1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,120 Brandon Martini Hello, I'm Brandon Martini, a commercial pilot 2 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:09,120 and flight instructor. 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:10,560 Carson Vasquez And I'm Carson Vasquez. 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:11,560 I'm a private pilot. 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,120 Brandon Martini And you're listening to the Aviation Mentors 6 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,120 podcast sponsored by Stratis Financial. 7 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,800 Carson Vasquez Just to buckle up because the aviation mentors 8 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:19,800 are taking off. 9 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,940 Brandon Martini So today, we get to hear from one of our good 10 00:00:22,940 --> 00:00:26,360 friends who's been actually on the podcast a couple of times. 11 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,920 We should almost make him an honorary guest speaker at this point because he's been here 12 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:30,920 so many times. 13 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:32,520 I think this is what number three I think, Rich. 14 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,120 But we're going to have Richard Farnacca of Cavalier Air Service talking to us today. 15 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,840 And like I said, we've talked to him several times and we've talked about owning your own 16 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:40,840 airplane. 17 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:42,280 We've talked about aircraft maintenance in general. 18 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,720 And today, we wanted to talk about something that's near and dear to my heart and a lot 19 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,560 of aircraft owners' hearts, and that is preventative maintenance. 20 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,960 So we're going to talk about the things you can and can't do on your airplane and when 21 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,000 you should do it and when you shouldn't and when we should have a professional like Richard 22 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,560 work on your airplane. 23 00:00:58,560 --> 00:00:59,960 So I'm really excited to have you on today. 24 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:00,960 Thanks for being here today, Rich. 25 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:01,960 Richard Farnacca Thank you so much. 26 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:03,960 Brandon Martini Thanks for being back on with us, Rich. 27 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,840 So can you explain exactly what is preventative maintenance? 28 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,360 Richard Farnacca Yeah, Carson. 29 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:15,560 FAA actually defines preventative maintenance under Section 1.1, simple or minor preservation 30 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:22,640 operations and the replacement of small standard parts not involving complex assembly operations. 31 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:30,440 Part 43, Appendix A lists everything that is in the preventative maintenance section. 32 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:36,360 And if it is not listed in Appendix A, it is not a preventative maintenance item. 33 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:37,360 Aaron Norris That's really interesting. 34 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,680 Yeah, while we're talking here, I pulled up the FAR. 35 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:46,280 So I looked up Part 43 and there's Part 43 all the way from 1 to 17 and A through F. 36 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,360 It looks like it handles quite a bit of stuff. 37 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,640 What you're talking about Appendix A is major alterations, repairs, preventative maintenance. 38 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:53,320 That's obviously what we're talking about today. 39 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,880 But the rest of it looks like it's probably more applicable to ANP or an IA. 40 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:57,880 Is that correct? 41 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:58,880 Richard Farnacca Yes, that's correct. 42 00:01:58,880 --> 00:01:59,880 Aaron Norris All right. 43 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:03,760 With knowing that kind of a normal person can only do certain things, who can actually 44 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,560 perform this preventative maintenance? 45 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:06,560 What can a pilot do? 46 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:13,040 Richard Farnacca The AC43-12A specifies that repairman and 47 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:19,160 mechanics ANP, holder of airframe and power plant can perform preventative maintenance. 48 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:30,200 But also the pilot holding at least a private pilot certificate issued under Part 61 and 49 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,520 who is the registered owner or the co-owner of the aircraft can perform the preventative 50 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:35,760 maintenance on that aircraft. 51 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,360 Aaron Norris So you have to be one of the owners. 52 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,600 You can't just be one of the pilot's friends and help them work on the airplane. 53 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:42,600 Richard Farnacca Correct. 54 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,400 If you're going to be working on a plane, you would have to be under the supervision 55 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:52,080 of a licensed airframe or power plant mechanic depending on the work that you're going to 56 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:53,080 be performing. 57 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,480 Aaron Norris So if I'm, let's just say I'm not a pilot 58 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,640 and I want to help my friend change the tire, technically that's illegal. 59 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:01,360 That friend would also have to be a pilot. 60 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:02,360 Is that correct? 61 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,200 Or under the supervision of an ANP, correct? 62 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:05,920 Richard Farnacca That is correct. 63 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:06,920 Aaron Norris Cool. 64 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,040 I know that gets confusing sometimes. 