Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

New spark plugs every year? Yep… that’s what happened for five annual inspections in a row, with the A36 Bonanza I’ve been inspecting and working on.  From 2013 to 2017, the spark plugs were replaced every year.  Four of those times, the spark plugs being replaced, had less than 150 hours on them.  That is […]

Happy New Year Friends! This week on the podcast, we’re talking about simple fixes with just a little lubrication.  Sometimes on airplanes, there are parts that might need some lube, that can easily be overlooked.  We have several of these examples in today’s episode.  Here they are: A Beechcraft Debonair with a starter problem. A […]

Sometimes, airplanes have some out-of-the-ordinary maintenance and servicing requirements.  I discovered one of those items yesterday while talking with Kyle Jones, owner of a really nice, fixed gear Cessna Cardinal.  We talk about that in today’s episode.  It’s a very specific procedure for servicing the shimmy dampener on that airplane.  These are items you might […]

Yes, it is an art, and it takes careful and precise thinking, in order to prevent damage to an airplane. I’m not going to post any pictures with this episode, so here’s what’s included in the audio for this podcast: An update on my family’s Thanksgiving trip to Colorado… what an awesome state with so […]

I received a voice message the other day from John, a Mooney owner.  He was asking for some discussion on the podcast about using “torque plates” when removing cylinders from airplane engines.  He mentioned that Mike Busch was a proponent of this practice.  John also mentioned the concept of using torque plates had come up […]

This week, I inspected a Cessna 172.  From a distance it appeared to be a really nice airplane, and it is.  But at closer examination, as is often the case, there were a number of issues that needed to be addressed.  In today’s episode, we’ll cover those issues and talk about what was discovered. When […]

Retractable landing gear is an incredible feature when everything works properly.  On Bonanzas and Barons, the gear motor is like the heart of the system.  And sometimes, a heart repair, or even a “transplant” is necessary.  Sometimes, the heart, (or the gear motor,) shows signs and symptoms of poor health, and sometimes, problems become apparent […]

Today, I’m sharing with you a story about busting my knuckles trying to remove a locknut from an engine mount bolt.  The nut was bottomed out on the shank of the bolt, making it very hard to hold the bolt still while loosening the locknut. I could have avoided all that if I had put […]

I had a startling situation this past week at Classic Aviation… water in the fuel strainers on a Piper Twin Comanche… scroll down for some pictures of that one. Also in this episode of the podcast, you can hear about the following: Update on my washing machine… Being an A&P really can prepare you to […]

Hello aviation friends! This week, we’re talking about an airplane’s instrument panel that was NOT telling me the truth.  In fact, one of the instruments was lying to me.  Listen to the audio to get the details. Here’s the instrument that was lying to me during the pre-inspection runup… it’s a pretty interesting situation. And […]

It’s been a challenging week of airplane maintenance for me. Here is a sampling of some things I’ve been working on at Classic Aviation: A Beechcraft P-Baron with three issues: Right engine #6 CHT indicates too high in the climb. Right fuel selector valve handle very stiff to turn. Cockpit door warning light comes on […]

Hello Friends.  This episode is different than any other.  It’s very personal. A little over two weeks ago, my dad passed away, and I wanted to take some time in this episode to leave a tribute for my dad.  My two brothers and I agree that we had a really good dad.  Sure, there were […]

Scroll down to see a video about scat hose installation. Recently, I got an email from Jeremy Zawodny, and he told me a story about his Glastar airplane, which is powered by a Lycoming O-320 engine.  He experienced a partial power loss soon after takeoff, and when he pulled the carb heat, the power was […]

Recently, when Oscar, (owner of a Mooney,) and his son stopped in at Classic Aviation, he mentioned that he had been having some trouble with high CHT’s on takeoff and climb, (maybe even in the 420-450 degree range at times.)  Everything was fine in cruise. So we talked about the normal things you would think […]

Limited, Introductory Opportunity In Person With Dean – Read to the End. Highlights from this week at Classic Aviation: Meeting Oscar (a podcast listener,) and his son. Talking about high CHT’s on Oscar’s Mooney. Annual Inspection on an N35 Bonanza. A charging system issue, and how previous email information from Justin, a podcast listener, was […]