EAA Sport Aviation Magazine

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...

My $.02 On $6.00 AVGAS

by Mike Busch | November 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

My 1979 T310R is equipped with a Shadin fuel totalizer which—like my fuel gauges—is calibrated in pounds of fuel (rather than gallons). So when the price of 100LL reached $6.00 per gallon, I half-jokingly turned to a pilot friend who...

Warranty Schmarranty!

by Mike Busch | October 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

You bought a $40,000 engine, and it turns out to be a lemon. That’s okay, you’re covered under warranty, right? Hmmm… On a breathtakingly beautiful spring day in April 2011, one of my clients landed his 1980 Cessna T210 at...

Is your airplane too broken to fly?

by Mike Busch | September 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

The rules about flying with inoperative equipment are complicated, and have changed a lot. Here’s the latest. Is your airplane squawk-free? I know mine isn’t. At any given point in time, you’ll find a yellow Post-it Note on the instrument...

Owner-Produced Parts

by Mike Busch | August 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

If your certificated aircraft needs a replacement part that’s ridiculously expensive or downright unobtainable, the FAA will allow you to produce one yourself. The 1960s and 1970s were the biggest years for production of piston GA airplanes. By the peak...

Battery TLC

by Mike Busch | July 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles, Uncategorized

The care and feeding of aircraft batteries. Last month, in Part 1 of this article, we discussed the construction, chemistry, types and characteristics of lead-acid aircraft batteries. This month, we’ll talk about the care and feeding of those batteries, including...

About Batteries

by Mike Busch | July 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Sensitive and fragile compared to their automotive brethren, aircraft batteries need TLC if you don’t want to be left stranded. Aircraft batteries are the Rodney Dangerfields of general aviation. They get no respect. We let them sit unflown for weeks...

Is it safe? Is it airworthy?

by Mike Busch | May 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

We often treat the words “safe” and “airworthy” as if they were synonyms. They’re not. On the landing roll, something didn’t feel right. The Cessna pulled strongly to the left. The pilot had to apply full right pedal and some...

Making Metal?

by Mike Busch | April 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

How to ensure that nothing is coming apart inside your crankcase. I’d been working with a Bonanza owner in Memphis for several weeks helping him chase down a problem with his Lycoming engine. Yes, Lycoming—the aircraft was an A36 with...

The Waddington Effect

by Mike Busch | March 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Contrary to popular belief, more maintenance isn’t necessarily better. Often it’s worse—a lesson that was learned during WWII. I’ve written at length in prior issues of EAA Sport Aviation on the subject of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), the scientific and engineering...

Slippery Stuff

by Mike Busch | February 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles, Uncategorized

More about what aircraft owners should know about piston aircraft engine oil. Last month, we began our discussion of piston aircraft engine oil by discussing the types and properties of the various kinds of engine oil available, and I offered...

All About Oil

by Mike Busch | February 1, 2011 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

What aircraft owners should know about piston aircraft engine oil. This is the first of a two-part article about the lubricating oil we use in our piston aircraft engines, and we’ll be covering a lot of territory. We’ll discuss the...

The Mag Check

by Mike Busch | December 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

You’ve been doing mag checks since your first flight lesson, but are you doing them right? From your first days as a student pilot, you were undoubtedly taught to perform a “mag check” as part of each pre-takeoff runup. But do...

Return to Service

by Mike Busch | November 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Mechanics approve an aircraft for return to service after maintenance by signing a logbook entry, but pilots actually return the aircraft to service by flying it. Never forget that on the first flight after maintenance, you’re a test pilot…so please...

EGT Myths Debunked

by Mike Busch | October 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Pilots still seem to have a lot of misconceptions about EGT. Let’s see if we can clear some of them up. These days, pilots of piston-powered aircraft seem to be fixated upon exhaust gas temperature (EGT). Scarcely a day goes...

How To Destroy Your Engine

by Mike Busch | September 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Destructive detonation and pre-ignition events can destroy your engine in two minutes flat. Know the symptoms, and act fast! At least once a year, I am contacted by an aircraft owner whose piston aircraft engine was destroyed or severely damaged...

Exhaust Valve Failures – Part 2

by Mike Busch | August 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

We have the technology to prevent these failures by detecting them in the incipient phase. Last month we discussed how exhaust valves fail and why they sometimes fail prematurely. This month, we’ll shift our focus to how we can monitor...

Exhaust Valve Failures – Part 1

by Mike Busch | July 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Exhaust valves are the most heat-stressed components in your piston aircraft engine, and the most likely to fail prior to TBO. Here’s what you need to know about them. I experienced my first in-flight exhaust valve failure about twenty years...

Work Orders and Invoices

by Mike Busch | June 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Your maintenance shop’s paperwork can make all the difference between a good outcome and a nightmare. When he contacted me, the owner of a pristine turbonormalized A36 Bonanza seemed obviously frustrated: I manage to fly only 50 to 75 hours...

Who’s the boss?

by Mike Busch | May 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Every pilot understands the notion of “pilot in command.” That’s because we all had some certificated flight instructor (CFI) who mercilessly pounded this essential concept into our heads throughout our pilot training. Hopefully, it stuck. As pilot-in-command (PIC), we are...

Is this engine airworthy?

by Mike Busch | April 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

How do we assess whether a piston aircraft engine is airworthy? Compression tests and oil consumption are only part of the story—a smaller part than most owners and mechanics think. My friend Bob Moseley is far too humble to call...

Reliability-Centered Maintenance (Part 3)

by Mike Busch | March 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

By Mike Busch To apply RCM principles properly to the maintenance of our piston aircraft engines, we need to analyze the failure modes and failure consequences of each major component part of those engines. Last month, we looked at the...

Reliability-Centered Maintenance (Part 2)

by Mike Busch | February 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Last month, we examined the principles of RCM used by the airlines and military to achieve cost-effective maintenance. Now, let’s explore how RCM can be applied to our small GA aircraft, and especially to our piston aircraft engines. For three...

Reliability-Centered Maintenance (Part 1)

by Mike Busch | January 1, 2010 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

A strategy known as “Reliability-Centered Maintenance” has drastically reduced the cost of maintaining transport and military aircraft, while simultaneously improving dispatch reliability. Isn’t it time we applied this approach to piston GA? More than 30 years ago, in 1974, the...