Peter
By the time you add the AD’s & SB’s and items were have run to to life, a few snags , a bit of corrosion treatment and a few extra parts that need replacing it soon adds up, about £ 10k is typical ( inc VAT ) is what usualy happens . Having said that I Have seen £900 annual checks and £25K 50 hour checks depending on what the inspection finds.
I’m in the middle of a deep annual and degree perfect rigging job on the 206. This week will prob burn up 52 Labour hours of a world class A&P/IA (36 of his time, 16 of others). Add in parts, and the few defects like control column bearings, gascolator rebuild kit and a recommend starter replacement it all adds up.
It’s worth every penny, and I’m very happy to invest money in having the aircraft set up perfectly. It’s very cheap to be broken down in the hangar and very expensive to be broken down away from home with a snag.
The worst part is that mechanics hardly make a good living with those prices.
I would make the predictable observation that if they worked freelance they would double their pay instantly 
It is the EASA de facto enforcement of using a “company” which continues the status quo which has existed for many years. The only workarounds are to “go uncertified” or to be N-reg, although in both cases other factors need to be in place to get the advantages (e.g. no use having an RV if you have to wangle somebody to maintain it for free).
We’re likely the last generation to be able to enjoy flying as a hobby.
I generally believe that mankind has an almost infinite ability to walk to the edge of a cliff and only then bang some heads together That is why nearly all doom forecasts turn out false.
I believe with Part M light coming in, a Part 66 guy can do everything, including recommending the aircraft be issued an ARC by the competent authority. I guess that removes the reliance on the company.
Indeed, though freelance EASA66 guys are not common, for historical and airfield-political reasons, plus most people are not allowed to work in the hangar where they are based (again, airfield politics).
Getting back to the original topic, I was really surprised at what seems to be a “general acceptance” of 10k Annuals, at both the supplier and the customer end. Admittedly in many cases the “acceptance” at the customer is better called a “capitulation”
I cannot help thinking that some strange stuff goes on here and there. I have certainly seen plenty of completely pointlessly neglected planes (in syndicates this is a common theme, because most people join them primarily to minimise their costs) and these get hit with huge bills. But some dodgy stuff happens too; one very well known company, which I used once for a large and badly done avionics job, after I was warned by their customers to never use them for routine maintenance, has been known to charge £x for an annual on a brand new plane (on which no remedial action needed to be done) and then drop it to x/2 when the customer kicks up a stink. But many customers would just pay the bill, in the interest of “relationship maintenance”.
When I bought my C172 I was told to expect an average of 3000 a year with some years being lower and some years up to 5000 depending on what had to be done/overhauled.
After 6 years of ownership I must say that the figure is more or less correct.
That is what I would expect, for normal company maintenance.
It was the 10k which baffled me – except in obvious cases mentioned.
AfricanEagle, do you use a shop or do you work with a freelance mechanic ?
Peter wrote:
But many customers would just pay the bill, in the interest of “relationship maintenance”.
This is how our great institution, British Telecom, built its business. Even BT cannot fathom how it bills its customers, think of a number, double it, add a few non existent service line numbers, and send the bill. Most large corporates never even query the bill from a utility. It is just paid.
In 2014 after much angst, I received a credit of £15,000 from BT. No apology, no nothing, other than my service being restricted several times. I wrote a complaint about this [deleted, don’t slag off living people unless you want to underwrite it :) ]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Livingston,_Baron_Livingston_of_Parkhead to the Prime Minister
when he was made Trade Secretary. Got a letter from Number 10……
Jujupilote wrote:
AfricanEagle, do you use a shop or do you work with a freelance mechanic ?
Shop. The same one that had looked after the aeroplane for the previous ten years before I bought it.
