly reinstall the left-hand control yoke to the left-hand control column, and the failure of other maintenance personnel to properly verify the installation, which resulted in the pilot's loss of control in flight while maneuvering and subsequent impact with terrain.
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Flight Controls ...... CHECK
 
Check everything, don't take any passengers for your first post-maintenance flight, and stay in the pattern for a little bit. I never feel the need to be afraid, but I do feel the need to be aware.
 
Think of it this way -- they just took a perfectly good airplane, disassembled it, and put it back together. What precautions seem prudent in that situation?
 
I've personally seen pitot and static ports left taped, inspection panels forgotten, and a few other things...

Ryan
 
This spring (and summer, and fall) we did the most work yet on the Chief -- complete replacement of all gaskets, mounts, fasteners, adjustment of everything that is adjustable, and an annual, after it was re-assembled.

Finally weather and schedule aligned and we drove to KWAY (Waynesburg, PA, now 3.5 hours from our new home). I did a full preflight and once everything checked out planned on a simple engine runup and then shut down -- it was overcast and windy and not ideal Chief weather.

But after the runup the runway beckoned. I couldn't help it so taxied out, centered, and added full power while holding the brakes. Everything was good so I released and was soon airborne.

I can't say I was "comfortable" climbing out (take a look at the departure end of KWAY on Bing maps and you'll see the limited options), but everything sounded, looked, felt, and smelled right.

I flew a tight pattern, overflew the field, then brought it in for a very nice landing on the grass. I checked it inside and out for leaks, looseness, etc. All good (this is a very simple airplane).

Early the next morning I pulled it out of the hangar, threw the prop, and headed east to my new airport-home. I made on fuel stop at Somerset but didn't need it. The airplane flew fine and my mind was less burdened since I'd done that simple, short test flight before launching on a long trip.
 
Just as my days in the submarine service, I had the IA fly with me on the check out flight. We found a couple of squawks, nothing major. Was good to know that the entire MX crew was ready to fly with me after the annual.
 
From different mechanics over the years I have found: seatbelts attached backwards, inop fuel servo, screwdriver in cockpit, bad mag, wrench left loose in my acro plane, disconnected pitch servo, and worst: an engine hoist lift chain left on the engine and then completely cowled.

Based on this, I really try to avoid flying in IMC after maintenance, and try to fly the first five or ten hours in day VMC only.

If you're flying VFR only, then the risks would of course be less.
 
Doc, how did it go? Flying to a hospital is not how I imagined any of us would be using our PPL. I'm sorry for what you are going through.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Doc, how did it go? Flying to a hospital is not how I imagined any of us would be using our PPL. I'm sorry for what you are going through.
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Well, as you point out, anything I say at this point would be superfluous, but I would be very wary of MIF's (Maintenance Induced Failures). I like the idea of doing a half hour over the airport, landing, and checking things out. Then, presuming all is good, climb as high as you feel comfortable, and try to route over airports as much as possible.

And Kimberly, I used the airplane to get to my Dad's death bed in FL only a year or two after I got the certificate. Certainly not how I wanted to use it, but I was really glad of the flexibility it gave me. How I wanted to use it was for the Bahamas vacation we were on at the time!
 
Thanks for all the responses and comments. This has turned out to be an educational thread and educational experience. Yesterday was a very educational flying day. One of those days that makes it even more obvious why they require a certain amount of cross country time for advanced ratings or a PPL for that matter.

I preflighted the plane THOROUGHLY. Got in, strapped in, went through checklist, etc., called clear and pulled the starter handle...... urr...urr! I walked over and told the IA whose hangar is less than 100 feet away. He said they had the masters on alot while testing. He hand propped it and it started on the second try (I missed my big chance to say "contact!":lol:,) and began charging a little over 20 Amps.

I went to the run up box and went through a thorough runup and checked as many controls and indicators as I could see. I took off South, which goes toward town. I would have rather had a North wind so I could have taken off over more empty country, but so be it.

Once I got up it was ROUGH air. I turned crosswind, then downwind and went North of the airport and buzzed around for a few minutes then turned and did a straight in final. The wind was gusty and it wasn't a very good landing, an indication of things to come for the day.

I taxi'd back to the ramp, got out and opened the cowling. Mainly I wanted to make sure that there were no traces of an oil leak. I looked things over and it started with the starter, no problem. The air had been so rough and I had not climbed very high, so I told myself that I would take off and see if I could climb above it, if so, go on, if not, get in the car and fight the traffic.

I got off and once above about 3,000 it was silk smooth. I was fighting about a 26 knot headwind at my altitude according to Winds Aloft reports, so I got a first hand example of what people say about a 140.... you get it in the air and then let the Earth rotate under it. My ground speed was in the sixties.

Once descending at final destination, the air of course was really bumpy and although was pretty much straight down the runway, the gusts made for another exciting landing, but I was still able to walk and the plane apparantly still airworthy, so all was well.

