Hello , Does everyone have good luck with their maintenance shop being on time. I Ask because lately our chosen maintenance shop seems to always miss the mark on completion dates to finish the work. They do good work but sometimes the estimated work goes way past the time quoted. IE 2-3 week and it’s going on week 5. I’m new to pt 91 flying but it really hard to convince the owner’s that it has just become that way. I’m learning also that it does have a lot to do with the aircraft,it’s a 1981 Cessna Conquest 425. And parts are hard to source etc. just curious
Thanks

Very typical, lack of good mechanics, and the good shops are over booked and they will purposely tell you 1-2 weeks knowing very well its more like 5-6 weeks.

Also do not give your log books to a shop. Ever.

Chuckle.
Welcome to the sh*tshow

shop lies measured in only "weeks" are good news these days.

I want to do anything and everything to help my shop do its job, that they continue to exist, and to improve the conditions of their work force.

Aircraft maintenance is a very tough job between the economic, regulatory, and customer pressures on top of the challenges of the actual work.

There are a lot of variables the shop can't control, particularly in an age of supply problems and the ever changing landscape of outside service vendors. I can understand why time estimates can be off. I wish they were better, too.

When I have work to do, I try to give my shop as much lead time as I can and as much flexibility in when it can be done to help them out. I also try to avoid their busy periods if I know when they are.

If the shop I am using goes away, my life will get a lot worse.

Mike C.

Project management estimating:
Step 1: INITIAL ESTIMATE - 2 weeks
Step 2: Double it- REVISED ESTIMATE- 4 weeks
Step 3: Go to next higher units - FINAL ESTIMATE- 4 months.

Subject to change, of course.

In general, our airplanes are getting older and older. From experience, it seems that every time I go to fix one thing, I find 2-3 more things that need to be fixed.

Most owners that are not mechanics have unreasonable expectations. An estimate is just that, and is simply a guess.

I’ve seen shops chastised on BT because they did that on an airframe that “had zero squawks” other than the one they were suppose to be working on. Per the owner, it was just a thinly veiled attempt to squeeze more money out of said owner.
There is also the 50 or 70 years worth of mods, legal and otherwise, which sometimes impede or halt progress on the currently desired mod. FYI- just because your air conditioning has never worked since you bought the plane, doesn’t mean all the A/C crap in the tail has been remove and there will be no problem installing your new autopilot.

I’ve seen shops chastised on BT because they did that on an airframe that “had zero squawks” other than the one they were suppose to be working on. Per the owner, it was just a thinly veiled attempt to squeeze more money out of said owner.
There is also the 50 or 70 years worth of mods, legal and otherwise, which sometimes impede or halt progress on the currently desired mod. FYI- just because your air conditioning has never worked since you bought the plane, doesn’t mean all the A/C crap in the tail has been remove and there will be no problem installing your new autopilot.

The problem here is not the 2 or 3 things that need fixing, I want the shop to notice and deal with anything they think is or will become a problem. That is saving me money. I've never seen an aircraft problem get cheaper by leaving it unfixed, and it can go the other way in a big hurry.

The problem is that lack of owner communication. The person responsible for the condition of the airplane is the owner/operator, NOT the mechanic, and the owner/operator should be part of the process of figuring out what needs to be fixed.


After the fact, no. Before the fact, be proactive as the owner in checking up on the airplane. My standing orders to my mechanics are to fix the small stuff without asking me, but to consult me on anything that is big (set some money threshold) or has options for longer term fixes. I like to see the squawk list as it develops and go over it with the mechanic before any heavy fixing work starts.

I'm definitely not the "here are the keys, call me when done" guy. So I stay very involved and I get good results from this. If you are more hands off, then you have to accept that the mechanic will be making decisions on your behalf. If that doesn't work, then you need a new shop.


My opinion is that very few shops are like that. They have so much work to do that they really don't want to find extra work.

Mike C.

Thanks guys I was beginning to think it was just me.

I don't think it's intentional if that makes you feel any better.
Its tough to estimate how much time something will take on an airplane. Its almost never faster than you expect.

Hi Fred, I have a 425 and manage another. My good friend has yet a 3rd (all based at CCR) and we use Signature Technicair in Fresno. In 8 years of owning my 425 and using Technicair I haven't had a significant schedule slip for routine scheduled inspections. I can typically count on a week for a 2,3 and 2 weeks for a 2,3,D assuming there are no significant SIDs to deal with and no significant squawks. I try to give them more than that though as I've found things generally go smoother when they aren't quite as under the gun. For example, this year I have a 2,3 but also phase 61 with wing boot replacement, vert stab boot replacement, prop IRAN with balance, and a host of other smaller SIDs like bottle hydros, squib replacements, a prop seal replacement, trim tab overhauls, etc. I scheduled it 2 weeks ago and made sure they know what parts to order. I'm going to drop it off April 13th and pick it up May 16th. The DOM agreed it's doable and I expect I won't have an issue. I have had 3 major avionics projects done there and they did come in late by a couple weeks each but I feel like that's pretty common.

What inspection(s) did you have done this time around?

In about 12 years of plane ownership, I don't think I can remember a shop EVER doing the work on time. Sometimes its only 20% late, but 2X is common and 5X not that unusual. This is many different shops, different work.

Hi Scott, Inspection 45.0 $6,525.00 $6,525.00
Cockpit and cabin fire bottles inspection 1.0 $145.00 $145.00
Pilot and Copilot windshield hole inspection 2.0 $290.00 $290.00
One cabin life vest due replacement 1.0 $145.00 $145.00
Main ship battery due capacity check 4.0 $580.00 $580.00
Cabin seat belt inspection CQB96-1 2.0 $290.00 $290.00
Spar cap inspection CQB01-2R1 4.0 $580.00 $580.00
Left engine fuel nozzle inspection 2.0 $290.00 $290.00
Left engine PWC minor inspection 10.0 $1,450.00 $1,450.00
Left engine oil filter inspection 1.0 $145.00 $145.00
Left engine compressor wash 2.0 $290.00 $290.00
Left propeller overhaul 12.0 $1,740.00 $10,431.00 $12,171.00
Left propeller inspection 1.0 $145.00 $145.00
Right engine fuel nozzle inspection 2.0 $290.00 $290.00
Right engine PWC minor inspection 10.0 $1450.00 $1450.00
Right engine oil filter inspection
This was the main part of the work ,we found a couple of other things to add that needed to be brought up to date ,Main landing gear strut inspection,pilot copilot windshield hole inspection.
Then I wanted the radar tilt checked I fell that it was off from what I had been use too.
We knew up front that with the propeller overhaul to plan for 3 weeks.
I think they have pretty much everything done but are waiting on the prop shop who is waiting on parts from their vendors.
Thanks for the input.