65 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,120 I know that I've done some preventative maintenance on my airplanes in the past. 66 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,840 I haven't done preventive maintenance in a while because Richard takes care of everything 67 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,000 for me and all that stuff in his shop. 68 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,920 But I know that I did do some stuff in the past. 69 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,280 And I asked you, do I need to do a logbook entry for this oil change I just did? 70 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,080 And what is the answer to everybody out there? 71 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,920 If you actually do an oil change or one of the items we're going to talk about in a little 72 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:35,320 bit, is there, do you have to do a logbook entry or do you just leave it off? 73 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,120 Richard Farnacca Yes, you have to do a logbook entry. 74 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:46,640 And there is, it is actually written out in the FAR of how it is written. 75 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,000 Looking for that right now. 76 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,200 But yes, there is essentially a logbook entry for the work you performed and you write your 77 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,840 pilot certificate number as your license number for that preventative maintenance. 78 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,520 Aaron Norris Yeah, I've looked at it now. 79 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,560 Now that I'm a CFI, it kind of you have to sign the logbook entry for a pilot, just like 80 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:03,560 your CFI would. 81 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,520 So you need to have your printed name, you have to have your sign name, you have to have 82 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,880 your certificate number, and then you don't have an expiration date if you're just a private 83 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,400 pilot or an instrument rated pilot or something. 84 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:14,760 So there'd be no expiration date. 85 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:21,200 But you would put also like the total time airframe and the total time on the tack. 86 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,880 You have to add those things in to make sure they're on there. 87 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,720 I know that when I looked into it last, you had to have pretty much everything that goes 88 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:34,440 on a standard logbook entry, except for you can just have a pilot sign off on it, at least 89 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:35,880 the pilot that actually worked on it. 90 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,280 Aaron Norris What sort of things can I work on as the pilot, 91 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:40,440 the owner of that airplane? 92 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,560 So what kind of things can a pilot go and do for their planes? 93 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:48,960 Aaron Norris Carson, port 43, appendix A to part 43, subsection C actually lists out 94 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,540 everything that a pilot can do on their aircraft. 95 00:04:52,540 --> 00:04:55,380 In different aircraft, obviously, you can do different things. 96 00:04:55,380 --> 00:05:01,600 But there's a various amount of things of changing tires, servicing your landing gear 97 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:07,200 with oil or air, and it all comes down to if you have the tool, the correct tools to 98 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:08,200 do it. 99 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,800 And if you're in knowledge of how to do it, then yes, you can do these things. 100 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,520 Obviously, if you don't know how to service your threats, you shouldn't be doing that. 101 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,240 And you should call your mechanic and they could help you out with that kind of thing. 102 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,080 Aaron Norris So does that apply to any sort of airplane 103 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:25,880 that I'm working on that I own? 104 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,480 So if I own a Gulfstream, and I'm the owner and the pilot of it, am I able to go and work 105 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,800 on my Gulfstream and do that kind of preventative maintenance? 106 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,200 Aaron Norris That is a really good question. 107 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,800 And I'm not sure what the actual scope of that is. 108 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,000 I don't believe that applies in this case. 109 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:47,240 I'm sure there's an outline of size of aircraft or complexity of aircraft. 110 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:52,580 And obviously Gulfstream are going to be a lot more complex than your small piston single 111 00:05:52,580 --> 00:05:54,160 engine or small twin engine airplane. 112 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:55,840 Aaron Norris Yeah, it's a little more than just taking 113 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:56,840 off the cowling. 114 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:58,360 Aaron Norris Yeah, that's a pretty great question, Carson. 115 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,160 I'm actually looking for it as we speak and I cannot actually find where it states it. 116 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:07,280 But I'm sure there's some abstract little thing on here that says you have to use a 117 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,480 145 repair station or something like that. 118 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,600 But I'm sure that's actually a good question. 119 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:18,520 How about if the plane is operated under like part 121, an airline carrier 135, which is 120 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:25,200 it can be cargo carrier or it could be just for hire or like part 141, which are some 121 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:26,280 of our flights with airplanes. 122 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:30,120 Can we work on those airplanes if they're under any of those parts? 123 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,120 Carson Yeah, if you look under AC 43-12A, there's 124 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,480 actually spells out authorization to perform preventative maintenance and approve for return 125 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,320 to service. 126 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:47,960 And it says the pilot may only perform preventative maintenance on an aircraft used under the 127 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:54,920 part 135 if the conditions of subsection 43.3H and I are met, which I'm sure we can comb 128 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:56,520 through that and see what that is. 129 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:01,120 And then it says note a pilot may not perform preventative maintenance on an aircraft used 130 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,760 under part 121 even if the pilot owns the aircraft. 