I got to the hospital and my Mom was physically stronger than I've seen her in weeks. She had broken her hip and had complications, but then had recovered to a point of starting her rehab. She was strong and able to sit up in bed, which was a major accomplishment as compared to how she looked and felt Sunday. She was irritated because she had been working hard at her rehab, but now her Hemoglobin was low and they will have to do an endoscopy looking for problems in the stomach. We won't know the outcome until after the procedure today.

Back to the airport, paid the fuel bill (wow!) Preflighted, looked again for oil leaks and had the gusts give me some excitement off the runway. I had been watching the weather reporting closely, mostly concerned about the winds. I was not anxious to land in a heavy gusty crosswind back home.

I climbed out of the rough air, did a midfield crossing of a controlled airport nearby and turned North. When I did, I got the wind behind me and my ground speed was anywhere from 127 to 137 knots!

It had begun to get hazy when I was off, but the Sun was still managing to make it's way through the haze. I got about a third of the way home and the haze got darker and darker. I then was seeing very small clouds at my altitude and I was only at 3,500. Because of the haze, I couldn't tell if they were big clouds or what. I landed at a small uncontrolled airport to check on the weather. It was all showing 10 mile visibility and clear sky in the vicinity of my destination. Just to be on the safe side I called a guy at my home airport and he was puzzled. He even walked outside and looked South, and told me it was clear.

BTW, when I landed at the uncontrolled airport, it was another bad landing, but good enough for the airplane and myself to still be airworthy.

I took off again and went North, and once at altitude saw those small clouds. They were just large enough and just at the top of the haze layer to make you wonder what you might be flying into. I watched closely and kept ensuring sight of the ground five miles or more away and it didn't take long with 130 knot groundspeed to get out of it. Albeit it was still hazy, there was sunshine again. None of the weather reports had lied.

When I got home I did another exciting landing with a pretty good crosswind component to it this time. I put the Piggy away, filled out my logs and started reflecting on all the experience I had this day. Bumpy air didn't kill me, haze didn't kill me, landing in gusty wind conditions didn't kill me and the freshly inspected plane didn't kill me.

The only squawk I have on the plane now, is that my Com1 got weak and two times my PTT switch wouldn't work after landing. I have had an intermittent problem with the PTT switch in the past, but it had gone away for a long time. Nothing worse than an intermittent problem.

Thanks again for all the replies, comments and well wishes for my Mom.
 
Part of every annual should be an hour flight after annual completion. This will shake any loose hose, bolts, etc. that may have been left or overlooked. On my last annual a loose fuel injector fitting didn't became a problem until after take off. The engine went rough but manage to land safely. The fitting aparently was not tight enough after the injector was reinstalled. On another annual incident the gear did not retracted due to the emergency extension lock. Keep in mind that during an annual there is a lot that get dissassembled and assembled back that is subject to an oversight.

José
 
I would fly 3 trips around the pattern after a thorough pre-flight.

The main things that have burned me is the trims being way out of normal. Take a look first. I've had the elevator trim make me fight for a while and the rudder trim make me think the plane was really broke.
 
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Doc,

Do you carry a back up radio (hand held or one that plugs in to your headset)?

Kimberly
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Doc,

Do you carry a back up radio (hand held or one that plugs in to your headset)?

Kimberly
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No but I have two COM radios and an audio panel. Of course that redundancy doesn't correct the PTT issue. As soon as we get my Mom out of the hospital I plan on attacking the PTT situation. I spent lots of my early career years in electronics systems work, and it's only a switch circuit, so I expect to solve that part of the problem.

There was a King Handheld Radio/GPS combination on ebay that I planned to buy, but then after all this came up all of a sudden with my Mom I came back and it was gone.
 
MBDiagMan said:
No but I have two COM radios and an audio panel. Of course that redundancy doesn't correct the PTT issue. As soon as we get my Mom out of the hospital I plan on attacking the PTT situation. I spent lots of my early career years in electronics systems work, and it's only a switch circuit, so I expect to solve that part of the problem.

There was a King Handheld Radio/GPS combination on ebay that I planned to buy, but then after all this came up all of a sudden with my Mom I came back and it was gone.
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I bought a used ICOM from a guy on POA but I've never tested it in flight. Including shipping I only paid a bit over $100 and it works great so far on the ground and even has NAV.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I bought a used ICOM from a guy on POA but I've never tested it in flight. Including shipping I only paid a bit over $100 and it works great so far on the ground and even has NAV.
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Sounds like a bargain. I've figured it would take at least a couple hundred to get a decent one.
 
I have a spare PTT button on my panel in case the switch on the stick should crap out. I'm guessing that's not something you'd be allowed to fit yourself on a certified aircraft, but I believe you can buy or make a portable one with no modification to the airplane needed - shorting the tip (PTT) of the microphone jack to the sleeve (GND). Though I guess whether that would work depends on where in the harness the fault is. By all means do your best to find and fix the fault, but these intermittent poor connections can be a bugger to find and it's nice to have a backup.
 
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