High Time Airframe, I'd it worth it?

[Jonathan Hardwick]

Greetings, new to the group and have a question. My PA30 has approx 9500 hrs on the air frame and we are due for engines. The last two annuals were painful and My question is, is this airframe to high time to keep putting money into? I'm not well versed on the high time maintenance trends for twin Comanches. Any advice/ info will help my decision on the next move. Thanks

Jonathan
Chattanooga, Tn
N7828Y

[Kristin Winter]

You have two separate issues here. One is whether the structure of the aircraft will go significantly further. The other is the condition of the systems of your aircraft.

There are Twin Comanches that have been used for cloud seeding that have 10K+ hours on the airframe. That is a hard life. Piper recently published some recommendations for the Cherokees that suggest additional structural inspections at something like 60,000 hours. I may not have the exact numbers, but if a Cherokee will go tens of thousands of hours without structural problems, a Comanche will likely go further, IMO.

As for the maintenance, that is separate from the amount of hours. Everything that moves, wears. It sounds like you have been doing some catch up maintenance. You should be able to review the condition of the systems and determine for yourself whether they are likely to give good service going forward. For me, when I have to address issues in a system, like the landing gear, I seek to bring it to new or better condition. That way I can expect to get good service going forward and can put my attention toward other systems. So far, in the 9 years that I have owned my twin, I have gone through the electrical system, the landing gear system, and the charging system. I have also upgraded the panel. The next major system to work on is the flap system as my flap tracks are worn. I will replace those, replace any bushings in the system, install new springs, and over haul the transmission. Then it should be good for another 5000 hours.

[N3322G]

Jonathan,

Welcome to the Forum. As usual Kristin nicely defined the issues and I ditto what she said.

I've also observed that different people have different views on maintenance. There is keeping a plane airworthy and then there's making repairs so that future maintenance and downtime is avoided. My annual expenses include the latter approach so when the power quadrant controls were less than smooth, I replaced all 10 control cables to the engine nacelles and had the quadrant removed, cleaned and re-assembled. It was more expensive that way but I don't expect any further difficulties in my flying future. Other owners advised lubing the cables - which had already been done twice and it improved each time but then the problems returned. This is just another small example of how different people look at maintaining an aircraft.

[Ed Asmus]

Hi Jonathan,

One other thought. Back in the "good ol days," airplanes were worth a lot more then , than they are now. Engines were overhauled because it was more cost effective then replacing the entire airplane. Today, the market is saturated with airplanes. It might take some time and effort but if there was ever a chance to find a better airplane then the one you have now, this would likely be the time. Obviously you would be sacrificing the "known quantity" you have now keeping your existing airplane but depending on how much you have invested, it might be worth it to look around a little. This would be especially true if you would like an upgraded panel. It's always less expensive to buy someone else's upgraded panel (assuming it meets your requirements) then having one installed yourself. Ditto for paint and interior.

Just something to think about.

Good Luck,

Ed Asmus

[Jonathan Hardwick]

The big item for us is the confidence in the airframe. I'm hoping someone on this board has some insight into what items to start looking for when the PA-30 eclipses 10,000hrs. I'm not even sure that a high time comanche is a viable option going forward, it may be better to sell it and look for a lower time model. Keep in mind that we fly it for business, 200hrs+ a year. Thanks for all the info!

Jonathan

[Charles Schefer]

You might call Bob Hepp who runs the Aviation Adventures flight school at Manassas airport (HEF) and ask his opinion. You can look them up on AirNav. They have a PA-30 used for multi-engine training. I think Bob bought it with a few thousand hours and now has about 10K hours on the airframe. That's 10K hours of flight school use which means it's in a high-wear environment. It's also tied down outside with a cover not hangared. Bob loves the plane and considers it one of his favorites in his fleet.

- Charles

[howard]

The radio station in Toronto had a twincomanche it used for traffic. It was purchased by a fella (at a good price, with a spare or two engine etc) with over 18,000 hours on it. I suppose it may well still be in service. It was well maintained,and flew a lot. There are DC3's with like 40,000 hours on them. Patch em, put in wear parts and fly on...