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Shop Class
Maintenance 101
by Elliott Cox
Once the relief of passing that last check- ride has set in and the world of GA flying has officially opened for busi- ness, some pilots elect to buy their own
airplane. Flight training is often a poor teacher of the complicated subject of aviation maintenance, forcing some to dive into ownership blindly. If you’re a first (or third or fourth) time aircraft owner and don’t know what to look for when choos- ing a maintenance shop, you risk learning some tough, expensive and possibly dangerous lessons.
As you start searching for your dream airplane, or at least your next one, you should also be researching reputable maintenance shops. Typically, the best place to start is to determine the distance you’re willing to fly and drive to a shop because you’ll likely be doing both during your maintenance visits. With your geographical boundary set, pound away on your favorite search engine or map applica- tion to create a long list of shops within your radius. Read the online reviews, look through the websites, and most
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importantly, ask your flying friends if they’ve had experi- ences with any of the shops on your list. Firsthand knowl- edge from current and past airplane owners should carry more weight, by far, than whatever you might find online.
Once you have your list of shops, call each one and ask for their hourly labor rate, a list of references, and the availability of a personal tour. If any of them decline to give references or tours, scratch those shops off your list. If you find that it’s difficult to get someone to call you back or even speak to a person, that’s also a bad sign. Granted, the shop may be busy, but if you can’t contact them as a potential customer, how will the communication go when they have your airplane in pieces on the shop floor? Don’t scratch them off the list if they don’t pick up the phone on the first ring, but it’s a different story if you’ve made a half-dozen attempts and they’ve squawked 7600.
The highest shop rate doesn’t necessarily mean the high- est quality work, and vice-versa for the lowest rate. As the adage goes, “If you think a good mechanic is expensive, wait until you see how much a bad one costs!”
Now that you’ve shortened your list and have references, use them. You don’t have to get into specific dollars and cents type conversations, but I think most owners will be