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Piper Arrow €1000 landing gear annual inspection - why?

Thread unlocked – sorry it was meant to be temporary but I forgot. ..

Now @Peter you seem to be pretty quick to jump to the conclusion that every other plane than the TB series is crap. But then how do you explain that the TB20 annual is even more expensive than the Arrow at the same company?

I don’t understand that conclusion at all.

I was not asking about a TB20. I was asking a specific question on the Arrow landing gear, not having previously come across that sort of cost in light GA (did see such exhaustive work on King Airs).

If somebody who flies plane X asks about some cost on plane Y, does that mean he thinks Y is crap?

As to why a particular company would overcharge on a TB20 service, that is obvious if they overcharge on a PA28 service.

However it appears that the extra cost is not just the gear…

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Differences between a fixed gear PA28, such as the Archer, and the Arrow include: Retractable gear, variable pitch prop, fuel injection, bigger engine (4-cyl or 6-cyl depending on model) and perhaps also a turbo. Of the fixed gear PA28s the top of the line Dakota has most of the Arrow features but not the RG – I would expect maintenance costs to be in between a regular PA28 and an Arrow.

On the Arrow there are a couple of ADs regarding the nose gear but nothing I know of for the MLG (which is why I asked if you had a reference for it Peter), though obviously it is wise to have it properly examined and tested during the annual. I am advised that the landing gear is not very forgiving of side-loads, but I imagine that most retractable gear GA aircraft are similar.

EGTT, The London FIR

All the small Pipers ( 28, 32, 44 & 34 ) have much the same retractable landing gear and the same associated problems.

The biggest problem is poor maintenance, the system is simple and robust but is not tolerant of lack of lubrication, the biggest problem is that the most critical lubrication points are very hard to see and require a very small right angle head on the grease gun to get grease into the trunion bearings, the only alternative to this tool than most maintenance hangers don’t have is to jack up the aircraft and half retract the main gear so that the grease nipple swings clear of obstructions and can be serviced with a normal grease gun.

If you don’t get the grease into the trunion bearings the chances are that eventually the gear won’t free fall into the locked down position if the hydrulic power pack fails.

We all see these run on a shoestring groups who pressurise the smaller maintenance companies over each penny they spend so it will come as no surprise that the minimum pay hanger junior forgets or fails to see the most critical grease points.

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