by Mike Busch | Mar 20, 2025 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Like many of you, I’m an aircraft owner. I have been one for a long time. I bought my first airplane—a Cessna 182—in 1968 when I was 24 years old. Four years later at age 28, I traded up to a Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking. Then at age 43, I upgraded to a Cessna Turbo...
by Mike Busch | Jan 16, 2025 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Why don’t more A&Ps use engine monitor data for troubleshooting? The owner of a 2005 Cessna T182 was on vacation in Key West Florida. He decided to go up for a local sightseeing flight, but when he started the Lycoming TIO-540 engine it seemed to be running...
by Mike Busch | Dec 12, 2024 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Who is allowed to perform maintenance on a certificated aircraft? The FAA rule that answers that question is 14 CFR 43.3—Persons authorized to perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alterations. This rule authorizes repair stations, A&P...
by Mike Busch | Nov 14, 2024 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Rethinking the business model for maintenance of GA aircraft. For more than a decade, my primary care physician was Dr. F. She was a wonderful doctor with a deep understanding of internal medicine and superb people skills who cared deeply for her patients. I felt...
by Mike Busch | Oct 17, 2024 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
The Perils of Trying to Fix a Problem You Haven’t Seen For Yourself The phrase “trust but verify” was made famous by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in December 1987 after the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Mikhail Gorbachev. The...
