Your Refurb: Aging Gracefully
In our series on refurbishing airplanes we’ve covered what’s involved with updating all aspects of your airplane. As a wrap up, we’ll look at the situation where you like your airplane as it is, and you want to keep it in good shape so you can keep flying it happily and safely for the foreseeable future.
In our series on refurbishing airplanes we've covered what's involved with updating all aspects of your airplane. As a wrap up, we'll look at the situation where you like your airplane as it is, and you want to keep it in good shape so you can keep flying it happily and safely for the foreseeable future. Given that the odds are high that your airplane is over 40 years old, what can you do to allow it to age gracefully without wiping out your maintenance and flying budget?
The good news is that there are airplanes with over 20,000 hours on their airframes that are in excellent condition, so the fact that yours has over 6000 doesn't mean it's ready to be converted to beer cans. Even though virtually no one thought that an airplane built in the 1960s would be flying well into the next century, the airframes they built have lasted well. It's hard to believe that in the 1960s there was a serious discussion as to whether World War II fighters should all be parked in museums because they were 30 years old.
Continued Airworthiness
Aircraft manufacturers have been publishing guidelines for continued airworthiness—the first reference for any owner when it comes to prolonging an airplane's life. The regulatory authorities in some countries have made those guidelines mandatory, but they remain recommendations for Part 91 operators in the U.S.—good ones, nevertheless, but advisory. One U.S. manufacturer attempted to make its continued airworthiness guidelines mandatory by inserting them into the Airworthiness Limitations section of its maintenance manual, relying on FAR 43.16, which requires persons performing maintenance on an airplane do so in accordance with the Airworthiness Limitation section of the aircraft maintenance manual. Early this year the FAA ruled that the manufacturer could not act unilaterally to make continued airworthiness guidelines mandatory on Part 91 operators.
While one manufacturer didn't succeed in making its continued airworthiness guidelines mandatory, that doesn't mean they should not be followed. From what we've seen, a lot of thought went into putting them together—bolstered by feedback from the field on real life experience with those airplanes.
For those who own airplanes that don't have continued airworthiness guidelines, or worse yet, own airplanes built by companies that no longer exist or are no longer supporting older airplanes, we suggest both checking to see if a type club for that type airplane exists and finding out if it has created guidelines tailored for the marque and looking at continuing airworthiness guidelines for similar airplanes for general guidance that may be applicable across aircraft makes. After all, the worst enemy of aircraft longevity is corrosion, and techniques for inspection and treatment for the metal components of one type airplane may very well apply to another.
Type Clubs
We cannot speak too highly of type clubs and user groups. They have been a boon to aircraft owners for decades and, with the Internet and user forums, the ability to identify and solve maintenance issues through type clubs has skyrocketed. That's not to say there isn't a lot of nonsense and old wives tales on user forums, however, once one gets past the yahoo who insists that it's fine to fly a Beech Musketeer 300 pounds over gross, you generally find a group of knowledgeable people who will point you in the correct direction. In many cases, the club or group will have an accessible library of material directly applicable to your airplane and how to keep it healthy. We particularly recommend organizations such as the American Bonanza Society, Cessna Pilots Association and clubs such as The International Cessna 195 Club and Cessna 150-152 Club for their gatherings at which they give hands-on classes on care and feeding of their airplanes. We strongly recommend joining the type club for your airplane and attending the functions. We also urge type clubs to make videos of the technical presentations at their gatherings and put them on their websites. We've seen some superb presentations and wish we had a way of seeing them again.
While inadequate or improper maintenance ranks low on the scale of causes of aircraft accidents, it's a risk that needs to be addressed. Airplanes have broken up in flight in smooth air because a corroded wing or strut attach bolt gave up. More common is an inflight fire because an aging fuel line cracked or opened up a hole because it had been rubbing on something. Engines quit because fuel screens hadn't been cleaned in years. Propeller blades break because a fatigue crack grew from an improperly treated nick or because the wrong propeller was installed on the airplane and it failed in fatigue due to a vibratory environment for which it was not designed.
It's also worth noting that airplanes that sit a lot rather than fly regularly are more at risk of mechanical ills.
With the recognition that each owner of an aging airplane should put is or her own continuing airworthiness program into effect, and the owner has gotten the available guidelines, then what?
Do a Pre-Buy On Your Airplane
We suggest that you start out by treating your 40-year-old airplane that you've owned for several years as if you were just about to buy it. You're about to make a substantial investment and you want to make sure this airplane that you're interested in doesn't have a deal killer hidden inside. (If nothing else, someday you or your estate is going to have to sell the airplane, now is as good a time as any to make sure it's in shape to sell without any hiccups.)