131 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,200 So it's spelled out right there in the AC for you on that one. 132 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,200 Patrick I kind of answered that question. 133 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:14,480 Sometimes the FAA is not very clear with any regulations and it's up to the interpretation 134 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:19,020 of the ASI that works at your local FISDO, which I've had the issue with a few times 135 00:07:19,020 --> 00:07:22,920 as of recently where one ASI will tell me one thing and another ASI will tell me another 136 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:23,920 thing. 137 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,360 So now I think I'm just going to ask for a letter of interpretation. 138 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,880 But luckily this, we don't actually have to ask for a letter of interpretation. 139 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,760 It's spelled out very clearly and I appreciate that from the FAA. 140 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,020 Sometimes they get some of these advisory circulars and they are very vague and ambiguous. 141 00:07:39,020 --> 00:07:43,080 This one happens to be very clear cut and very understandable. 142 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,360 And I think it's because they want to make sure pilots know what they're able to do. 143 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,600 They want to know if they can go do some of the things. 144 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:54,000 I know Rich mentioned verbatim off of the advisory circular what you can do, but some 145 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,120 things you can do that are on the list, but maybe in a different order. 146 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,240 You can change your tires and change the tubes on your tires. 147 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,440 You can clean up different parts. 148 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,720 You can grease wheel bearings, things like that. 149 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,600 But just changing a tire on an airplane is a lot different than changing a tire on a 150 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,060 car by the way. 151 00:08:11,060 --> 00:08:16,280 The first time I did it, I screwed it up and I actually ruined the first tube I ever did. 152 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,200 And I didn't realize you need talcum powder. 153 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,160 And I didn't realize all these things and I got a flat tire on my second one that I 154 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:22,160 ever did. 155 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,120 It was just, it cost me a whole bunch of money because I was trying to be cheap and do it 156 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,200 myself the first time I ever changed a tire. 157 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,280 And I think that might have been the last time I changed a tire by the way. 158 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:31,280 It just wasn't worth it. 159 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:36,120 But so for example, Rich, I know that I mentioned a few things, but tires in particular, just 160 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,440 because I messed them up so many times. 161 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,280 What's the difference between changing a tire on your car and changing a tire on let's say 162 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,200 a 172? 163 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,640 As far as you're asking what work needs to be done in comparison? 164 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,760 What's different because I know if I'm going to go change a tire in a car, I'm just going 165 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,840 to pull my wheel and tire off. 166 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,560 I'm going to use a breaker bar and break the bead off the tire and then I'm going to put 167 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:00,600 a new tire on it and pump it back up essentially. 168 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,360 So pretty straightforward and simple. 169 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,960 I don't have to take apart anything, any part of the wheel if it's just a normal wheel and 170 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:07,960 tire. 171 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,520 But what's different with the, I know these are tube tires and I know that's a little 172 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,760 different but they're way different than even my bicycle tube tire. 173 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,800 So what's, what do you have to do that's a little bit different in that regard? 174 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:25,000 So like on a 172 or most small general aviation aircraft, the wheels themselves are held together 175 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,620 by bolts and it's a tube, usually a tubed tire as well. 176 00:09:29,620 --> 00:09:33,400 So you have the tire, you have the tube and you have the wheel halves. 177 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,920 And first thing is you want to let all the air out of the tube before you even take the 178 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:45,760 tire off of the axle, which is usually a single point castle nut or something similar to that. 179 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:52,200 And because if there's a problem with the wheel halves that could pop and cause damage 180 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,320 to you or the aircraft. 181 00:09:54,320 --> 00:10:00,000 And so it's just the best thing to do is when the airplane is jacked up properly, you let 182 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,040 all the air out and then you take the wheel off the axle. 183 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,520 And then what you're going to want to do is break the tire bead off of the wheel and then 184 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:13,040 you take the wheel apart, which then you can get into the bearings and everything like 185 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,040 that. 186 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,020 If you're going to clean them or inspect them, that's the best time to do that as well. 187 00:10:17,020 --> 00:10:21,760 And then you'll take the tube out or either replace the tube or you can use the tube if 188 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:22,760 it's still good. 189 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,920 I usually inflate the tube and check it out, make sure if there's any rubbing spots or 190 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,880 if the tube is years old, there should be a date stamped on it somewhere. 