Socata Tampico Annual & other maintenance costs

Kiddo's Driver

Kiddo's Driver

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Jim
Socata Tampico TB9 Annual & other maintenance costs

I'm putting this up to document what I spent on the annual and additional maintenance performed at the annual. I'm in the camp that the ANNUAL cost is ONLY what was spent to accomplish the annual. Any maintenance & repairs done in excess of the minimum required for the annual is corrective maintenance.

I'll get the final labor cost tomorrow on the annual, but it is in the $1,000 range. EDIT: Got the bill $1966.40 for 44 hours of labor, one quart of oil, and one vacuum filter. (I bought everything else.) I'm calling it $900 for the annual labor.

There is also an AD that comes up annually...I guess I should lump that into the annual labor cost since it is purely labor. (Gimble joint inspection. The AD has you inspect one of the three Gimbles. The Mandatory SB (not mandatory for part 91...:rolleyes2:) has you inspect all three gimble joints...I have all three inspected. It takes all of 1/2 hour to do all three if you have done it before.

Parts cost for additional work:
500 hour inspection on two magnetos, $840.
New SCEET-11 hoses FWF, 5 feet, about $60.
New baffling, about $60 in material (fiber reinforced rubber & rivets)
New starter $305 (Sky Tec 149-24LS) had to trim the front baffling to make room for the solenoid. (Removed a Prestolite boat anchor.)
Removed two obsolete pieces of avionics & installed cover plates, $60.
One new tire & tube, $225. (Edit, I found the receipt. It was $121.50 for the tire and $76.92 for the Tube, including shipping.)
New battery & recert for my ELT, $280?

My Reiff Standard System (100 watts on oil pan, 50 watt band heater on each cylinder), plus the oil cooler heater (25 watt heater on the side of the oil cooler), should arrive tomorrow. If he has time, we will install it before I fly out. If not, it will be done at my hangar under his supervision (toward my A&P). $535 plus shipping.

Between the removed avionics & starter swap, I removed just over 18 pounds from the plane and moved the CG 1/2 inch aft.

I'll come back and update this if I think of anything else.

I'd like to hear from other Tampico owners about their experiences. (Both of you guys! ;) :rofl:)

Jim
 
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What did you remove?
Our Tampico has every type of electronic ever invented.
I would like to reduce the weight.

We did a Weight and Balance: 1572 lbs.
Out of the factory it is supposed to be something like 1448 (I think)

So far only costs for us have been Oil changes
and LED landing and taxi lights

Annual is due in June of 2014
 
Removed:​
Prestolite Starter, MHB-4016, 17.99 pounds​
Trimble TLN-1000 GPS, 1.9 pounds​
King ADF KR-87, 3.2 pounds​
King ADF Indicator, KI227, .7 pounds​
King ADF Antenna KA44B, 2.4 pounds​
King Transponder Antenna KA60, .2 pounds (Outer plastic was broken.)​
Installed:​
Sky Tec Starter, 149-24LS, 8.25 pounds​
Rami Transponder Antenna AV-22, .06 pounds​
Net Weight change: -18.08 pounds​
New Empty Weight: 1529.62 pounds​
New Useful Load: 807.38 pounds​
Jim​
​
 
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My A&P had issues with one of the mags. After LOTS of looking he found that the right magneto had been reassemble with the gear one tooth off from where it should have been. Once he shifted it by one tooth it ran great! I'll be calling QAA tomorrow to have a discussion with them about the quality of their work. On the left mag the cover plate screw is stripped and could not be removed to be checked. Good thing the problem was with the right magneto. They should never have returned it to me with a stripped screw.

I think I will start pushing Electroair to get the documents from them so that I can file for a field approval to put their unit on my Tampico. Maybe by the time I'm due for another 500 hour inspection on my magnetos I will be able to replace one of them with an electronic ignition unit.

Jim
 
807 useful on a 4 seat? Yikes! I thought the 860 # useful was bad on a 180 horse C177B with a constant speed prop, that I just weighed :hairraise:
 
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BTW, picked it up this afternoon. Just a quick hop from my A&Ps grass strip to KFYM. I've flown the grand total of 2 hours in the last year and a half. It was a nice landing even with the 9 knot almost direct crosswind. TBs really handle crosswinds very well!
Jim
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
BTW, picked it up this afternoon. Just a quick hop from my A&Ps grass strip to KFYM. I've flown the grand total of 2 hours in the last year and a half. It was a nice landing even with the 9 knot almost direct crosswind. TBs really handle crosswinds very well!
Jim
Click to expand...

2 hrs in the last 18months? :yikes: :sad:
 
My alternator kept dropping off line last month. Tried a new voltage regulator. Suspected that I needed a new alternator. A couple of hours of troubleshooting later it turns out that a crimped butt connector was the problem. Intermittent faults...I hate them.

Makes me want to go through and solder all of my wires and then shrink wrap the connections.

The A&P fixed the alternator problem, but now my cigar lighter/power socket does not work. At least it is a hard fault and not intermittent.

Jim
 
Did you have the control surfaces removed so the bearings could be checked and lubed with the correct grease? I'm on www.socata.org and that seams to be the only additional annual cost as opposed to brand C, P and B.
 
