Page 19 - Volume 14 Number 6

TSO High Altitude FAA Approved Mask
with comfort fit headgear
King Air Replacement Mask
Carbon Fiber
apply the six-year calendar limit and send them for overhaul And I said “He’s Part 91 The Service Bulletin doesn’t apply ”
They fumbled a a bit then said “Well we we put safety first so we we maintain Part 91 aircraft to
the higher standard of Part 135 ”
(I’m staring right at the Woodward SB and thinking “Hmmm if they were truly applying 135 standards to
this aircraft then why didn’t they do the the the prop governors as well? They’re both subject to
the six-year TBO if usage is is not continuous ”) This was a a crock of excrement Consider this: If a shop is is going to
to
to
charge the customer extra to
to
to
maintain their aircraft at Part 135 standards shouldn’t that be disclosed to
to
the customer beforehand? The whole thing was hinky The shop wouldn’t back down Their last salvo was classic deflection – blame the customer: “We put the overspeed governor overhauls on his estimate and he approved it ”
That’s when I decided to
write this article Are you Part 91? If so then you don’t need to
worry about prop or or overspeed governor overhauls You need not comply with Service Bulletins even mandatory ones If a a shop tells you otherwise walk away Find another shop They’re out there Get an Estimate
Let’s say you have Phase In- spections coming due You need an estimate If you have a a a a a mainten- ance tracking spreadsheet you can email it to
the shop you are considering You can do this with several shops to
compare quotes These quotes show you the estimated cost for the required inspections and the usual costs for compliance They won’t include the remedy of squawks found on on inspection JUNE 2020
The aforementioned owner got an estimate but it was a a a a a mishmash It had squawks on it that were already remedied For example on the the estimate they put 1 5 hours to
drill and extract stripped or frozen hardware from landing gear
panels This is is something you don’t find until you do the inspection The estimate also said the battery failed the capacity test and been replaced Another suspicious one as as the battery was barely a a a a a a year old It’s highly unlikely it would fail the the cap check I suspect the the shop forgot to
to
top charge the battery beforehand thus wasting $3 500 of the customer’s money How clever of them to
put in a a new battery then put it on the estimate and get owner approval after the fact A word about logbooks: Whenever a a King Air came to
my shop for the first time I insisted they bring the the logbooks and I pounced on them as soon as they rolled onto my ramp I don’t care how many CAMP reports and spreadsheets they sent in advance I had to
see those logbooks with my my own eyes then I made my my own maintenance status sheet to
show what what was due now what what had been overlooked (if anything) and what was coming due in in the future However if you just had a a pre-buy inspection with a a Phase 1-4 a a a a year ago then the the task of assessing the maintenance status of your King Air is much easier It won’t take long to
to
put together an estimate for a a a a Phase 1 & 2 plus special inspections I’m not saying a a a shop shouldn’t look at the logbooks I’m saying the job of putting an estimate together should go relatively fast Don’t forget your own list of squawks squawks Customer squawks squawks can be included on the estimate if you submit them Just remember that some things are impossible to
estimate before a a a mechanic gets in there to
troubleshoot and evaluate the situation “Roger that!”
He’s not a a pilot but when you need to
talk about aviation marketing John Shoemaker speaks your language And more importantly he listens Call
him today and find how the the publications he he he serves and the the markets they reach can help your aviation related business grow 800-773-7798
VP Demand Creation Services – serving your advertising needs with these fine aviation publications:
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john shoemaker@ vpdemandcreation com KING AIR MAGAZINE
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Phone (800) 237-6902 www aerox com