EAA Sport Aviation Magazine

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 Technician of the Year in 2007 (the year before I was so honored). […]

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 Francisco Bay Area. Mark said that he and his wife had […]

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 that I could get a serious backfire that […]

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 test gauges and measures each cylinder while we hold our breath and pray silently until […]

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 harsh, but I’ll readily admit to being a hard marker when […]

The best way to protect against the in-flight failure of any aircraft component is to have two. Or is it? CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONSPART 13—AIRCRAFT ENGINE AIRWORTHINESSSubpart B—Reciprocating Engines§ 13.111   Ignition system. All spark ignition engines shall be equipped with either a dual ignition system having at least two spark plugs per cylinder and two separate electrical circuits […]

Even a seemingly trivial mistake by a well-intentioned mechanic can have dire consequences. On April 19, 2005, a 1966 Beechcraft Debonair was cruising at 8,500’ on a VFR flight from Van Nuys to San Jose, Calif., when the pilot heard a loud noise and the Continental IO-550 engine started running rough. The pilot checked the […]

Troubleshooting is best accomplished by first gathering data and then analyzing it logically. The owner of a 2005 Cessna T182 was in Key West Florida when he experienced unusual roughness immediately after engine start. The EGT and CHT on the #3 cylinder seemed unusually low at first, but the roughness seemed to clear up before he […]

Can we prevent these catastrophic head-to-barrel separations? On February 24, 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board issued Safety Recommendation A-12-7 to FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta, expressing great concern over 29 cylinder head fatigue failures of Titan-brand cylinders manufactured by Engine Components, Inc. between 2003 and 2009 and installed on Continental IO-520, TSIO-520 and IO-550 […]

There’s metal in your oil filter. Now what? “I’ve been a happy aircraft owner until this morning,” Frank wrote me. “My aircraft is in the shop for its annual inspection, and the mechanic just called to say that they found magnetic chips in the oil filter, and the big-bore Continental engine would have to be […]

How NOT to lean your engine. At my July pilgrimage to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, I had the opportunity to speak to thousands of pilots and aircraft owners on a wide variety of subjects ranging from reliability-centered maintenance to TBO busting to corrosion, and to conduct a half-dozen informal hour-long Q&A sessions addressing whatever maintenance-related […]

Is your mechanic a minimalist or a maximalist? I’m an unabashed maintenance minimalist. I believe in doing only maintenance necessary to make an aircraft safe, reliable, and compliant with regulations. I believe that doing more maintenance than that is not only a waste of time and money, but that it also makes the airplane less […]

In a world of $7 avgas, it’s more important than ever to get the best bang for the buck. How can we get the best fuel economy from our airplanes? Given the painful cost of avgas these days, this is a question on lots of airplane owner’s minds. That goes at least double for unfortunate […]

When your engine finally needs to be overhauled, the most likely cause will be corrosion-induced distress to the cam lobes.  I recently received an email from a Skylane owner in Miami, Florida who was understandably upset after receiving bad news from his IA, and looking for a second opinion: “My 1980 Cessna 182Q went into […]

The decision whether or not to tear down an aircraft engine is among the most difficult and agonizing ones we make.  My company manages the maintenance of many hundreds of piston-powered GA airplanes, so we frequently deal with all manner of engine problems. Our biggest challenge involves diagnosing the problems and then deciding what work […]

We’re seeing an epidemic of Champion spark plug problems. Champion insists its plugs are fine and the problems are self-inflicted. The truth may be a bit more complicated.  By Mike Busch Premature failures of Champion-brand aviation spark plugs first showed up on my radar screen several years ago. My company manages the maintenance of nearly […]

During every annual inspection, there’s a particular point in time when you and your IA need to sit down and make decisions. Regular readers of this column know how strongly I feel about aircraft owners taking charge of their maintenance and managing the mechanics and shops they hire to work on their aircraft. An owner […]

Before you approve any costly or invasive repair to your aircraft, make sure the discrepancy is real. Arguably the worst part of being an aircraft owner is the annual ordeal of putting your plane in the shop every 12 calendar months and then bracing yourself for bad news. Over the past 4 years, my company […]

A mechanical problem away from home is every aircraft owner’s worst nightmare. Here are some thoughts about how best to deal with one. As a tech rep for the three largest airplane type clubs in the world (ABS, CPA, COPA) and as the founder and CEO of the world’s largest professional maintenance management firm for […]

Running out of fuel only happens to the other guy, right? I usually don’t write about experimental aircraft because my 45 years of aviation experience has been almost exclusively with certificated normal-category airplanes. However, I’m making an exception this month. This column was prompted by the June 16, 2001 crash of an experimental Lancair IV-P […]

Under the FARs, an annual inspection is a pass-fail test. Sometimes failing is the best course of action. Of the nearly 200 rules in Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, far and away the most expensive for most aircraft owners is this one: § 91.409   Inspections. (a) …No person may operate an aircraft unless, within the […]

How do you decide when it’s time to overhaul your engine? If not at TBO, then when? Regular readers of this column know that I’m not a big fan of the idea of overhauling engines at TBO. I consider engine TBO to be a thoroughly discredited concept that has cost aircraft owners hundreds of millions […]

When are manufacturer-specified inspection, overhaul and replacement intervals mandatory for a Part 91 operator? “It has been six years since your propeller was last overhauled, so we’re going to have to overhaul it this year as required by Hartzell.” “Your magnetos are past due; TCM requires that they be overhauled every four years.” “We need […]