by Mike Busch | Oct 1, 2013 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles
Why many career A&Ps are not great troubleshooters. I recently had a fascinating exchange with my friend and colleague Paul New. Paul is an A&P/IA and a truly extraordinary aircraft mechanic who was honored by the FAA as the National Aviation Maintenance...
by Mike Busch | Sep 1, 2013 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles
A mechanical problem away from home is every aircraft owner’s worst nightmare. Here’s how one owner dealt with such a nightmare…with a little help. On an otherwise-peaceful Saturday morning, I received a panicky text message from Mark, a Cessna 185 owner from the San...
by Mike Busch | Aug 1, 2013 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles
Aircraft owners get lots of bad advice from their A&Ps. Ever wonder where the A&Ps get it from? “I know you’re a strong proponent of the in-flight mag check,” emailed the aircraft owner, “but I have been advised against doing this by my A&P due to concerns...
by Mike Busch | Jul 1, 2013 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles
Few aviation maintenance tasks are so misunderstood—and so responsible for inappropriate work and expense—as the routine differential compression test. It happens every year: We put our aircraft in the shop for its annual inspection. The IA pulls out the compression...
by Mike Busch | Jun 1, 2013 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles
When “stuff happens” to your aircraft, it’s not always someone else’s fault. Regular readers of this column know that I grumble a lot about “stupid mechanic tricks” made by career A&Ps who should know better. Some have accused me of mechanic-bashing. That’s a bit...
