Vintage aircraft often have vintage owners. Familiarity being a source of contempt, long-time owners of aircraft seeing little activity may also see little need to perform preventive maintenance or conduct regular inspections. “It was just fine when I parked it; what could possibly have broken while it was sitting in a hangar?” can be a familiar refrain to pilots who have owned the same airplane for a significant time. After a while, the pilot/owner is so familiar with the aircraft, he or she can tell something’s wrong just by the slipstream noise.
Coming up on the 20-year anniversary of buying my Debonair, I resemble that person, and understand the balancing act involved in maintaining an older airplane. All things being equal—and in good condition to start with—it does seem a waste to tear apart and put back together a 60- or 70-year-old all-metal airframe that flew only 10 hours in the previous year, just because the calendar says so. But vintage aircraft, especially high-performance singles and twins, should be getting more, not less, attention through preventive maintenance and regular inspections. Don’t ask me how I know this.
