by Scott Ducey » Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:26 am
That was just the cost of the annual. My total bill came to $17,000 (inclusive of the annual). And that hurt!! There was a lot of little stuff that was done. The props were re-dressed, had new carpets put in, a rib needed repair in the back, new throttle quadrant, some rivets and nut plates needed to be replaced, the dressing (cloth) needed replacement on cowling, door needed adjustment and more. I did myself a favor and went down and helped the mechanic out. I have to say, I got a real appreciation of how much time it takes to work on things. I also got an appreciation of how much thinking is involved with this stuff. Anyone that is under the impression that mechanical work is not a mental effort needs to spend some time with an AI. As Maurice Taylor used to say, good maintenance doesn't cost, it pays! My mechanic is a Comanche guy, so I feel I am getting value out of the work that he does. He owns an MU-2, and after working on my plane he is kicking himself for selling his Twinkie. Nevertheless we were trying to correct 40 years of previous owners oversight. The bill hurt, but I am glad I got it done. (I still haven't told my wife about the bill - too bad there isn't an emergency check list for that)!!