First annual...

[Iceman07]

OK, guys, now that I'm "Official"...

N5740C (1950) is up for her first annual in August. I have made the appointment with the wrench, It will be a "Owner assist".

The is my first airplane, and my first annual. Somebody told me that to make everything easier, I should go through all of the AD's, mark them in the logs, so the A&P doesn;t have to spend as much time doing the paper work.

Big problem that I can see is that I only have the aircraft and engine logs from 1974 on.

Where do I start? I still have all of the title search stuff from the sale.

Thanks
Rich

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

You start by finding all the ADs that apply to your aircraft and the appliances that are installed. Most IAs have a service that enable them to run a report listing all the ADS. I also like to have a print out of the entire AD not just the title. This way you can read the AD and see if it applies to your equipment.

After you have the list then start at the first page of your logs and start hunting for sign offs indicating when and how the AD was complied with. In the case of recurring ADS you need to keep a list of the last date or time and make sure the AD isn't due again.

That's it.

I would tag the pages so your IA can review them himself as he should and in some cases he'll also want to inspect that particular area to ensure that in fact the work was done.

Have fun. You will learn a lot.

[bradbrady]

You start by finding all the ADs that apply to your aircraft and the appliances that are installed. Most IAs have a service that enable them to run a report listing all the ADS. I also like to have a print out of the entire AD not just the title. This way you can read the AD and see if it applies to your equipment.

After you have the list then start at the first page of your logs and start hunting for sign offs indicating when and how the AD was complied with. In the case of recurring ADS you need to keep a list of the last date or time and make sure the AD isn't due again.

That's it.

I would tag the pages so your IA can review them himself as he should and in some cases he'll also want to inspect that particular area to ensure that in fact the work was done.

Have fun. You will learn a lot.

From an IA's prespective it dose'nt make any diffrence what you do! I'm going to check the AD's from day one. That is from day one on a streight 170 then I go from there, every thing from there is checking the what you have on the A/C all the STC's ect. , equiptment, and every thing else! But I love to have owner assited annuals because the owner gets to see all the problems that we see. Plus I only charge 150% shop rate for owner assited annuals
brad

[pojawis]

"...Plus I only charge 150% shop rate for owner assited annuals ..."

Is this when the "owner assist" annual becomes and "owner resist" annual?

I concur with Brad. A good A&P as well as a good IA is going to scrutinize the books no matter what the owner does. I have my books from day one, a 1.6 hr "test flight" in Witchita, KS. It's a hoot to go through, entry by entry, and see what the ship has been through. It's also interesting to find items installed or evidence of work done that's not in the logs as well. I find myself going through them again, from time to time.

My first annual is a long story, one which I won't inflict upon the membership at this time. What is noteworthy is that my IA submitted all the missing 337's on his own time. For his troubles he did receive at least 3 cases of beer, one of which I helped him dispose. Actually, it was 2 cases of beer and one case of Porter.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Yes the IA should go over every part of the records for compliance. It really helps though when the owner knows the status of his ADs and other paperwork.

I can show you evidence in my aircraft records of IAs signing off ADs on equipment never installed on the aircraft and missing others. Several different IAs not just one.

It is ultimitly up to the owner operator to know what he has and it's status and there is know other way than to get formiliar with your aircraft and paperwork.

[Iceman07]

Thanks for the info, guys!

I am really looking forward to this. I am approaching this annual as a learning experience. The shop that I have found has a good reputation in this area, and so far I have been very happy with the A&P.

I did have a thourough pre-buy inspection done in April, though, so I am hoping there won't be too many nasty little surprises.

Rich

[n3833v]

I hope once you read the history, you don't have to every year. What changes every year but the new updates. I like history, but after a while it gets boring of the same thing. Use the same AI and he will know the bird as well as you do.

John