 |
Matronics Email Lists
Web Forum Interface to the Matronics Email Lists
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
GrummanDude
Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 926
Location: Auburn, CA
|
 Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:38 am Post subject: Cost savings |
 |
|
Here are a couple of good ones.
I realize the economy has hurt us all. Certainly a crappy time to be finishing up the cowling project. But, does this mean that one starts to skimp on aircraft maintenance as well?
Story 1: I've been maintaining a particular Tiger for 9 years now. I know the plane inside and out. Other than the paint job, I've done just about everything else on the plane.
The annual is due this month and the owner called to find out how much the annual would be this year. In case you all don't know yet, I use a 14 page checklist that keeps track of everything from rudder spring total time to static rpm differences from year to year. So, as a result, I can tell you this plane needs this, this, and this, during this annual. One of the things I know this plane will need is brake linings.
The owner has talked to another mechanic who is closer. I know 'of' this mechanic; don't know him personally. This mechanic has quoted the owner $650 for the annual. Odds are, that is an annual consisting of a compression check.
Story 2: Another customer bought a Traveler without wheel pants. He wanted wheel pants. He found wheel pants in a salvage yard; plastic wheel pants. I saw the wheel pants for which he paid $300. They were cracked and broken in many places. They were in really bad shape. So, he very carefully removed ALL of the hardware20and spent days patching the wheel pants with fiberglass and plastic filler. Then, he replaced all of the hardware. He did a lot more work on the wheel pants than would be required for new fiberglass shells. He stills wants to 'eventually' install fiberglass shells.
Finally, painted them with uncatalyzed automotive enamel. He painted them in his driveway. He painted them after spending a couple of days sanding them smooth, priming them, sanding some more, and then painting them with an airless sprayer from Home Depot. Can you say, "Orange peel."
Point is, for all that work, for all that time invested, he could have had new wheel pants for another $400 or so. Then, let someone shoot the color for another $100 or so. The cost is in the preparation.
He did learn a lot from his experience. That counts for something.
Story 3: Several years ago a Tiger came in for an annual. The owner wanted all of the interior plastic replaced. He ordered it and had it sent to me. When I finished the annual, the owner came in to 'check-it-out.' When he saw the interior plastic, untrimmed, he inquired about the cost to install it. After I told him he said, "That's ridiculous. You should do it for free for the amount you charged me for the annual. Send the interior plastic to my home and I'll do it myself." So, I did.
I saw the plane a few years later. To say the interior
plastic was poorly installed would be putting it mildly. He liked it. Oh, well, the canopy plastic rubbed on the turtle deck (the rear of the canopy opening) to where the canopy was difficult to open, but. The rear window molding wasn't trimmed to fit either.
I asked who does his annual now. He smiled and proudly said, "I do. And I have a friend who is an IA and he signs it off. Costs me $75 a year." Shortly after I moved to Auburn he came by. He wanted me to troubleshoot a myriad of problems he and his mechanic had been unable to solve. I fixed the stuck primer and removed and cleaned the primer nozzles. I gave him some ideas on where to look to solve his other 'issues.' I charged him 1 hour for the primer and nozzles even though it took about 3 hours from start to finish: still too much
| | - The Matronics TeamGrumman-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?TeamGrumman-List |
|
_________________
Gary
AuCountry Aviation
Home of Team Grumman |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
haveblue1(at)mac.com
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:53 pm Post subject: Cost savings |
|
|
Gary,
I was about to ask you if you've had any interesting annuals lately. You
beat me to the punch.
Bruce Smith
On Wed, 2009-07-08 at 15:31 -0400, teamgrumman(at)aol.com wrote:
| Quote: | Here are a couple of good ones.
I realize the economy has hurt us all. Certainly a crappy time to be
finishing up the cowling project. But, does this mean that one starts
to skimp on aircraft maintenance as well?