EdFred said:
I wouldn't have known it. I gave him his flight review, and he flew well within PTS standards.
Click to expand...
It's your plane. It makes everyone look like a good pilot!
Oh, and the first 1.5 hours of the two was me flying your plane. The other 1/2 hour was me ferrying my plane over to get the annual done.

jonnyjetprop said:
Did you have the control surfaces removed so the bearings could be checked and lubed with the correct grease? I'm on www.socata.org and that seams to be the only additional annual cost as opposed to brand C, P and B.
Click to expand...

I'm on there also as JimmyD. I did not do the wing ones this year because we are removing them this summer as part of the flap gap & aileron gap seal STC.

Kiddo's Driver said:
I think I will start pushing Electroair to get the documents from them so that I can file for a field approval to put their unit on my Tampico. Maybe by the time I'm due for another 500 hour inspection on my magnetos I will be able to replace one of them with an electronic ignition unit.
Click to expand...

I finally got the documents from Electroair earier this week.

Jim
 
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Well that Reiff system I was going to put on last year is finally on now! I got it signed off last Friday. It added something like 1.3 pounds and shifted the CG forward about .05 of an inch...

Its nice to start the engine and have the needle come right up into the bottom of the green arc!
Edit: Spelling.
 
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Chris from the Glider port did it.

Tube is a leakstop tube and a good tire.

I have one of those "special" ELTs that has to be recertified when the battery is changed. It is a Narco so I was lucky to find a company that could do it. I think it also had something to with having to "rebuild the battery" as in it was a battery only available from Narco. The only thing that was not new on the battery was the connector.
 
Could get a used normal 121.5 ELT for the price on one battery change, two and you got a 406/121.5 GPS.
 
So I had been struggling getting my preheated engine to start. Turns out that I have to almost treat it as a hot start!
Turn on the main
Turn on the fuel pump
Set the mixture at 1/2
Set the throttle at 1/10
DO NOT PRIME
Crank
Once the engine stumbles/catches move the mixture to full rich.

Smile at the engine temperature gauge reading either right below the green arc or at the bottom of the green arc.
 
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Kiddo's Driver said:
So I had been struggling getting my preheated engine to start. Turns out that I have to almost treat it as a hot start!
Turn on the main
Turn on the fuel pump
Set the mixture at 1/2
Set the throttle at 1/10
DO NOT PRIME
Crank
Once the engine stumbles/catches move the mixture to full rich.

Smile at the engine temperature gauge reading either right below the green arch or at the bottom of the green arch.
Click to expand...


Really?
When cold, I would pump the throttle like 10-12 times

Get you an EZ Heater. Cheap and works very well.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
So I had been struggling getting my preheated engine to start. Turns out that I have to almost treat it as a hot start!
Turn on the main
Turn on the fuel pump
Set the mixture at 1/2
Set the throttle at 1/10
DO NOT PRIME
Crank
Once the engine stumbles/catches move the mixture to full rich.

Smile at the engine temperature gauge reading either right below the green arch or at the bottom of the green arch.
Click to expand...

It turns out that this may have been early indications of a failing impulse coupling. The engine got progressively harder and harder to start. It turns out that the impulse coupling failed & ate the magneto.

Now I'm back to no issues starting. It starts on 1-2 blades turns. (IOW REALLY FAST!!!)

-Jim
 
I think it was $1,000 for the annual this year. Plus extras:
New Magnetos
New Wiring harness
New ELT
Removal & reinstall of alternator
Fix baffling around alternator (Alternator threw two cooling fan blades. Vibration damaged the baffling.
Shop replacement of the cooling fan on the alternator - $40

I think that was it. I'll update once I look over the paperwork.
 
Last year I shifted the annual to May so now it is that time of year again!
Between the annual & now I had a vacuum pump failure (14 year old pump, maybe 500 hours, IIRRC). The carbon blades were fine, but the plastic shaft got brittle with age & broke.
My Attitude indicator (ADI/AI/artificial horizon) failed a couple weeks ago. It is listed as optional on the equipment list and did not need any maintenance to disable it so I placarded it as inop. We will check the basics & decide what to do with it this month. Will remove & send in for overhaul in the near future. About $400.
On the list this year:
Wing root seals -Replaced with parts I had bought previously. (About $200 in parts)
Install Stratus Power Port (Maybe) http://www.appareo.com/stratus-power/ -Partially differed. Wiring is in and zip tied in a safe location. Have not decided on final location.
New circuit breaker for the fuel pump. (Pops on it own every once in a while. Common failure item identified on the www.socata.org group.) -Replaced with a new breaker I had previously bought. (<$50 part.)
Possibly replace passenger door seal. -Differed.
Figure out why the cigarette lighter/power port does not work. (It has not worked since a repair shop fixed a bad wire to my alternator while I was traveling.) -Fixed, bad ground.
My transponder was not working. We verified the antenna was connected, removed transponder, cleaned contacts & reinserted. Works great now.
I'm at 1750 hours & 20 years on the current overhaul. Compression:
One overhauled cylinder replaced a few years ago is in the mid 70's.
Two from the 1997 engine overhaul are in the mid 60's.
One from the 1997 engine overhaul is in the 50's, but legal.
The plane sat from the end of September 2016 until May of 2017. I'm going to watch oil consumption and fly it for 10 hours or so, then we will recheck compressions. If it has not gotten better I'll swap the really low one for an overhauled cylinder.

$1250 TOTAL, including oil, filter. Does not include Stratus USB charge port ($375), wing root seals ($200), and circuit breaker (<$50). It also does not include the AI overhaul that will happen soon ($400).

I'm still guessing about $900 for the actual annual.
 
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