Catching Up

By the time you read this, Ill be getting my Debonair out of its annual inspection. Its been a lengthy one, in part because of some items I had deferred from previous inspections and in part because the airplane was new to the shop doing the work. Basically, I decided it was time to catch up on a few wear-and-tear items that pop up with any kind of machine, from a Roomba vacuum cleaner to a personal airplane.

Editorial Staff

Sunday, June 30, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author's airplane underwent a lengthy annual inspection to address various deferred maintenance items, including an ADS-B altitude reporting issue, worn brakes, an intermittent strobe light, and minor fuel leaks.
The propeller was sent for inspection and repair due to paint erosion on the blades and a significant nick.
The most significant future expense is an impending engine overhaul or replacement, forced sooner than desired by an Airworthiness Directive on its cylinders, highlighting the high costs of aircraft ownership.

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By the time you read this, I’ll be getting my Debonair out of its annual inspection. It’s been a lengthy one, in part because of some items I had deferred from previous inspections and in part because the airplane was new to the shop doing the work. Basically, I decided it was time to catch up on a few wear-and-tear items that pop up with any kind of machine, from a Roomba vacuum cleaner to a personal airplane.

One squawk involved missing altitude information on a recent ADS-B Performance Monitor report I requested after a controller mentioned it wasn’t up to snuff. The shop presumed it was either a configuration error or a bad encoder. I’ll be interested in learning about the fix. It was time for brake pads, too, and I decided to replace what I’m pretty sure are the original brake rotors as a while-we’re-there-we-might-as-well thing.