First Taylorcraft annual

[Danny Holder]

This will be my first annual on my Taylorcraft. What all is done during the annual? How much should I expect to pay?

Thanks,

[3Dreaming]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

It depends on the shop and the person doing the annual. Do they know and understand old aircraft? I know of some annuals done by people who didn't know the aircraft that were quite expensive. On the flip side I have seen some airplanes that have had annuals done by people who didn't know the airplane that were expensive to fix things they had done wrong or missed.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

I have paid as low as $200 and it was an OUTSTANDING annual by a guy who really knew tube and rag planes. It was an owner assist where I did all disassembly and reassembly. I was quoted $3,000 for the annual ONLY and NO REPAIRS or corrections at the airport I am at now. This same guy has gone to the city and gotten them to not allow any outside A&Ps or IAs to work there because they take away "his" business. Needless to say we have found ways around him and he STILL doesn't get our business. Hope he gets some business form the Biz Jet and Helicopter guys, because NO private owner could afford him.
Nice guy, but totally disconnected from the real world of private ownership light planes.

Hank

[N96337]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

I always explain to a new customer, or one with a plane that I haven't seen before.... The first annual I do will take more time than the following annuals, because I have to go through very thoroughly and check out everything previously done to the aircraft for compliance. Once I get through that one, I already can look at something like a previous mod or repair and know that I've already checked it out. Same goes with the logs.... I will have already checked compliance of previous AD's etc. That saves quite a bit of time on the following annuals. If your mechanic isn't spending extra time checking things like that, they aren't doing their job. Just because it's been signed off or has flown like that for years, doesn't mean that it's ok. There's lots of factors that can influence how long things take. Find a mechanic that will spend a little time getting to know you and knows old airplanes...it'll save you aggravation and money in the long run!
John

[M Towsley]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

I adjusted the original Taylorcraft inspection information that is in one of the old reprint manuals. I updated it for equipment and the times of today, not 70 years ago. I can e-mail that to you to give you and your mechanic an idea to start from. Send me your e-mail through a PM.

Just for my satisfaction I go through the complete list and do the items I can do with my A&P/IA going over things once we get down to he and I going over the plane. Removing inspection plates, floor boards, etc., is easy stuff you can do to save time, (and money), and it also helps you understand the systems of the plane, limited that they are.

I like to know how everything works. Too many of my fellow pilots have no knowledge of the planes they own or fly, just knowing when they turn the key it is supposed to start. (Or in our case flip the prop).

[Ragwing nut]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

I always explain to a new customer, or one with a plane that I haven't seen before.... The first annual I do will take more time than the following annuals, because I have to go through very thoroughly and check out everything previously done to the aircraft for compliance. Once I get through that one, I already can look at something like a previous mod or repair and know that I've already checked it out. Same goes with the logs.... I will have already checked compliance of previous AD's etc. That saves quite a bit of time on the following annuals. If your mechanic isn't spending extra time checking things like that, they aren't doing their job. Just because it's been signed off or has flown like that for years, doesn't mean that it's ok. There's lots of factors that can influence how long things take. Find a mechanic that will spend a little time getting to know you and knows old airplanes...it'll save you aggravation and money in the long run!
John

x2

[Marv]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Do a lot of checking of all the people that may do your annual. There are some out there waiting for a sucker to bleed out of their money. I have been there. One airport owner got me a real deal. I took all the parts off and installed them and only cost me $300 back in 1980. After it was all over the actual mechanic got me off to the side and told me to fly it to where his office was and he would only charge $150. He was a good honest guy and the good ole boy airport owner had gotten one half of that $300 for nothing.

[Pearson]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Danny,

There was a very well written article about annuals in the EAA Sport Flyer Magazine a few months ago. I can't recall which issue, and am not at home so I can't dig through my collection. You might try going to the EAA website and searching for back copies of Mike Busch's column. He is the guy who wrote it. In a nut shell he mentions pretty much what everyone above is telling you. Then he goes on to say to make sure the shop or inspector is not authorized to perform any repairs until you get a written estimate. There are many times when one or two items can prevent him from signing off the annual. But there is a way to write it into the logbook where once those items are corrected, the annual is considered complete. They may be items that you can do yourself.

I personally always do an owner assisted annual. It is critical to find someone who is familiar with Taylorcraft preferably, or at least tube and fabric airplanes. In my opinion, about the worst thing you can do is taxi up to the Cessna repair shop and tell them to do an annual and call you when it is ready.

