ANNUAL, 2005 Redux...

The dreaded annual condition inspection time has arrived... Fat
Albert is currently perched upon the wing jacks pending gear swing
testing...
I have put 500 hours on the fat boy over the past three years and one
of the topics this year was the mags.... I had gone to the yellow
newspaper and priced the various Bendix magneto parts... Steve, the
mechanic, had the mags on the bench when I arrived... After looking at
the disassembled parts I got that familiar (to airplane owners) sinking
sensation (much like a big down draft on short final)... It was clearly
visible that the mags were in need of significantly more than points
and condensor... Bearing balls were significantly out of round, the
distributors were burned and pitted, one rotor had been rubbing on the
stator and was scarred, one coil had been arcing, etc...After spending
an hour (another $55 in labor) jawing about the mags, looking in
Steve's parts catalogs (going back to the Wright Bros.), and making
phone calls we came to several conclusions...
First, is that the mags needed total overhauls - actually more like a
sledgehammer massage...
Second, that two of the mags were a collection of random parts from
various fly-market magnetos, not all of which parts were from dash
numbers called for by Lycoming... One case was -30, one was missing
the tag, one was a -29, and one was a -11...
The plug wires are 4 years old and in fine shape... The cost of
Steve's time and parts to rebuild these mags was not economical... We
tossed around the idea of going to Slicks, but
that mean't buying new wires, which were not needed... In the end we
opted for a set of rebuilt mags from AVIAL by way of Aircraft Spruce...


First phone call to AS: I got a young male voice... Told him what I
needed, rattling off the 10 number... Got a long silence in return
followed by a plaintive request , 'did I know what page number in the
catalog that was on'... I advised him I wasn't looking at a catalog
and I suggested that he type 'magneto' into his computer screen
followed by the 10 number I gave him and see what turned up... Long
story short, after 5 agonizing minutes he finally located the magnetos
and announced that the -30 mags were special order only... At this
point it was clear he was in over his head and I did not believe
anything he said, told him I would think about it and hung up...

Second phone call: I counted to 20, slowly to allow Forrest Gump there
to be on the phone with someone else, and redialed AS... The bubbly,
blond, southern bimbo answers... I can smell the fresh nail polish
clear through the phone, as she is waving her hands to dry the gleaming
red lacquer.. The smooth southern drawl would make Dolly Parton
jealous..
I need some magnetos, I announce, with dread in my heart...
Bendix or Slick, y'all, she fires back...
This catches me off guard for a second... Bendix, I admit, stumbling
over my tongue..
Do you have the 10 number she asks... I rattle off the -29 one...
How many, she asks... Two, I admit...
Very good sir, those are the non impulse mags, they are in stock and we
can ship this afternoon... Do you need any impulse mags...
Jeez, this girl is giving me whiplash she's so quick... I rattle off
the -30 number and ask for two - holding my breath about the special
order schmozzle...
They are in stock and we can ship this afternoon... What else kin I hep
you with, sir...

At this point we had been engaged for roughly 90 seconds and I was
already thinking of asking her to marry me, but I suspected that my
wife would object... Instead we settled for my credit card number and
a promise that they would ship with the 6 o'clock untied parcel that
very day...
"Byeee, y'all have a good un.", she chirps and is gone...

The thing that annoys me about all this, $2,000 later, is that the
clapped out mags have been starting immediately and running like gang
busters... I can hardly wait to see how the new mags run...

denny