The following editorial is guest written by Jared Jacobs (jaredjacobs2@gmail.com).
As a follow-up to last month’s editor’s briefing (“Annual Anxiety”), I can now happily report 1RW is back to airworthy status. After a few weeks of scrutiny under the keen eyes of mechanics and inspectors, our F33A Bonanza has been issued a clean bill of health. And though some of my anxiety wasn’t entirely unwarranted, I am now clear of the rite of passage that is an aircraft’s first annual.
To start with the good news, 1RW continues to impress anyone that works on it. The baseline inspections all confirmed that the 1970 Beechcraft Bonanza is in great shape. The one cylinder we’d been monitoring following some maintenance over the summer rebounded nicely and settled in. All cylinders are now running with compressions over 70 psi. A few AD’s required inspections but thankfully revealed no defects.
Then came the electrical issues. After some digging, it was determined that the alternator was 20 years old with nearly 1,400 hours in service. The mechanics explained this type of alternator had a gear-driven solid drive shaft linked to major issues in the past. If the alternator suffered a bearing failure, the resulting metal could end up in the engine oil, resulting in a required teardown, or worse, engine failure. At the mechanics’ suggestion, we sent the alternator for overhaul, plus opted to install an elastomer drive coupling that would prevent an alternator failure causing a subsequent engine failure. Beyond the alternator, it seems that the weeks of extreme cold last winter (before we were able to secure an engine compartment heater and battery tender) did a number on our battery. It failed its required 80 percent capacity check – a new battery was needed. These two line items alone equated close to the cost of the standard annual inspection.
At first, when hearing the alternator needed service, combined with the news that previous mechanics potentially omitted an AD, I became frustrated these items hadn’t been identified in the pre-buy inspection. If you recall in the last article, I discussed concern whether I made a mistake by not conducting an annual at the time of the pre-buy. In hindsight, I’m not sure it would have mattered much. While the items might have been caught in a more thorough inspection, we still would have been satisfied enough with the findings to proceed with the purchase. Moreover, convincing the previous owner to split the cost of the alternator overhaul with no real indication of it being in distress would have been a tough ask in the seller’s market that we were buying in.
I also want to note I am happy we decided to take the aircraft to a different shop for the annual than we used for the pre-buy. Not because there were issues in work completed by the first shop, but because additional sets of experienced eyes thoroughly going over our Bo only increases the chances nothing falls through the cracks. I know there can be a real benefit to an A&P and aircraft having a history together, but I would argue occasionally shaking up your maintenance routine could be useful. And one advantage of being based in the “Air Capital” is that there is no shortage of exemplary A&P’s.
Another discovered benefit of conducting the annual at this point in our ownership (eight months in) was we were able to develop a list of minor squawks to address: an intermittent nose gear indicator light; a main landing gear door gasket that had come loose; an adjustment to the takeoff fuel flow to improve engine cooling. And the most interesting one, which was noticed during a photoshoot flight (see article image), was a right main landing gear door not fully closing. While the aircraft was on jacks doing gear swings in the shop, the mechanic observed a pop rivet on the inboard gear door that was working its way out and slightly jamming the door. The rivet was removed and replaced.
At the heart of my writing in last month’s editor’s briefing, I planned to measure the success of our annual inversely against its overall cost. Basically, the cheaper the annual, the better the result. I have to admit now I think that was a flawed premise to take. As with every aspect of aircraft ownership so far, my view at the beginning of each event differs greatly from the perspective I find on the other side.
The reason behind an annual inspection is safety, not cost savings. Of course, my co-owners and I would have loved to come out of the annual with a smaller bill to pay, but as the adage goes, you can’t put a price on safety. And following the sit down with the chief inspector responsible for the sign-off in our aircraft logs, I gained a much greater understanding of our Bonanza. Question marks and squawks lingering in my mind over the last eight months of getting to know 1RW are now answered and remedied. I also noticed a difference the next time I walked out to the airplane, closed the door and started the engine. I had further confidence in the machine than I had felt before. It is hard to put a price on that feeling.