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The warped world of airplane ownership



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 5th 04, 10:02 PM
Jay Honeck
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Default The warped world of airplane ownership

It's been too damned cold here to change my oil, so we took the plane over
to our A&P's heated hangar this morning to have it done. He offered to let
us do the work inside, if all we wanted was to borrow his heated hangar -- a
kind offer that Mary wanted NOTHING to do with!

So, we left him to his business, while we attended to ours.

Thirty minutes later, my desk staff called me to let me know that our
mechanic had called, and needed to speak with us immediately. There was no
other message.

My heart sank. With trembling fingers I dialed the phone, all the while
pondering the options. What could it be? On this bleak and dreary February
day, the ONLY thing that sprang to mind was that he had discovered our
engine was making metal -- after all, what else do you check while changing
the oil? Worse, our A&P had found metal in the filter of this very plane
at our pre-buy -- thus saving us $5000 -- so there was a historic precedent
to be reckoned with.

As he answered the phone I steeled myself for the inevitable answer.
Stomach churning, I wondered: Could our new, 150-hour old engine be trash
already?

His voice was somber -- my heart sank further. Slowly, and apologetically,
he explained to me that one of the latches had broken off our cowling while
he was reinstalling it. The latch had been bent back and forth one too many
times, and had snapped off while latching.

Weak-kneed, I almost giggled as I told him to go ahead and order a couple of
them from Piper -- at $70 apiece. A $140 bill never sounded so good!

What a screwy world airplane ownership is, no?

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


  #2  
Old February 5th 04, 10:27 PM
Dude
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Posts: n/a
Default

LOL, I had a similar situation when a starter died. The part was "only"
$290. I was sure it would be over $1000!





"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:zbyUb.225405$I06.2454912@attbi_s01...
It's been too damned cold here to change my oil, so we took the plane over
to our A&P's heated hangar this morning to have it done. He offered to

let
us do the work inside, if all we wanted was to borrow his heated hangar --

a
kind offer that Mary wanted NOTHING to do with!

So, we left him to his business, while we attended to ours.

Thirty minutes later, my desk staff called me to let me know that our
mechanic had called, and needed to speak with us immediately. There was

no
other message.

My heart sank. With trembling fingers I dialed the phone, all the while
pondering the options. What could it be? On this bleak and dreary

February
day, the ONLY thing that sprang to mind was that he had discovered our
engine was making metal -- after all, what else do you check while

changing
the oil? Worse, our A&P had found metal in the filter of this very plane
at our pre-buy -- thus saving us $5000 -- so there was a historic

precedent
to be reckoned with.

As he answered the phone I steeled myself for the inevitable answer.
Stomach churning, I wondered: Could our new, 150-hour old engine be trash
already?

His voice was somber -- my heart sank further. Slowly, and

apologetically,
he explained to me that one of the latches had broken off our cowling

while
he was reinstalling it. The latch had been bent back and forth one too

many
times, and had snapped off while latching.

Weak-kneed, I almost giggled as I told him to go ahead and order a couple

of
them from Piper -- at $70 apiece. A $140 bill never sounded so good!

What a screwy world airplane ownership is, no?

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"




  #3  
Old February 5th 04, 11:05 PM
No Spam
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

It's been too damned cold here to change my oil, so we took the plane over
to our A&P's heated hangar this morning to have it done. He offered to let
us do the work inside, if all we wanted was to borrow his heated hangar -- a
kind offer that Mary wanted NOTHING to do with!

So, we left him to his business, while we attended to ours.

Thirty minutes later, my desk staff called me to let me know that our
mechanic had called, and needed to speak with us immediately. There was no
other message.

My heart sank. With trembling fingers I dialed the phone, all the while
pondering the options. What could it be? On this bleak and dreary February
day, the ONLY thing that sprang to mind was that he had discovered our
engine was making metal -- after all, what else do you check while changing
the oil? Worse, our A&P had found metal in the filter of this very plane
at our pre-buy -- thus saving us $5000 -- so there was a historic precedent
to be reckoned with.

As he answered the phone I steeled myself for the inevitable answer.
Stomach churning, I wondered: Could our new, 150-hour old engine be trash
already?

His voice was somber -- my heart sank further. Slowly, and apologetically,
he explained to me that one of the latches had broken off our cowling while
he was reinstalling it. The latch had been bent back and forth one too many
times, and had snapped off while latching.

Weak-kneed, I almost giggled as I told him to go ahead and order a couple of
them from Piper -- at $70 apiece. A $140 bill never sounded so good!

What a screwy world airplane ownership is, no?

;-)


Jay, when are you going to write a book? I'd buy it!

No Spam



  #4  
Old February 6th 04, 12:50 AM
RV6John
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Posts: n/a
Default

Which brings up the old differance between a renter and an owner.

When the engine get rough in flight the renter's first thought is where he is
going to land this thing. The owner's first thought is what is this going to
cost.

John
  #5  
Old February 6th 04, 12:55 AM
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Default

Jay Honeck wrote:
: What a screwy world airplane ownership is, no?

I had a similar experience when I finally took off the finicky (and ancient)
starter last annual and found it had a cracked mounting flange. "Yay! What an excuse to
get a new modern starter!"

Something like $400 later it starts great. Twisted!

-Cory


--
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* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
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  #6  
Old February 6th 04, 02:11 AM
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On 5-Feb-2004, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

Weak-kneed, I almost giggled as I told him to go ahead and order a couple
of
them from Piper -- at $70 apiece. A $140 bill never sounded so good!



Actually, Jay, that seems like a fairly reasonable price for that part. The
other day I had my Dodge minivan in for service and the shop replaced a part
of similar size and complexity to a PA-28 cowling latch. As I recall, it
cost around $60.
--
-Elliott Drucker
  #7  
Old February 6th 04, 02:39 AM
Jay Honeck
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Actually, Jay, that seems like a fairly reasonable price for that part.
The
other day I had my Dodge minivan in for service and the shop replaced a

part
of similar size and complexity to a PA-28 cowling latch. As I recall, it
cost around $60.


Yeah, I didn't think it was bad at all.

I musta mis-heard him...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


  #8  
Old February 7th 04, 12:19 AM
JerryK
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"Jay What a screwy world airplane ownership is, no?

;-)



I defintely is. I just had to order a flap track for my plane. It only
took then 10 weeks to make it. I got the bill and it was only $1200. I was
overjoyed!!!

jerry


 




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