337 Nightmare

[Michael]

I consistently seem to learn things the hard way. Here's another example that perhaps others may learn from.

I took N97AV for her annual in April and just now got her back. No, there was absolutely nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane. What grounded 97AV was paperwork compliance. It turns out that some mechanics in the past had not filled out the proper paperwork, and some of those who did properly fill out log entries and 337's did not send them in! Each year the plane was annualed (this is MY first annual with this airplane) the lack of a paper train was overlooked or ignored. Well, the shop I took the plane to this year is very concerned about both the mechanical and compliance aspects of airworthiness, so I paid the price.

Of course I had a pre-buy inspection done, but this stuff was not brought to my attention and I did not pour over the logs myself since, afterall, I was paying someone to do this! The mechanic that did this annual stated he no longer agrees to doing "pre-buys" unless the prospective buyer wants to pay for an entire annual. He believes that is the only way to find out everything there is to know.

The shop that caught all these problems stated that this happens to nearly every new airplane they see. This demonstrates that there are lots of lazy mechanics out there and that it is our responsibility to insist that 337's and field approvals are obtained and we must check. Something else: when I picked up the airplane I was handed a 1 gallon ziplock nearly full of miscellaneous trash (wire clippings, tie wraps, connectors, screws etc.) that he picked up under the floor of the airplane! Obviously left from an avionics job that occurred about 10 years ago. Unbelievable and unacceptable.

I'm dropping 97AV off at an avionics shop tomorrow for a major upgrade (430, MX20, Ryan TCAD, Garmin transponder and audio, STEC 60, FS450) and you better believe the installer now has a clear understanding of what I expect from him!

My new mechanic is very picky....is yours?

Best,
Michael

[bparkman]

Michael,

I have noticed a lot of owners going with the 430, MX20 combo. Other than price, what do you see as the advantage to this over the 430, 530 combo? Or is the price basically it?

Also, what is a FS450?

Thanks!

[Michael]

Brian,

The biggest advantage to the 430/MX20 combination is that you can use Jeppeson charts/approach plates with the MX20. I've also retained my Garmin 155 GPS so I have a backup and something to use for plotting "maybe" course changes while the 430 keeps flying the plane.

The FS450 is a fuel calculator; tells you how much your burning, how much you've burned, how much is left and how long you can keep going.

There are a lot of options and it is very hard to decide what is really the most practical. It's easy to get carried away and spend ALOT of money. I'm happy with my decisions and look forward to flying the Battlestar Gallactica! Should be done by the end of June.

M

[azb5gh]

If anyone would like to see some good panel shots of N735GH go to

http://www.azhangar.com (http://) N735GH has the STEC, MX20, KLN94, SL30, JPI700, FS450 etc.

[JQuick]

Michael,

Sorry for you nightmare. I am stunned that your latest annual found all the trash. Seems like that should have been found at the very least at the annual after the work was done.

I am curious how an airplane owner would discover that the 337's had not been filed. I know when I purchased my plane I got AOPA to do a search of 337's but have not done so since. Did the mechanic that did your last annual check with the FAA to discover all the 337's had not been filed?

Cheers!

[Michael]

Jack,

The mechanic doing the annual got a list of filed 337's from the FAA. It is strange that there were 337's in the logbook that had not been filed. Tomorrow I will take delivery of my plane after a major avionics job and now I know enough to check all the paperwork. I've also visited the shop a few times to be sure they are not leaving a mess in the airplane. It was disheartening to hear the mechanic (who did the annual) say that nearly every airplane he see's for the first time is not in compliance with regard to paperwork.

Michael
N97AV

[Todd Peterson]

Here's a suggestion you might want to try in the next few months.

After a sufficient period of time has passed for the FAA to record the 337's for the avionics work now being done you might want to request the 337 file on your airplane. This can be done through a number of companies that provide this service for a small fee. Then you can verify that these late 337's after having been submitted were actually recorded by the FAA.

The reason I suggest this is the mechanic (in Oregon) that annualed your airplane found the 337's for the conversion work missing in the FAA files. He contacted me then I contacted the mechanic that actually installed our 260SE conversion. The conversion was done in Arkansas by a mechanic that is normally very, very cautious. The mechanic in Arkansas told me that he did in fact send in the 337's to the FAA and would provide copies to the mechanic in Oregon. This he evidentally did. I have seen airplanes where the 337's have not been sent in but in this case a 337 that the mechanic in Oregon sent in on the Rosen sun visors he installed had not been recorded by the FAA either.

At the time it seemed to me like there was a probability that the 337's sent to the FAA might for some unknown reason be finding there way into someone else's file. Therefore I would have a list of all 337's sent to you from the FAA after a reasonable period of time just to verify that they are in fact being properly recorded.

Unfortunately the original customer decided to have the avionics installation done in Little Rock, Arkansas and it sounds like there cleanliness left something to be desired. Fortunately we have not had that problem (to the best of my knowledge) with Bevan Rabell. We're still hoping that one day they will actually hit their anticipated completion date however.