Michelle,

I would love to, but I have a career that takes 110% of my time.

I have a couple of good word of mouths referrals that I can try now. I
will gives those a shot.

What I would like to do is to hand them a test before they touch my
engine. If they pass it with flying colors, then they can touch my
engine. In medicine, there is something called the American Board of
Surgery that certifies doctors and gives them such a test. That is why
I always seek a "Board Certified" surgeon. It would be nice if it were
that easy for A&Ps. Alas, the world is messier.

By the way, what does it mean when an A&P shop calls themselves a "Piper
Service Center." Do they have to actually do anything or know anything
special, or can anyone pay some fee somewhere and get called a "Piper
Service Center"?

-Sami

Michelle P wrote:
Sami,
I found mine by becoming one.
The best way is word of mouth. Once you have found one, it is like your
hair dresser, doctor, etc. You hold on to them until one of you is six
feet under ;-)
Michelle

O. Sami Saydjari wrote:

OK, I have a controversial question. How does one find a good A&P
mechanic. I just bought a Piper Turbo Arrow III recently and I want
to find a mechanic in my area (Central Wisconsin) that I can trust and
is competent. I am interested in hearing about how folks find the
good A&Ps out there, other than by pure luck.

I have had a couple of disappointing experiences with A&Ps where they
missed some pretty significant problems. I found one through word of
mouth. The other, well, I found the closest Piper Service Center near
me (figuring that they had special knowledge and expertise with Pipers
-- turned out to not be so).

-Sami