I found a few shops that charge less. I went with the shop that I thought knew the plane the best and would do a premium job. With the Eagle II mod I wanted guys that have experience with the mod. So I took it to Uvalde, which wasn’t the cheapest.

I got quotes from $10k to $65k for the 1-4.

My bet is the less you pay for inspection the less you pay for items that are found during the inspection, or not found. Haha

We are fixing older maintenance that was not done right. Probably by a guy that only charges $10k for 1-4.

Mike

No, there is a conical metal stem that seals against a seat. No o-ring involved.

It will very slowly seep since it is metal to metal seal, but that's no big deal for the seconds it will be down to replace the o-ring.

The drains can be closed, momentarily held open, dropped down to replace the o-ring, or latched up to keep open and drain. The action depends on whether you rotate the stem and which way you rotate it.

Mike C.

My phase 1-4 base price was $9300.

We fixed many issues left behind by Textron service centers where the base phase 1-4 price is FAR higher.

No shortcuts were taken, we looked into things above and beyond the task list in the MM.

Mike C.

My phase 1-4 base price was $9300.

We fixed many issues left behind by Textron service centers where the base phase 1-4 price is FAR higher.

No shortcuts were taken, we looked into things above and beyond the task list in the MM.

Mike C.

Chip,

You sure have it in for Mike C and his plane. it's kind of creepy.

Mike

Not at all.

He just makes a lot of statements about some of our vendors that are negative.

He’s made repeated statements about all of the issues with the airplane, even shown pictures claiming Textron had missed these items. Some of those were short-cut repairs that I seriously doubt Textron would even try to accomplish.

It’s my business to know these airplanes, if his was Textron maintained, my team missed it and the broker, the original broker, who sold it didn’t advertise it as Textron maintained. I think it’s more likely that Textron was one of the shops maintaining the airplane and therefor shouldn’t be unfairly accused of the issues he discovered.

If Mike wants to bring his logbooks to my office in Franklin, Tennessee I’ll have them digitized, at my own expense, and then I can come on here and tell everyone it’s been all Textron maintenance and they missed those items.

You have to admit that a $10k 1-4 on a Citation V doesn’t sound like the whole story.

I have nothing against Mike, certainly nothing against his airplane, but I ABHOR false and misleading information, especially on a forum so often used by potential aircraft purchasers to do research.

Mike C’s airplane really was maintained by the service center it’s entire life. They are very good at being expensive.

Also, you can order a hot pack and do your brakes yourself for about $1300 aside. We are doing it right now. It is not rocket science.

Mike

We are pretty inexpensive I guess with the the little bit of outside work we do. Unless there’s something really messed up, 10k should easily cover a 1-4 inspection. 99 hours was the labor cost to do the last one we did including 2 deice boots which was was half of the labor. We are doing about ten 1-5s a year, and there are absolutely ways to be more efficient at these tasks.

Your incomplete notes are not surprising.

Bought new by SC Johnson in 1991 and operated until 2012. Maintained at Milwaukee Textron Service Center. They put 8500 hours on it during their ownership as a daily driver for corporate missions.

Bought by WR Equipment in 2012 and operated until I bought it in 2020. Maintained at Stewart Textron Service Center.

Mike C.

I guess if you're an A&P, you can do anything yourself. Brakes aren't one of the 14 CFR Part 43 owner maintenance items.

My shop charges me 50% of the shop labor rate to supervise. In other words, if brakes are an 8 hour job, they'll charge me 4 hours to sign off on my work - and they have made it clear they're not going to do that regularly.

"Do the work yourself" is not a typical way to save money for most jet pilots.

I guess if you're an A&P, you can do anything yourself. Brakes aren't one of the 14 CFR Part 43 owner maintenance items.

My shop charges me 50% of the shop labor rate to supervise. In other words, if brakes are an 8 hour job, they'll charge me 4 hours to sign off on my work - and they have made it clear they're not going to do that regularly.

"Do the work yourself" is not a typical way to save money for most jet pilots.

"Not that hard to get" is a wild understatement. Many schools offer full time 12 month programs.

It pencils out for an owner who values his time at $100/hr or less. Not many people with money to buy and operate a jet fit that category, unless they're misleading themselves.

I'm involved, but I'm not trying to swing a wrench for 200 hrs/year.

Cool.

Tell me where I can get that. I may just order a pair to keep in my spare inventory.


No, it is jet science!

Mike C.

https://www.rfsbrakes.com/BrakeOverhauls

Southern Cross is where we bought ours

Occasionally, you have to replace those quick drains. The spring rusts out.

Once again, not rocket science.

The key to maintaining an old Citation reasonably is to keep it in a hangar, get involved and don’t let this little stuff creep up on you. Probably the most important thing is finding a good mechanic.