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Message
There has been much
said recently following the NTSB report on Shannon's accident. I even
posted my feelings. I continue to think about the situation of our Lancair
airplanes (or other high performance, amature built, airplanes). For the
past two years I don't believe a week goes by that someone doesn't talk about
flight training, emergency situation training, transition training, engine
operating procedures, propeller feathering, etc. It goes on and on and
every post is valuable and every opinion has something constructive to
offer. I try to learn something from these messages and appreciate all of
your input.
One of the things
that I learned about Shannon's accident was that his annual/condition inspection
was due in June. I am not going to say whether it was completed or
not. But I do want to present a concern that I have. As stated above
I think the bases are covered on flight training. It is up to us as pilots
to get the best training possible to safely operate our airplanes. I have
not heard or read much about organized maintenance training, or training
for the annual/condition inspections, or training on how to do a good
preflight inspection, and what to do about correcting the defects found during
these inspections.
As builder's we have
the opportunity to receive a repairman's license from the FAA that allows us to
perform all of the inspections and maintenance on our airplanes. We can
perform and sign off the annual/condition inspection and do all of the other
maintenance that is required. Do we, you and I, have the training that
is necessary to perform these functions? The FAA feels that as the
builder you have the best knowledge about your airplane. This is why they
are willing to give the repairman's license. But I venture to say that,
generally speaking, we lack many of the skills and knowledge necessary to
correctly identify and correct problems and implement
preventative maintenance on these aircraft? I personally feel I
know how my Lancair ES was put together but I really do not have the knowledge
to do a proper annual/condition inspection of the engine, propeller, or landing
gear. So, I have a licenced A&P mechanic do these items for
me.
I believe there is a
need for maintenance training for builder's. Just like the professional
flight training and engine operating training. Perhaps a forum at Oshkosh,
or Sun N Fun, or the other fly-ins is in order. How about more
than just breakfast or a $100 hamburger at the small get
together. Couldn't we have a scheduled training session on a
particular mainenance procedure in conjunction with our fly-in's? Some
items that I believe are important to be taught are:
Aircraft Maintenance
Log books, How to construct one that is complete, fill them out and how to
sign them.
The paper
trail. The many sheets of paper that come with radios, repaired
instruments, new parts, old parts, yellow tags, red tags,
etc.
Component time
recording including service life, overhaul intervals, calendar life,
etc.
What about
Airworthiness Directives, service bulletins, other maintenance
communications?
General aircraft
maintenance practices. Including safety wire, nut torque, bearing wear,
corrosion, general Part 43.13 practices.
How do you change a
tire, balance a tire, inflate a tire?
How do you service a
strut, bleed a brake? What is the allowed brake pad wear?
How do you pack the
wheel bearings? How often? With what grease?
How do you do a
correct pre-flight and what do you do when you find something
abnormal?
How do you set up
the proper "rod roll" on a flight control bearing?
How do you check
engine compression, clean a spark plug?
How do you check the
play in the turbocharger compressor. What is allowed?
General electronic
trouble shooting?
How do you test your
ELT, change the battery?
What does engine oil
temp and pressure really mean? How do they relate to each other?
Same with fuel pressure?
Perhaps aircraft specific maintenance training on the Lancair
IVP, Lancair ES, Lancair Legacy
I have seen many
questions and discussion about the hydraulics on the retract airplanes.
Perhaps this is a specialty course?
What about the
landing gear shimmy on a Lancair ES?
There are many
topics all of which would only help us become better builder's and aircraft
owners and have safer airplanes to fly.
One thing is for
sure. If your airplane is functioning correctly then many of the problems
are minimized when things get tough. I have enough to worry about with
myself. I certainly want to minimize the complications created by the
mechanical aspect of this airplane I have made.
I am sure there are
members in these forums that are experts in all or many of these fields. I
for one would welcome the opportunity to learn from you and try to make this
fantastic world of amature built, high performance, aircraft a more safe and
rewarding experience.
I welcome your
thoughts and comments.
Sincerely,
Bryan
Burr
N132BB
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