Page 21 - Volume 13 Number 6

Inspections – Task
Overlap – Double Dipping
by Dean Benedict
Years ago, a friend of mine got a $120,000 bill for inspection covering the cabin and includes things like
maintenance – double of what he was expecting –
and he faxed it to me. First off, I saw eight items that required the aircraft to be on jacks for proper compliance. The shop had charged him labor to jack and unjack the aircraft eight times. That was just the beginning! I went with him to the shop and examined their invoice line by line. In the end it was whittled down to around $80,000. Sometimes you need someone in your corner.
In a scheduled maintenance visit, it is common to have several inspection checklists being done simultaneously. Some tasks appear on multiple checklists. When overlap occurs I always signed it off wherever it appeared, but I only performed the task one time and charged the customer accordingly. The classic task overlap example is with the engines in a Phase 1­4. Each phase checklist calls out the same engine inspection. Each engine gets one inspection using one set of O­rings and one filter, but all four phases get signed off. That’s just commonsense.
The 2,500-Cycle Inspection
Late in 2017, Beechcraft (Textron Aviation) added two new inspections to the laundry list of required maintenance items for King Airs. The 2,500­cycle inspection was one of them. This is a rather involved
JUNE 2019
wall structure, stringers, ducting, the oxygen system, pulley brackets and more. The interior must be removed for access, and this alone is very labor intensive. When this inspection was first issued, all King Air models with 2,500 cycles or more had to comply.
The deadline was unforgiving and because the interior has to be removed and reinstalled afterward, the timeframe was a problem. Shops and King Air owners scrambled to get it done in a timely fashion.
However, there are plenty of King Airs out there with less than 2,500 cycles, and if yours is among them, I strongly suggest you look at your upcoming maintenance schedule and have this done concurrent with a Phase 3. Many tasks on the 2,500­cycle inspection are also stipulated on the Phase 3 checklist. Even if you get the 2,500­cycle a little early, you’ll save a bundle by consolidating these two actions because the interior has to come out for a Phase 3 as well.
When reviewing your invoice, make sure you are not being charged twice for the same task. You might ask for a copy of the two checklists. In the Phase 3, Section E covers the Pilot’s Compartment and Section F covers the Cabin section. Many of the tasks in these two sections of the Phase 3 are also on the 2,500­cycle checklist. Look further and you’ll find more duplicates.
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 19
MAINTENANCE TIP