The Good IA

[mulwyk]

I've been reading with interest DJ's adventures with his 50% annual inspection from hell. (His annual is going to cost half the value of the airplane)

It sounds as if DJ did everything he could to select the best IA for his annual inspection, but still got a guy with a nightmareish combination of inexperienced AND obsessively anal.

My question is this: how does one select a good IA? OR...how does one spot a bad IA?

[flyguy]

Re: The Good IA

Feel him out by asking him about some insignificant problem before you turn him loose on your plane. See if he makes a big complicated affair out of it or handles it for what it really is, ie no big deal.

Avoid the ones that have huge new hangars and work on King Airs and Citations?

Be ready to bail out at the first sign of a real problem.

Push the owner assisted and do-it-yourself thing right out past the limits to see if he can handle a win-win way of doing things.

Does he consider the importance of the difference between a real safety problem, and going by the letter of the law.

Watch out for big egos.

How does he come on, ie does he like airplanes, or is it just a job?

Does he appreciate you trying to learn everything about the upkeep and safety of your airplane?

I'll let someone else take it from here, I have to go check out the chicks at the gym now.
Darryl

[Vasey fan]

Re: The Good IA

(snip) I have to go check out the chicks at the gym now.
Darryl

When you come back, please have pictures.

[PT13Pilot]

Re: The Good IA

I guess I'll dive in on this one too, I must be a glutten for punishment!
I don't claim to know what happened with DJ, but can feel his pain either way. I don't know the specifics and would keep my comments to myself if I thought I did. That's between he and his IA, and regardless of the outcome, he'll learn something from it.

That being said, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You have options as an owner. You may think you don't and the options may be a huge pain in the butt, but there are other mechanics out there. I've seen a lot of bad things working with other mechanics and shops, and that's the main reason I've got my own little place to call home now. Believe me, a steady paycheck from a shop is nice too. One of the worst mechanics that I grew up around has a bad reputation, and it amazes me people still go there. You get more than 3 owners together and they all have a "John Doe" horror story, yet they go back because it's convenient I guess. The old saying "screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me holds true."

Another huge pet peeve is lack of communication. Another biggie as to why I'm on my own. If you need a couple $1.00 rocker gaskets, I won't call you for that. But if you need something more expensive, I'll call you, tell you the problem, tell you what I think it will cost to fix, and why it needs to be replaced/fixed. If you don't want to, you're welcome to come get it. And I'd be glad to show you why it needs to be fixed. If you mechanic won't talk to you, or calls you a week later and says it's done and the bill is $5000 instead of the $800 you thought it was going to be, find another mechanic.

Darryl is right I suppose on the big shop thing. Big shops with big overhead probably don't want your work anyway. And if you get them to take it, the $100 shop rate will cost you a fortune and they probably don't know, or want to know anything about your little T-Craft.

The owner assist thing is a double edge sword that I like and hate. I have some people who truly want to know about their airplane and see what makes it tick, I enjoy those. Teaching owners about their airplane is rewarding if they are really interested. I hate the owners that want to "help" to save money alone. Ie it takes them 4 hours to pull panels, interior, etc and you could have done it in 1, then they think/want you to take 4 hours off the bill. Not gonna happen. And I end up fixing things they broke or put back together wrong, so I spent the same amount of time for nothing. In short, I have people who get to do a lot, and I have people I'd rather they not check their own oil. Does your car mechanic let you help? Nope. Does your plumber let you help? Nope.

As far as the safety vs. letter of the law argument goes, that's a valid point. I have different levels of "broke". Is it a saftey of flight issue now? If yes, it gets fixed or you can take it elseware. I don't care how much money you don't have. What would be nice to fix, but isn't a safety issue today? I look at how much they fly, how they fly, and things like that. Then tell you about it and let you decide. Ie, "those tires don't have much tread, but you only fly 20 hours a year, so I can do it now or catch it next time". And then things that aren't unsafe but would be nice to fix. Tell the owner, and then he'll know before long it will have to be addressed. Next year when you tell him it's now broke, he knew it was coming. I'm not an FAR nazi, but do the best I can to stay legal and keep you legal as well. No one cares untill you crash one. And when it boils down to it, if I won't fly your airplane, I sure as hell don't expect you too. And I fly probably 90% of the airplanes I work on just to help pickup or deliver them.

Just remember, you're the owner, you're the boss. If your airplane disappears in a hangar and you haven't heard from they guy for a week, call him. If he won't tell you what's going on, tell him to stop and go see what's going on. I could go on, but I'm tired of typing!

Your mechanic may vary.....
Chris

[flyguy]

Re: The Good IA

Now that is what I call my kind of airplane professional. Exactly the kind of attitude I would look for and recommend to anyone. Very well expressed also.
DC

[astjp2]

Re: The Good IA

Maybe I should start traving and doing annuals? Hmmm. I wonder how different all of the other owners aircraft are from mine....Tim