Story 1: I've been maintaining a particular Tiger for 9 years now. I
know the plane inside and out. Other than the paint job, I've done
just about everything else on the plane.
The annual is due this month and the owner called to find out how much
the annual would be this year. In case you all don't know yet, I use
a 14 page checklist that keeps track of everything from rudder spring
total time to static rpm differences from year to year. So, as a
result, I can tell you this plane needs this, this, and this, during
this annual. One of the things I know this plane will need is brake
linings.
The owner has talked to another mechanic who is closer. I know 'of'
this mechanic; don't know him personally. This mechanic has quoted
the owner $650 for the annual. Odds are, that is an annual consisting
of a compression check.
Story 2: Another customer bought a Traveler without wheel pants. He
wanted wheel pants. He found wheel pants in a salvage yard; plastic
wheel pants. I saw the wheel pants for which he paid $300. They were
cracked and broken in many places. They 0were in really bad shape.
So, he very carefully removed ALL of the hardware and spent days
patching the wheel pants with fiberglass and plastic filler. Then, he
replaced all of the hardware. He did a lot more work on the wheel
pants than would be required for new fiberglass shells. He stills
wants to 'eventually' install fiberglass shells.
Finally, painted them with uncatalyzed automotive enamel. He painted
them in his driveway. He painted them after spending a couple of days
sanding them smooth, priming them, sanding some more, and then
painting them with an airless sprayer from Home Depot. Can you say,
"Orange peel."
Point is, for all that work, for all that time invested, he could have
had new wheel pants for another $400 or so. Then, let someone shoot
the color for another $100 or so. The cost is in the preparation.
He did learn a lot from his experience. That counts for something.
Story 3: Several years ago a Tiger came in for an annual. The owner
wanted all of the interior plastic replaced. He ordered it and had it
sent to me. When I finished the annual, the owner came in to
'check-it-out.' When he saw the interior plastic, untrimmed, he
inquired about the cost to install it. After I told him he said,
"That's ridiculous. You should do it for free for the amount you
charged me for the annual.20 Send the interior plastic to my home and
I'll do it myself." So, I did.
I saw the plane a few years later. To say the interior plastic was
poorly installed would be putting it mildly. He liked it. Oh, well,
the canopy plastic rubbed on the turtle deck (the rear of the canopy
opening) to where the canopy was difficult to open, but. The rear
window molding wasn't trimmed to fit either.
I asked who does his annual now. He smiled and proudly said, "I do.
And I have a friend who is an IA and he signs it off. Costs me $75 a
year." Shortly after I moved to Auburn he came by. He wanted me to
troubleshoot a myriad of problems he and his mechanic had been unable
to solve. I fixed the stuck primer and removed and cleaned the primer
nozzles. I gave him some ideas on where to look to solve his other
'issues.' I charged him 1 hour for the primer and nozzles even though
it took about 3 hours from start to finish: still too much.
A few months later, I heard he had crashed his plane and that he'd
been hospitalized. Apparently, the engine quit. A friend of mine who
does crash investigations said they found a lot of things that
contributed to the engine failure. He said the plane didn't look like
it had been annualed in 10 years. He got his money's worth.
Story 4: I started maintaini ng a Tiger a few years ago who had
belonged to someone I knew in the 80s who had done his own annuals.
This plane had been passed through 3 owners in the year previous to
the current owner buying the plane. Corrosion aside, it was clear
this plane had not had any serious attention in 25+ years. It did
have a factory reman engine (which failed at 800 hrs last year due to
no oil changes for 100 hrs at a stretch from engine install in 1998
until 2002 when flying was reduced to almost zero hours year until
2005.)
The annuals have gone from the $7,000 range in '05 to the $1500 range
this year. It's a lot more airworthy today than it was in '05. All
it needs now is routine maintenance.
--------------------------
Just some thoughts.
______________________________________________________________________
http://www.matronics.com/contribution
|
| | - The Matronics TeamGrumman-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?TeamGrumman-List |
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