191 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,760 If I can't see that, I'll just replace the tube. 192 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,840 I mean, they used to be affordable nowadays, they're like $150 for a tube, just the tube, 193 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,080 that's not even the tire. 194 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,200 And then when you're replacing it, yeah, you want to use tire talc or talcum powder or 195 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:50,200 baby powder to help lubricate the tube in the tire. 196 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,400 And it keeps everything from binding up and getting pinched. 197 00:10:54,400 --> 00:11:00,040 When you put everything, reassemble everything and retorque everything, the maintenance manual 198 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,600 should have torque specs and everything for you. 199 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,040 You should have that handy while you're doing that as well. 200 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,240 And yeah, just inflate it to spec and reinstall on the aircraft. 201 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,300 Yeah, that's definitely a lot more work. 202 00:11:12,300 --> 00:11:17,620 It took you a lot more description to be able to explain how to change an airplane tire 203 00:11:17,620 --> 00:11:23,560 on just a simple airplane like a Cessna 172 compared to my explanation on a car tire, 204 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:24,560 right? 205 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:27,760 And we both changed tires on cars before and broken beads and all that stuff. 206 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,600 And we both done tires on airplane wheels. 207 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,920 And I guarantee it took a lot longer for him to explain it takes a lot longer to do it 208 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,040 on an airplane as well. 209 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:36,240 I don't know anything about jets. 210 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,480 I know Rich, you might have worked on a little bit in your past, but I can't imagine doing 211 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:46,760 that on a big jet where you have to put wheels and tires in like cages in case they explode. 212 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:48,080 Things like that is pretty crazy. 213 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,920 Yeah, I think that's a great explanation. 214 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:56,760 And why is it important for owners to do maintenance on airplanes, like preventative maintenance? 215 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:57,760 Or is it important? 216 00:11:57,760 --> 00:11:58,760 Maybe it's not. 217 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:00,720 They want to make sure their AMP does it. 218 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,840 But why is it important for somebody like me or Carson when he owns his first airplane 219 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:11,480 to go work on my airplane and do an oil change or change the tires or something like that? 220 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,760 Yeah, so I tell all my customers, it's extremely important to know your airplane that you're 221 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:17,760 flying. 222 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:23,180 You're in charge of the aircraft ultimately, and you're going to be flying the aircraft 223 00:12:23,180 --> 00:12:25,520 more than anybody. 224 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,120 You would want to know what's going on with your own airplane. 225 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,280 I encourage owner assisted annuals and maintenance. 226 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:38,120 Every owner of their plane should know how to open up their airplane, what to look for. 227 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:43,440 And it's always good for more eyes to be looking at the plane than just your mechanics. 228 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:45,560 Everybody's human, people miss things. 229 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,400 And so the more people looking at your plane, I think the better. 230 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,840 Yeah, and I know one of our friends, we actually need to have him on the podcast. 231 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,240 He's actually, I think, coming out here tomorrow for a golf tournament. 232 00:12:55,240 --> 00:13:00,360 I talked to him this morning, and he knows his airplane better than most people I know. 233 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,000 And he's a Cherokee Six guy, PA32 guy. 234 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,840 You probably see him in some of the PA32 Facebook groups if you're on there. 235 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:08,880 But he knows his airplane in and out. 236 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:14,160 When he brings it in for his annual, I've seen him explain, hey, this rivet is starting 237 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:15,240 to smoke or what. 238 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,320 I'm using that as a random example. 239 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,440 I don't think he's ever said that. 240 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:25,040 But he'll know exactly where a little drop of oil finally came from. 241 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,160 He is very in tune with his airplane. 242 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:28,440 And I think that's great. 243 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,360 Because as a mechanic, when you're looking at the airplane later, you're only seeing 244 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:32,400 so many things. 245 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:33,520 You're looking through the manual. 246 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,480 You're looking at the airplane. 247 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,120 You're doing a thorough job. 248 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,200 But we're human. 249 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:40,200 Sometimes you can miss little things. 250 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,880 So if you have another set of eyes, like Rich was saying, to look at that airplane, I think 251 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:45,480 that's a fantastic idea. 252 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,120 And it just makes you a better pilot too. 253 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,200 Because if you hear a random noise when you're flying, you can probably diagnose if that 254 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,560 was just a gust of wind. 255 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,200 And that's why your blade angle just changed. 