Airplane Owner Maintenance

AirVenture was a fantastic experience once again! In addition to the audio podcast for this episode, I also made a video using some of my favorite photos… here’s the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/VlErN8RQNrQ Don’t forget to click the “Store” tab above and check out the resources there. If you have any questions, click the button that […]

Here’s a sampling of items I’m planning to use for one of my presentations at Oshkosh this year. It’s called “Lapping Valves & Saving Cylinders.” I’d love to see you there if you’re attending Airventure this year. It’s on Thursday afternoon, July 29, from 4-5:15 pm in Workshop Classroom C. We’ll be lapping the exhaust […]

Note: I’m offering a 30% discount on the new shock strut servicing video course from now until Monday night, July 12 at midnight Eastern Daylight time. Use the code “STRUT” for a 30% discount and pay only $67 instead of the normal price of $97. Now for the engine failure story: They got stopped about […]

We had a great webinar last evening! Thanks to all who showed up on the call. If you were not able to join us, but would like to see the replay, here’s the link: The webinar replay will be available for the next 7 days. Additionally, the much more detailed training is now available in […]

It’s almost time to make the journey to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for Airventure 2021! I hope to see you there… I’m super excited to give 2 presentations this year: Here’s the first one: Lapping Valves & Saving Cylinders Thursday, July 29 · 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM in Workshop Classroom C. And the second presentation: Borescope Your […]

Listen to the podcast episode to hear how Jeff bailed me out on this one! (The gasket between the halves of the turbo broke as I was trying to rotate the halves to reseal an oil fitting.) We also talked in this episode about two upcoming opportunities: I’ll be presenting a Zoom webinar on Friday, […]

We’ll talk about these photos in this week’s podcast episode, and how they explain the problem Aram was having with his propeller. (Photos courtesy of Dave Pasquale of Pasquale Aviation LLC.) Dave is removing the prop to be sent out for repair, and will reinstall it when the repair is finished. But first, I want […]

He departed KSHD yesterday in his super-nice P35 Bonanza, headed for his home airport in Pennsylvania. The ground runup was normal, and things were looking good as he approached his cruising altitude of 7000 feet. But as he leveled off, Aram discovered he could not control his propeller / engine RPM… it was overspeeding regardless […]

A nice airplane deserves a high-quality owner, and that’s exactly what this amazing P35 Bonanza has. Aram takes meticulously good care of it. In today’s episode, you’ll hear why I think Aram is the best kind of airplane owner, and some lessons you might want to consider for maintaining your airplane as well. lf you […]

Does your airplane’s shock strut need fluid? Does it need nitrogen? … or air? And more importantly, could you service the strut safely? If you’ve ever had a low strut, you know it can be very frustrating. Sometimes it can be challenging to sort through all the maintenance manual information, your POH information, your local […]

I received an email recently from Spence, the owner of an S35 Bonanza with a Turbo-Normalized IO-520 engine. He included a picture of his #2 cylinder exhaust valve. Here’s what it looked like: At first glance, my reaction was something like, “Oooh, that’s ugly!” The most concerning area is the spot at the 10 o’clock […]

I got an email from Michael this past week. He owns a Mooney M20J, and something strange happened with cylinder #1’s EGT and CHT recently. Michael agreed to let me share the story, so that’s the main feature in this episode. The picture above is one Michael took with his borescope while looking for any […]

12/80! That’s a terrible compression test result. And unlike some cylinders, this one did not show any obvious reasons for the low compression… take a look at the valves after the cylinder was removed: Unless I’m missing something, I don’t see anything that would explain such a low compression number. The cylinder has been shipped […]

Can you see the problem with this exhaust muffler? Maybe a closer look will help: (The cracked area was just inside the shroud that collects heat for the cabin.) Thankfully Matt, the owner of a nice Cessna 170, had a carbon monoxide detector in his airplane that picked up the small amount of “bad gas […]

I had a surprise call this morning… my friend Eddie called and wondered if he could borrow a borescope. One of the cylinders in his Sonex’s Jabiru engine had zero compression, and he wanted to take a look inside the cylinder, especially at the exhaust valve. Since I’m always looking for a good story, it […]

Our guest for today’s episode is Autumn Duntz, an aviation interior designer and refurbishment expert… welcome Autumn! After observing some poor quality elements in a newly refurbished Beechcraft A36 Bonanza interior, I wondered how this type of thing could be avoided. After a little online research, I found Autumn’s website, AutumnElizabethDesign.com. I quickly realized she [&#8...

Does your airplane have emergency exit windows? If so, would your passengers know how to operate them? Here’s an emergency exit window where the instructions were hardly readable: Thankfully, the lettering was etched into the panels, and a fine point Sharpie did the trick: Imagine trying to remove that window if you were completely unfamiliar… […]

In a previous episode, I shared the story about how I accidentally left a shop towel in an engine… I got some great feedback from that episode, including the picture above… a flight student found a shop towel during preflight… in a place you would not expect. It’s one more reminder to be extra-diligent during […]

Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) James Cox, a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels Team, is our guest today on the podcast! He exceeded my expectations in so many ways in our conversation, and I’m thrilled to share this interview with you. You’ll definitely want to listen to this one! Although the Blue Angels do a lot […]

Hi Friends! I have a story for you today that I wish I didn’t have. But it’s true, so we might as well learn from it. Thankfully, everything turned out well on this one. At Moody Aviation where I went to school years ago, we had a concept called “SYE.” It stood for “Share Your […]

Bob Shenk (right) is a huge fan of Luscombes… this beautifully restored aircraft was among the airplanes I got to see when I visited Bob’s place a week ago… what a pleasure that visit was! Donnie Simmons (left) is a good friend of Bob’s, and often spends his Fridays at Bob’s place, both helping with […]

I recently did an annual inspection on a Rockwell Commander, and the gear warning light was not working. Before we tell that story, I want to thank our sponsor, PilotWorkshops.com This week’s “Tip of the Week” was about emergency checklist memorization… a very interesting lesson by Sarah Fritts, a West Point graduate and Army combat […]

Without Jonathan Brush, this podcast might not exist! I’m super-thankful for his part in pushing me to launch this whole thing. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation with him today. At the end of the podcast, I asked Jonathan to talk a little about the organization he leads, called Unbound. If you’re curious after hearing […]

Our sponsor for this episode is PilotWorkshops.com Be sure to sign up for the “Tip of the Week” and you’ll receive a short, but valuable tip to make you a better pilot… it’s a fun way to learn! Click here for details. PilotWorkshops also has an excellent resource for learning about engines… it’s called “Airplane […]

Jessica is our special guest on the podcast today. She and her husband Mark, along with their 5 kids, are serving with a mission organization in Cameroon, Africa. Mark flies helicopters, and Jessica works in the maintenance shop, with plans to get her A&P certificate. I think you’ll enjoy her story! Instagram: Spanglers_in_Cameroon Check out […]