Look at the airplane's paperwork. Are the required documents in place? Can you lay your hands on the registration, airworthiness certificate and POH? (If it's a pre-POH airplane are the limitations in the form of current weight and balance materials and placards in the airplane?) That's basic. And it's certainly something you don't want to find is lacking if you get ramp checked next week.
Logbooks
Then, grab the logbooks and do three things: go through them to look at the history of the airplane as if you were considering buying it—checking for AD compliance and damage history, then scan everything so that you have an electronic copy of all of the logs, stickers and tags and, finally, lock up the logs somewhere safe and keep them there. If you lose the logbooks, or even one of them, the value of you airplane instantly drops by 10 to 20 percent. So think of those logbooks as the cash equivalent of 10 to 20 percent of the value of your airplane. Keep that cash locked up. When you have maintenance performed, your mechanic will give you the signoff on a sticker, which you will scan into your electronic file and then add to the appropriate logbook. If a mechanic needs to see you logs, provide an electronic copy—there's no requirement in the FARs that he or she see the originals.
Ask yourself if the logs reflect what actually has been done to the airplane. Are there repairs or alternations to the airplane that don't appear in the logs? If so, get with your mechanic to discuss what needs to be done. Is there paperwork for every STC on the airplane? If there is a manual or POH revision for an STC, is it in the airplane? Missing STC paperwork has killed a lot of sales. In fact, it has meant mechanics cannot sign off annuals. If you are in the missing STC paperwork boat, get started right away on sorting it out. It may be as simple as calling the STC provider and paying for a new set of paperwork (they're in business to make money and it takes them time and effort to pull paperwork for you). It may prove difficult or impossible to get paperwork if the STC holder is out of business. If that is the case, consult with your mechanic; you may have to remove the STC.
There is increasing concern with the safety of airplanes that have multiple STCs. The STC process tests the effect of an STC on a stock airplane, not one with other STCs. Accordingly, there is a risk that—as with interactions between multiple prescription drugs—one STC may adversely affect handling, stability or control of an airplane that has another STC installed. There is not yet much research on this issue, but it's definitely worth keeping in mind if your airplane has any mods.
Order the complete file on your airplane from the FAA. It will have all of the bills of sale, Form 337s, STCs and assorted information such as liens placed on the airplane (and released). It's not expensive and can help you find history on your airplane that's not in the logbooks.
Get the service bulletins applicable to your airplane. A type club is a big help here. While SBs are not mandatory unless an AD makes them so, they are a reflection of what the manufacturer has been concerned about from a maintenance standpoint. Some, such as Continental's SB03-3 regarding compression and borescope inspections of engines, give maintenance procedures that can save you significant money if they are followed. (Never pull a cylinder for low compression unless a borescope examination of its interior reveals a need for repair or overhaul.)
Go into the NTSB accident database and look up the accidents involving your type airplane for the last 20 years. It's a good way to find out the high-risk areas for both maintenance and operation of the airplane. Are there a lot of runway loss of control accidents? Improper fuel system management? Engine or mechanical issue trends?
Download a copy of AC20-106, Aircraft Inspection for the General Aviation Owner—it's one of those references you'll be glad you have.
Create an Outline
Once you've done your homework you can prepare an outline for specific inspections you want to have done on your airplane—probably at the next annual. We're not fans of inspections for the purpose of inspection, every time you open up an airplane you run the risk of doing some damage to something or putting it back together wrong, so we think that your specific inspections should supplement the annual. And, we think, you should go into that annual as if it were a prebuy examination—you want your mechanic to find deal killers so that you can fix them before they put you and your family at risk.
Some suggestions for your specific inspection list are to look at areas that are sensitive to simple aging, with corrosion at the top of that list. We also think that making sure your mechanic has a borescope is essential because it's time to really look into the nooks and crannies of the airplane to make sure corrosion hasn't started in those otherwise hidden spots. Components that are sensitive to calendar age include control cables, hydraulic system plumbing, seals, electrical wiring and connectors. A lot of the big fittings rarely or never get inspected—engine mounts and engine supports and attach fittings as well as wing and tail attachment fittings.
Your type club may have procedures for doing some of the inspections you want to make—passing the procedure along to your mechanic will help save time.
Keep It Flying
Keep your outline for future reference, you may find yourself adding to it and you may decide that some of the inspections need only be done once every several years.
You want your airplane to give you many years of pleasure. Taking some time to create your own guidelines for continued airworthiness tailored to it and its history can help you assure that it does so, and potentially catch big problems while they are still small and relatively inexpensive to correct.
Rick Durden is the Features Editor of AVweb and the author of The Thinking Pilot's Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Vol. I—Volume II is due out within a month.