256 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:02,360 If you're flying and you hear a weird change in your propeller, you can try to figure out, 257 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:06,440 hey, was that like a really strong gust of wind that just did an immediate blade change 258 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,160 and it changed the sound of the pitch? 259 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,400 Or was it actually an internal engine problem? 260 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,920 And I need to go get that looked at like land immediately. 261 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,500 There's things like that. 262 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:17,600 Radio issues. 263 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,040 Do you know what's wrong with your radios? 264 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,140 Do you actually know how to use your radios? 265 00:14:21,140 --> 00:14:23,900 Sometimes people don't know how to turn up and down the volume properly. 266 00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:25,480 Or the squelch up and down. 267 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,480 And it just goes in. 268 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,080 But if you know it and you've looked at your airplane over and over again and done some 269 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,320 of these preventative maintenance things, you're going to know your airplane in and 270 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:34,320 out. 271 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:35,320 So that's why I'm a big fan of it. 272 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,120 It's not like when you're in the air, you can just pull over when you have an issue. 273 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,120 It's a little bit different. 274 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,200 And it's a good idea to know what's going on. 275 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:46,280 How can pilots and aircraft owners contribute to having an effective maintenance program 276 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:47,800 with preventative maintenance? 277 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:49,640 Communication, Carson. 278 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:51,560 Have good communication with your mechanic. 279 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,320 Keep an open phone if there's ever a problem or an issue. 280 00:14:55,320 --> 00:15:02,320 You should be able to reach out and at least send an email or a text about something. 281 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,440 And the mechanic should be able to help you out and get back to you with some sort of 282 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:08,440 answer. 283 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:13,080 I believe that's one thing that is a good thing to have is good communication with each 284 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:14,080 other. 285 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,600 What other advice do you have for pilots in order to keep the plane in that kind of top 286 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:19,480 shape that we really want the planes in? 287 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,560 Aside from talking to your mechanic and keeping the open line. 288 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:30,680 I say good pre-flight and post-flight inspections are the first thing in the chain of events 289 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:37,200 that need to take place in keeping your aircraft in good, safe and flying order. 290 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,880 Even though you're, if you're the only one who flies your airplane, I know a lot of times 291 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:45,600 you can just be like, ah, I know what's wrong with my plane or I know there's nothing wrong 292 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,600 with my plane. 293 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,420 I'm going to go fly, but it's a bad habit to get into. 294 00:15:49,420 --> 00:15:54,800 We have a Cessna 182 in our family and there's only a couple of people who fly it. 295 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,040 Me, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law. 296 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,720 And if I was the last person to fly it, I still do a very thorough pre-flight inspection. 297 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,800 And when I land, walk around the plane post-flight, check your tires, check for any leaks, check 298 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:13,840 your oil and you can have a very long lasting and safe plane to fly. 299 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:14,840 Yeah. 300 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:16,760 You've mentioned that to me, multitude of times. 301 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,080 And you've talked about that with like students, you said you want to go show students what 302 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:25,280 to look for on a pre-flight because CFIs don't do a good enough job on it. 303 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:26,280 And I agree. 304 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,480 CFIs don't do a good enough job on it. 305 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:29,800 And everybody out here is a CFI. 306 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,640 You should really get better at doing a pre-flight and check your aerodocs every time you get 307 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:38,480 in an airplane on a side note, because for some reason that always comes up as an issue, 308 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,000 always at the wrong time. 309 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,280 So make sure you have got your aerodocs in the airplane. 310 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,340 I know that you just kind of think that they're already going to be in there, but they're 311 00:16:46,340 --> 00:16:48,480 on the pre-flight checklist for a reason, right? 312 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,520 You want to make sure that you've got those things in there. 313 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,960 You need to make sure the plane is legal to fly. 314 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,120 But back to what Rich was saying, a pre-flight is really key and a post-flight. 315 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,240 I know that I've had people take off pre-flight looked great. 316 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,920 They checked the fuel, left the fuel cap off. 317 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:04,880 Fuel cap went somewhere else. 318 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,800 Half of their fuel flew out of the airplane while they were flying. 319 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,520 So that's happened before. 320 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,480 You can also land and skid a tire and not even realize it. 321 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,960 And you've got this giant flat spot on your tire after you landed. 