The Arrow’s oil had just been changed for the first time since my ownership. And the landing gear had been cycled a few times to confirm the microswitch that activated the flashing auto-gear-extension disable light had been successfully readjusted. The final tweaking involved a flight test to determine if the engine was indeed not quite producing full takeoff power as per the rpm indication or if the tachometer itself was lying. Simple stuff.
Jumpseat: Damage History
Key Takeaways:
- A routine maintenance check on the author's Piper Arrow unexpectedly uncovered a critical, poorly executed four-year-old wing repair from a previous hard landing, which risked landing gear collapse and grounded the aircraft.
- Despite a thorough pre-purchase inspection on an airplane with known damage history, this significant structural defect was initially missed, highlighting the challenges of evaluating past repairs.
- The crisis was resolved through a collaborative and non-adversarial compromise among the owner, broker, seller, and the shop that performed the initial pre-purchase inspection.
- The solution involved replacing the faulty wing with a salvage part, which not only fixed the structural issue but also eliminated the damage history for that wing and led to a full repaint of the aircraft.
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