Cobalt, yes, that one is hard to take. When you pay so much money for that stuff as a newcomer you'd expect that you get real high tech stuff. Not the case many times.
And now we HERE are (some more, some less) the real ENTHUSIASTS. Go to a GA airfield anywhere and talk to normal "hobby" pilots. 75 percent have absolutely no idea how the avionics, autopilots, engines work... really no clue.
I know a guy who just spent 900.000 dollars for a Cirrus. Ask him ANY question about how that thing works, he speaks to you like a damxxx passenger.
And I am sure that I am not exaggerating. Most pilots aren't even interested in the technology and its details.
And I am sure that I am not exaggerating. Most pilots aren't even interested in the technology and its details.
Right. I prefer to know these things only to the extend I need to know. For the other stuff I do pay mechanics. I'm sure the 900K Cirrus guy thinks along the same lines.
The more you know, the better. I had so many extreme adventures with Service Centers, Avionics Shops, Mechanics... the only solution to not get ripped off all the time is to be informed.
I hesitate somewhat to put the examples here, because I actually like these people, and don't want to insult anybody, ... but some of it really gave me goose bumps and was dangerous too.
Of course, if money is NO factor then you can afford to not know. You will pay for new cylinders, unnecessary repairs and for the damage to the plane done by the shop. It's still safer to know how that stuff works.
Obviously GA aircraft are almost always useless from a pure practical point of view. Some get the joy out of flying them, others get the joy out of trying to deeply understand them.
I wouldn't feel safe without knowing every gory detail about the aircraft and its maintenance. I'm now at a point where I generally do not allow maintenance without being present and making all decisions. That rules out 80% of the shops already 
And 80 percent is a figure that shows that you (like me) generally like human beeings :-)
Well, it doesn't mean that I have no knowledge or bad experience with maintenance shops or -guys (I do!) but this
I'm now at a point where I generally do not allow maintenance without being present and making all decisions.
sounds a bit extreme (at least with a 182). If I were a maintenance shop, I would be certainly within these 80% - just to keep you out.
P.S. May be this forum should be renamed to "ExtremeGA"? ;-)
I don't think that he's extreme. I have grown up in a family that had airplanes from when i was ten. When my father (a former car mechanic, then Mercedes Sales Manager) told me how the plane was treated in the shop i always thought he was exaggerating ...
Then one day I got the Warrior from him and had to deal with the maintenance. The stuff I lived through in 20 years could fill a book. Some funny, some incredibly stupid, some outright dangerous.
And now with the Cirrus, which is 5 times as complicated as the Warrior, I will take even a closer look.
A Maintenance Shop that would not allow me watch them working on my plane? I would not accept that, for sure. That does not mean I "control" them or that I am overly suspicious, but this way I know what they are doing. I spent MO/TUE this week in the mainatence shop, and I know it paid off. I could tell them if I didn't like something (that can be done friendly too), and I could clean the whole plane in a heated hangar (which I do not have)
After all this is (mostly) my hobby, and if I couldn't be part even of my own hobby - I'd not be interested in that style.
I simply pay TOO MUCH money for somebody else to tell me i cannot watch the maintenance.
Actually this is what I was referring to:
And now we HERE are (some more, some less) the real ENTHUSIASTS. Go to a GA airfield anywhere and talk to normal "hobby" pilots. 75 percent have absolutely no idea how the avionics, autopilots, engines work... really no clue.
I don't think this is correct at all or are you referring to the club pilots with 12 hours per 2 years? Then 75% may not be enough. But owner of airplanes don't have a chance to avoid at least a limited understanding of these things.
My former maintenance guy invited me to work with him through the inspections, just to learn and keep the costs low. This was nice and on a mutual base. But I also met nitpickers who did not allow me to enter the maintenance hangar when they were doing maintenance with that guy.
Meanwhile I know what I need to know and for the rest I have some phone numbers. I now fly a turbine. I don't care about the items on maintenance list for the annual. I care about the money. Before maintenance I discuss with the shop what needs to be done beyond the standard items and I approve it or not (which requires at least this limited understanding, right?). After a week or two I pick up the plane, talk with the mechanics, let them show/explain things and then I take off. Until next year!
What's wrong with that?
Btw, I considered to buy a Cirrus (but then went for a turbine). One thing that kept me away was that every 50 and 100 hour inspection has to be done at a certified Cirrus Service Center. You are not allowed to do anything yourself. So why are you hanging around there? Just to wash your plane? ;-)
muelli,
EVERY Part 145 maintenance facility can do the 50 and 100 hours inspection on a Cirrus if they are qualified for it. That's valid for Germany and the UK too. I do prefer a Cirrus shop to do it though, for obvious reasons.
Also: If you fly the airplane privately only you can the same things yourself as on any other type. I prefer to have my plane in a CAMO, becasue I don't care for the paperwork.
Only a small percentage of aircraft owners has deep technical knowledge, that's my experience. And of course almost none of the typical club/charter pilots. Also a high percentage of aircraft mechanics in GA do not really understand the planes they work on, or they prefer to work the same way they were taught 40 years ago.
Tell the typical a/c mechanic between 50 and 60 that you fly your SR22 LEAN OF PEAK! Or tell them that a compression under 80/60 does NOT necessarily mean that the cylinder is bad ... (I have been through all of that)
I do care about all the technical details, simply because they INTEREST me.
I don't say it's "wrong" if you like it this way. But it's wrong for ME. Of course I can help with the maintenance, but I don't . But I want to see what they do, and it paid off, more than once.
