Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

What an adventure! This airplane got stranded at Wilmington, Delaware due to failure of the #2 cylinder on the Lycoming IO-360 engine. The local maintenance shop discovered the exhaust valve rocker shaft stud had broken… here’s what it looked like: Obviously, that cylinder was rendered useless… and it caused a significant power loss. Thankfully, the […]

Scroll down for pictures of some things included in today’s episode. Sitting in my truck the other day, I had a revelation. Here it is: When you are having maintenance done on your airplane, Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, is exactly backwards. Instead, it’s important to “Communicate, then Navigate, and finally Aviate.” First, communicate. TALK WITH your […]

Before we get into the places I “traveled” through FaceTime calls, I wanted to share something you might be interested in… my friends, John and Leslie Caubble (FlyMauiHI.com) now have a “Fly Maui” YouTube channel, and I recently watched their new video where they talked about ForeFlight basics… It’s called ForeFlight 101. It’s really good […]

NOTICE: UNTIL THE END OF MAY 2020, USE CODE “CANARD” FOR A 20% DISCOUNT ON MY VIDEO COURSE “SAFETY WIRE LIKE A PRO!” (Listen to the podcast to hear the story behind the word “canard” and why I chose that for the code.) Click the following link to learn about the course: https://airplane-owner-maintenance.teachable.com/p/safetywiring I received […]

——————————————————————————————————————– Special announcement: We have more pictures of Mike’s airplane, but first, I want to let you know about a Zoom call I’ve scheduled for tomorrow. I’m hoping to provide a way to get together online for some aviation encouragement in this weird time we’re in with the Corona Virus and the effects of it. […]

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to present a talk at our local IA renewal seminar about exhaust valve borescoping. I shared some of my favorite pictures – the ones that demonstrate how critically important borescoping is, and that compression testing alone is not sufficient. The following three examples are especially startling, since they showed a […]

Engine oil leaks are a common problem on small airplanes with piston engines. But how much oil leakage is too much? Here’s an indicator: If there’s oil on the nose tire, and it paints a stripe on the pavement with each revolution, that’s too much oil leakage. This was the case the other day on […]

After a successful career in computers early in life, Carl Valeri decided years ago it was time to pursue his passion for aviation. Since that time, he’s been an airline pilot, flight instructor, aviation careers coach, mentor, Piper Cherokee pilot, and many other things. Carl is well known as the host of two podcasts, the […]

“There’s no RPM drop when I select left mag, and if I turn the ignition switch off, the engine continues to run.” That’s what the owner of this Cirrus reported when he arrived at our airport the other day. One of our technicians got to work to troubleshoot the problem. Here’s what he found: The […]

I was sitting in my car that day, having lunch with my friend Matt, when we noticed the airport fire trucks were rolling out toward the runway. Although they exercise these trucks regularly, this time seemed different. And sure enough, a Piper Navajo made a low pass and it was obvious the landing gear was […]

Note: scroll to the bottom of this post for a special announcement. Have you ever experienced an inflight magneto failure? If not, you might some day… but if you take action on the recommendation in today’s episode, you can dramatically reduce the likelihood of that happening. The left mag on this Cessna 172RG failed in […]

During the recent annual inspection on Drew Wright’s Cessna 182, cylinder #1 had a low compression of 42/80. However, with the amazing technology of borescoping, he was able to take a look inside the cylinder. The nice concentric circle of deposits on the face of the exhaust valve indicates a healthy valve. Drew wondered if […]

Limited time offer on the “Safety Wire Like A Pro!” video tutorial course: (Offer good until midnight December 24, 2019. Just use code “2019” at checkout.) Click here to save 10% and become an expert! Hey, check out this 10 second video of an absolutely startling fuel leak I found this past week during a […]

Whether your airplane has a “Brackett” brand filter like the first picture, or a “Donaldson” brand filter like the second filter, or another brand like “Challenger” or something else, they all need to be clean and in good condition. The air your airplane breathes is critically important. Your engine, your vacuum instruments, and even other […]

In this week’s episode, we are talking about upgrading to a twin, and some thoughts about choosing between a twin Cessna and a Beech Baron. Thank you Simon Cail, for your email, and for permission to read the email in this episode. Simon’s decision was between a Cessna 340 and a Beechcraft Baron 58. The […]

My friend Matt and I had a plan, and it was going to be an awesome adventure. The crisp, clear morning was as nice as we could hope for on a November day in Virginia. The half hour drive from my house to the small town New Market Airport was absolutely refreshing… exhilarating even. As […]

Corrosion in the towers of a magneto can cause high resistance, and the problem will be magnified as you go up in altitude. This green corrosion could likely be cleaned up and it may improve some, but it may also indicate a good time to perform either a 500 hour inspection or an overhaul on […]

Not long ago, there was an unusual engine failure in a Cessna 182 at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. Cindy Ferek was the flight instructor on board that day, and she landed the airplane safely on the runway. Before we get into that story, I’d like to introduce Cindy. Cindy taught high school physical education for […]

Before we get to the fuel strainers, here are some highlights from the past couple weeks: Our local EAA chapter had its annual pig roast / fly-in / picnic at Sheldon Early’s “GMI” Greenmount International – a fun name for a country grass runway. It was a perfect evening with a bunch of great people. […]

An outstanding pilot gave me a ride in his RV7 this week, but before we get to that, here are a few things we’re talking about in this episode: A crazy wiring situation in a Cessna 180. Check out the wiring pieces I saved after installing a new wire under the instrument panel… 2. Replacing […]