322 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,680 So I even say roll the plane back and forth about a foot or two. 323 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:21,800 It's a small enough plane. 324 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,200 You can do that, obviously, just to check out those tires a little bit better. 325 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,320 You want to make sure that things are not broken on your airplane. 326 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:34,440 Heck, you can even hit a bird and a small bird and it could have some crazy dent in 327 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,040 a place that it can't have a dent. 328 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,920 You could nick your propeller on your right before you take off or after landing. 329 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,680 If you're on even a paved runway, you can still get a big nick in your prop and it could 330 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:47,680 become un-airworthy. 331 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,640 So you need to look at those things. 332 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,200 Actually, I think the biggest thing that people don't do, and this is why people get killed, 333 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,800 is they don't sump their fuel. 334 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:01,740 And also people will go sump their fuel right after they get the airplane fuel. 335 00:18:01,740 --> 00:18:07,080 So if you go take some oil and water and go take a straw or something, go mix it in front 336 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,640 of you, tell me how long it takes for it to settle. 337 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,120 It's not instantaneous where all the water settles on the bottom. 338 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:14,760 It takes a few minutes. 339 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:20,720 And I guarantee in a 25 or 50 gallon drum that's in your airplane wing, it's probably 340 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,600 going to take a little bit longer for that to settle there as well. 341 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,840 So I always say wait 10 or 15 minutes before something and always sump after you've fueled 342 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:32,200 your airplane, even if you've had somebody else do it or if you've done it. 343 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,640 Don't just put the gas in the airplane and bounce. 344 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,040 I remember seeing a guy, he didn't sump his fuel. 345 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:42,680 He left his plane overnight and I don't know if just moisture got in or if just the relative 346 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,480 humidity caused moisture to seep in. 347 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,400 I'm not really sure, but I know he had an engine failure and unfortunately he didn't 348 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,400 make it. 349 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,440 So it's a really important thing to check the fuel. 350 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:56,440 I mentioned two things in my little examples right now on fuel because fuel is your life 351 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:57,760 blood of your engine, right? 352 00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,060 You need the fuel. 353 00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:02,840 With that being said, I want to say thank you so much for Rich for coming in today, 354 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:04,480 telling us about preventative maintenance. 355 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,480 It's a really great thing to look up and like he said, go check out advisory circular 43 356 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:14,960 12 alpha and also check out part 43 of the FARs. 357 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:15,960 It will teach you a lot. 358 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,360 And by the way, that part 43, it's not in your FAR aim. 359 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,560 So you have to go look at it online or you need to go to aircraft spruce and get the 360 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,720 ANP mechanic book or something. 361 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,640 It has a bunch of other parts in there too. 362 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,480 So every time you look up and it says part 121, there's yeah, there's quite a few parts 363 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,360 before that aren't even listed in there. 364 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:36,440 So it's not an all encompassing guide of the federal regulations. 365 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,280 So thank you again, Rich, for being on this podcast with us. 366 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,840 Yeah, as always, thanks for being on with us today, Rich. 367 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,480 It's always nice to get some of the expertise that you have out there, all of our listeners. 368 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,400 And for those of you listening, I hope our last few episodes made you want to go out 369 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:49,580 and get an airplane. 370 00:19:49,580 --> 00:19:52,720 And I hope that today's episode teach you a little bit about taking care of it. 371 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,280 Yeah, thanks again for having me you guys. 372 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,440 I always have a good time here and I'm sure I'll be back soon for some more fun issues. 373 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,360 Yeah, those fun issues and topics will be a blast to talk about. 374 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:08,320 And if anybody wants to reach out to us, you can find rich at Cavalieroservice.com. 375 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,000 You can also send him an email, richard at Cavalieroservice.com. 376 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:16,300 And for Carson and I, you can reach us at Twitter, Instagram, I'm at Mr. Martini Guy 377 00:20:16,300 --> 00:20:19,080 or at Carson underscore AV 17. 378 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,520 And as you know, our preferred method is email nowadays. 379 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:27,380 It's Brandon at aviation mentors.com or Carson and aviation mentors.com. 380 00:20:27,380 --> 00:20:29,560 And I've got a couple emails that I haven't got to this week. 381 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,280 So if you're listening to this today, please be patient. 382 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,440 I will be getting back to you, but it'll probably be on Monday. 383 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,400 So thanks again for listening today. 384 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:40,320 And as a wrap up for the day, remember, we're here to guide you in your aviation journey. 385 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:57,600 So fly safe and enjoy the ride.