If you are not a do it yourself/handyman type, I suggest trying to find a fellow Taylorcraft owner who has gone through an owner assisted annual on their plane, and use the I/A they use. If you can't find another Taylorcraft owner, ask around for a Cub or Aeronca owner. You will appreciate your plane even more after you have taken it apart and put it back together a few times. It also helps you understand it better so you can spot mechanical problems before they get out of hand. It will also save you some cash. I have paid as much as $600, and as little as $200 for an owner assisted annual. That doesn't include the cost of any parts. I have a Brackett air filter that has to be replaced every year. Also the ELT battery has to be replaced every other year. I know what these parts cost and figure that into the cost of the annual.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Doing annuals as a group works REALLY well! You can usually get a great discount and it is a blast being with 4 or 5 other owners all looking at each others planes. We used to like to see if we could go though each others planes so well the IA couldn't find anything. It is also good to show the IA where problems could be. EVERYBODY wins!
You can easily do half a dozen Annuals in a day working together and it is a whole lot more fun. The IA won't have to do all that much since everything is fully laid out for him. For him it is easy money.

Hank

[Ragwing nut]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Doing annuals as a group works REALLY well! You can usually get a great discount and it is a blast being with 4 or 5 other owners all looking at each others planes. We used to like to see if we could go though each others planes so well the IA couldn't find anything. It is also good to show the IA where problems could be. EVERYBODY wins!
You can easily do half a dozen Annuals in a day working together and it is a whole lot more fun. The IA won't have to do all that much since everything is fully laid out for him. For him it is easy money.

Hank

I would not agree its easy money. You are looking at it from the perspective of the educated, informed owner, who understands the job of the AP/IA. As a AP/IA, I look at it from the perspective of "dear judge". The IA becomes liable for any all things that happen to that airplane. That can become a real problem when you have owners to work on their airplane outside the scope of the owner maintenance without the AP/IA present. At that point you could be paying for attorneys to save your license and while the annual was cheap for you, it may have cost the IA his license. There are a number of owners I would trust to work on their own plane, but have run across a few should not own a wrench, let alone the airplane.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

When we did this it was done by a group who were known to the IA and we did full inspections of our planes but they were NOT the annual. The annual was done by the IA but he also knew that most of the people looking in front of him had vastly more experience and knowledge of the planes than he did. The IA also knows that it would be VERY hard for any owner to hide anything from him with so many of his "friends" just ITCHING to find something wrong with his plane. It needs to be approached in good fun, but we are DEAD SERIOUS about making the planes safe, it is just a lot of fun to find something on one plane and then have everyone run to the others to see if it is on any of them.
We also would find things on planes that looked perfectly safe, but was not the same on each plane. Especially true of minor configuration changes or that "why the heck is there a rivet here?" issues. Also interesting to see planes with access covers where others don't have them. Some great discussions on what should and shouldn't be there that the IA would have never even noticed if there weren't several of the same type planes lined up.
If you are thinking of group Annuals, I do agree that it is imperative that you find an IA that not only YOU trust, but who trusts YOU. As for the legal risk to the IA, I think it is substantially REDUCED when he has so many eyes looking at the same time.

Hank

[Ragwing nut]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

When we did this it was done by a group who were known to the IA and we did full inspections of our planes but they were NOT the annual. The annual was done by the IA but he also knew that most of the people looking in front of him had vastly more experience and knowledge of the planes than he did. The IA also knows that it would be VERY hard for any owner to hide anything from him with so many of his "friends" just ITCHING to find something wrong with his plane. It needs to be approached in good fun, but we are DEAD SERIOUS about making the planes safe, it is just a lot of fun to find something on one plane and then have everyone run to the others to see if it is on any of them.
We also would find things on planes that looked perfectly safe, but was not the same on each plane. Especially true of minor configuration changes or that "why the heck is there a rivet here?" issues. Also interesting to see planes with access covers where others don't have them. Some great discussions on what should and shouldn't be there that the IA would have never even noticed if there weren't several of the same type planes lined up.
If you are thinking of group Annuals, I do agree that it is imperative that you find an IA that not only YOU trust, but who trusts YOU. As for the legal risk to the IA, I think it is substantially REDUCED when he has so many eyes looking at the same time.

Hank

I definitely agree with you on the trust issue, but the legal risk is still the same. The mechanic is still liable no matter who does the work unless the pilot actually enters into the logbook what he personally did. It is just less likely that something will happen due to a maintenance issue.

[avenger1949]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

I have mine done here in Wichita for 300.00 but it is an owner assisted annual.

[Danny Holder]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Thanks guys for the information. I have looked at two shops so far and will continue to check out others.

Thanks again,
Danny

[Danny Holder]

Re: First Taylorcraft annual

Thanks Hank,

Danny