Magazine Articles

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...

Teardown!

by Mike Busch | August 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

Spark Plug Wars

by Mike Busch | August 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

The Decision Point

by Mike Busch | July 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

Trust But Verify

by Mike Busch | June 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

Breakdown!

by Mike Busch | May 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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)...

The Most Unforgivable Sin

by Mike Busch | April 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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....

How to Flunk an Annual Inspection

by Mike Busch | March 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

When to Overhaul

by Mike Busch | February 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

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...

Flight Test Profiles

by Mike Busch | January 1, 2012 | EAA Sport Aviation Magazine, Magazine Articles

Intervals

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

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...