Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

This cylinder definitely has a problem!  And I can’t help but think, could there have been a way to detect what was going on before it got this severe?  I’m not sure, but I do wonder what might have been detected if a borescope inspection had been done at the last annual.  (Perhaps that was […]

  Check out this picture… any idea what’s going on here? Now that we are into cold weather seasons, it’s a good time to talk about aircraft heaters.  They can be a necessary source of in-flight comfort, but if something goes wrong, they can also be surprising source of in-flight danger. If your airplane has […]

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re able to take some time to celebrate today, with people who are important to you. I’m grateful to God for many people… my wife Maria, my kids, and many others. Today, I’d like to introduce to you my good friend, Brian Holmes.  He’s a long-time multi-engine rated, commercial pilot of […]

Induction system couplings and clamps.  They are often overlooked… until they become an issue! But why let it go that long?  Why risk having a problem somewhere away from home, where there might be limited tools and any necessary help.  It’s much better to do a little preventive maintenance on your airplane’s induction system, to […]

Before we get started, I want to thank two people for today’s episode. First, my very good friend, Brian Holmes.  Brian absolutely loves aviation and all kinds of airplanes, but he has no interest in turning wrenches.  So I was curious about what kind of topics would be appealing to airplane owners and pilots, like […]

When was YOUR last BFR?  Who was it with?  What was it like?  If you’ve been getting the same ‘ol BFR for many years, perhaps it’s time to shake things up a bit! That’s what I did recently, and I’d like to share a few of the take-aways with you today.  After my BFR last […]

In the last episode, we covered the engine portion of the inspection checklist. This week, we cover the rest of the checklist, which is the airframe portion of the inspection. One item on the inspection checklist that may be overlooked, is to check and make sure all the required POH placards are present and legible.  […]

Do you know what goes on during your airplane’s annual inspection?  Do you know what should be going on, and what should not?   Perhaps todays episode can help think through some of these questions, regardless of what type of airplane you own. Today’s episode deals specifically with the Beechcraft Bonanzas, and the “ANNUAL LONG FORM […]

AD 2017-14-04 affects a huge list of Piper models, including Cherokees, Arrows, and Saratogas. But before we get into that, I wanted to give an update on the alternator brushes mentioned in episode 069.  Here are some pictures of the new brushes I installed in that alternator:               That […]

Your airplane’s alternator is something you depend on, and if it’s not working dependably, it quickly becomes a serious situation. In today’s episode, we talk about some actual charging system issues I’ve encountered recently in the shop where I work, at Classic Aviation, as well as some interesting discussion I found in some online forums […]

Videos mentioned in today’s episode: Mike Busch’s story about his aviation journey:  savvyaviation.com (Scroll down on the home page, and the video is right there.)   Bret Chilcott and his new LED nav lights for his 1947 Stinson: You can buy these nav lights at Aircraft Spruce: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/navstrobesextant40.php (There is also a cheaper version of […]

How do you start your airplane engine?  Is it perfectly “by the checklist,” or some other method?  We’ve talked about this topic in the past, and it will come up again in today’s episode.  Listen in, take the challenge, and see if it might be worth considering a small modification to your starting procedure. Also, […]

What kind of “sticky” are we talking about?  Listen to today’s episode, and you’ll find out. But first, we have a couple of other things to cover: Update on the Cessna 182 that was mentioned in a recent episode, where some pitted lifters and a questionable spot on the camshaft, were found. Follow up on […]

When you taxi up to the maintenance shop, how do you park?  And when you pick up your airplane after maintenance, how is your situational awareness when it comes to starting and taxiing operations? These are a couple of items we discuss in today’s episode. We also cover some listener feedback.  One is a Piper […]

In today’s episode, we talk about a real life situation that is in process right now.  Someone walked in the shop a couple days ago and asked my opinion about some lifters and the cam shaft in this C-182 engine. The following pictures ARE NOT the lifters I referred to in the podcast.  These pictures […]