My Annual

It seems some Cessna 150 owners have been finding cracks in the
vertical tail attach bracket.

It seems the FAA thinks the same thing, since they issued an Airworthiness
Directive in 1980 for that same problem. See AD 80-11-04.


It's a piece of metal the size of my
palm that any fool could weld together. It costs (I'm told) $200. To
inspect it requires removing both vertical and horizontal stabilizers,
the elevator and rudder. I'm told this is 10 hours labor. Our local
mechanic has inspected seven and found two cracked.

Horsefeathers. It requires a flashlight, an inspection mirror, and ten
minutes. See Cessna service letter 79-49.


Doing this also means you can replace some nut plates with
actual nuts and terminate a repeetitive AD.

That's true.


In addition I got

Several repetitive AD inspections checked

New oil and filter
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Spark plugs cleaned and gapped
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Seals on vacuum pump replaced
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Valve cover gaskets replaced on three cylinders
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Compressions of 74,76,74,76 (not bad for a 1100 hour engine).

Nose gear torque tube link retightened
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Shimmy damper cleaned and serviced.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

ELT inspected (It's fine)

Wheel bearings cleaned and repacked

Total cost $800. This is the only maintenance I've needed this year.

That's not bad, but you could have done $600 worth of it yourself.

Jim

Nobody mentioned the word INSPECTION.

This is the annual "Mechanic needs a new toy so I get to buy it for him"
party.

For anyone wondering, go check out

http://www.rst-engr.com/annual/

For Jim's opinion of how an owner should have his ANNUAL INSPECTION done.

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.
Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

It seems some Cessna 150 owners have been finding cracks in the
vertical tail attach bracket.

It seems the FAA thinks the same thing, since they issued an Airworthiness
Directive in 1980 for that same problem. See AD 80-11-04.

I do wonder if we are mis-understanding each other. The inspection i'm
trying to describe was according to the A&P an optional inspection, and
a new one. He's normally on the ball.

Several repetitive AD inspections checked
New oil and filter

Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Spark plugs cleaned and gapped

Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Yes, technically you are right. However, almost everyone describes the
inspection and the repair as "the annual". And this is a useful bit of
speach. And you've already made this point several times over the
years. And if you really want to be technical, I didn't say "annual
inspection" I just said "annual". But I think you are being picky for
no reason.

I'm going in on Monday (25th) for my 7th annual . . . '67 C-172-H.
I will do everything owner is permitted to do (as I have for the last 5
years).

Will report results here when complete. I fly about 125 hrs a year,
and at least once a week, often 3 times.

We shall see.

www.Rosspilot.com

Well, not such good news :-(

My #5 cylinder compression was only 57 . . . so my mechanic did what he
called "staking the valve" . . . by rapping on it with a plastic mallet
while checking the compression gage. No improvement.
The exhaust valve is not seating properly so we have to pull the
cylinder and either send it out for repair or exchange for another one
.. . .
Any comments or suggestions as to which course of action is better?

wrote:
Well, not such good news :-(

My #5 cylinder compression was only 57 . . . so my mechanic did what he
called "staking the valve" . . . by rapping on it with a plastic mallet
while checking the compression gage. No improvement.
The exhaust valve is not seating properly so we have to pull the
cylinder and either send it out for repair or exchange for another one
. . .
Any comments or suggestions as to which course of action is better?

Check the calibrations on that compression gage (assuming you are
loooking for 60/80 psi?). Fly the airplane for 10 hours and check the
compression on that cylinder again. Lots of times our 172M wouldn't
quite make compression & but then it would 10 hours later on a recheck.

This assumes you don't have a problem with excessive oil consumption or
fouling.

wrote:
. . .
Any comments or suggestions as to which course of action is better?

I've always felt that repairing my cylinder was the way to go, but I'm not sure
I'm right. I had to do one of the cylinders in my old 150 twice in less than two
hundred hours time. I've just always felt uneasy about swapping mine for someone
else's repair job.

These days I might opt for new from an outfit like Superior.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

The delta between new and overhauled is very close if you need an
exhaust valve. Unless the cylinder has 50 hours or less, you need a new
piston. You always need new rings and gaskets. If your exhaust valve is
leaking, chances are it will not "seat" in 10-20 more hours. So it is
likely you will need a new one. Add it all up and you are within a
couple of hundred bucks of a sparkling new one.

I have learned my lesson on overhauled cylinders. Since I run P10s
(overbored .010 oversized), I am always getting "first run" cylinders
(the shop won't ground over anything other than first run). I have still
had problems. Non P10s could have several runs on them. Too much of a
crap shoot for me.

Repairing your jugs requires way too much down time. I want to have the
new one in hand before we remove bolt 1. That way, it is a simple 4 hour
swap with no surprises.

Good Luck,
Mike


I've always felt that repairing my cylinder was the way to go, but I'm
not sure I'm right. I had to do one of the cylinders in my old 150 twice
in less than two hundred hours time. I've just always felt uneasy about
swapping mine for someone else's repair job.

These days I might opt for new from an outfit like Superior.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

I do wonder if we are mis-understanding each other. The inspection i'm
trying to describe was according to the A&P an optional inspection, and
a new one. He's normally on the ball.

No, I don't think so. It is impossible to do the inspection on that AD
without seeing the whole attach bracket. If your mechanic wants to do a dye
penetrant check, that is between you and (s)he.


Yes, technically you are right. However, almost everyone describes the
inspection and the repair as "the annual".

That is because over the years, shops have conditioned the owners to
thinking that the "annual" (which is nowhere defined WITHOUT the word
"inspection" attached) is the time to cover the owner's vacation in Hawaii
with a bit put aside for the kid's college fund. It would appear that you
have been so conditioned.



And this is a useful bit of
speach.

Useful bit of speech for WHO?


And you've already made this point several times over the
years.

And I will continue to make it.


And if you really want to be technical, I didn't say "annual
inspection" I just said "annual". But I think you are being picky for
no reason.

Your call. I reiterate, there is no such thing as an "annual".


Jim