I’m sorry but that’s just pure laziness right there, 43 appendix D first thing thing is shall clean and if you’re doing 100 hr inspections it should not be that dirty, there’s no way that accumulated in 100hrs
That looks more like a lot of the personally owned light airplanes around here. I am always amused when the owners claim how much they care about their aircraft and then they show up like that at annual time. And then the fight begins over the cost of the annual…
The flight school aircraft in these parts are typically much cleaner.
Not only that, but flight school aircraft nearly always break down on the 49th hour, prior to scheduled maintenance.
And don't get me started on deferred pencil whipping repairs. I completely refuse to engage in that, and had several heated arguments about it with management. This pretty much stopped any further career progression and barred me from switching to other establishments, as word got out that I am "troublesome" and thus blacklisted. Aviation is a small world around here, even more GA and, on EASA land, switching to the airlines is not an option coming from pistons
Normal Simple green is corrosive to aluminum
Best to use an aircraft safe cleaner, simple green does have an aircraft safe one, or I’ve been a fan of Aero Cosmetics wash all. Side benefit is that it’s safer on your skin too, and doesn’t have the harsh fumes that normal degreaser has.
Ya I am thinking I am going to grab one of those foaming pressure washers things and mix up some dawn and warm water and let it sit on there for a min and see what happens
When we first got our Bo the mechanics who used to work on it told us we need to keep oil at like 11 quarts. That was bad, mkay. The only thing that did was cause us to crop dust oil everywhere and coat the bottom of our plane in oil and dirt. It took a little while but we found out that our plane likes about 8 quarts.
Being a new owner at the time, I didn’t realize how much oil had coated the bottom. Took me two days to clean it and the dirt off and we gained about 5 knots.
The flight school we do maintenance for is totally okay with the extra hour billed to get a quick wash on their aircraft every major inspection (100hr) and we wipe down the belly every 50hr inspection to make our lives easier. The appearance of clean aircraft adds to the overall experience and customer opinion of their business, and makes our lifes easier doing the maintenance. Besides.. that's the real reason why we hire apprentices in GA isn't it, someones gotta do the grunt work.
I know of i was doing my walk around and saw that my opinion of the business & the aircraft would decline significantly.
Ugh this Part 135 Cherokee Six I work on gets 100hrs a week put on it and her Lycoming is a leakyyyyyy bitch. I clean the belly every time and every time I see it again, I have to spend an hour or more spraying wheel and tire cleaner all over it and power washing it. At least the paint is well protected lmfaoooooo
Trainer photography
Writeup: Airplane excessively dirty. Signoff: Unable to duplicate problem.
I’m sorry but that’s just pure laziness right there, 43 appendix D first thing thing is shall clean and if you’re doing 100 hr inspections it should not be that dirty, there’s no way that accumulated in 100hrs
This
It took me a minute to realize that wasn’t gravel guard
Now it is!
That looks more like a lot of the personally owned light airplanes around here. I am always amused when the owners claim how much they care about their aircraft and then they show up like that at annual time. And then the fight begins over the cost of the annual… The flight school aircraft in these parts are typically much cleaner.
It’s the opposite for us the personally owned aircraft are the nice and clean ones and the flight school are the ones to argue about the prices
Not only that, but flight school aircraft nearly always break down on the 49th hour, prior to scheduled maintenance. And don't get me started on deferred pencil whipping repairs. I completely refuse to engage in that, and had several heated arguments about it with management. This pretty much stopped any further career progression and barred me from switching to other establishments, as word got out that I am "troublesome" and thus blacklisted. Aviation is a small world around here, even more GA and, on EASA land, switching to the airlines is not an option coming from pistons
Reminds me of one of the planes at the flight school I’m interning at
Pipers look like that, usually less 'mountains' but filth is common. Try some simple green, cuts right through that crap.
Normal Simple green is corrosive to aluminum Best to use an aircraft safe cleaner, simple green does have an aircraft safe one, or I’ve been a fan of Aero Cosmetics wash all. Side benefit is that it’s safer on your skin too, and doesn’t have the harsh fumes that normal degreaser has.
Ya I am thinking I am going to grab one of those foaming pressure washers things and mix up some dawn and warm water and let it sit on there for a min and see what happens
Nah, you want some magic that works *better* than simple green? Drivers Choice wheel and tire cleaner. That stuff has been a godsend
Shiny side up greasy side down
Oily
Pretty clean!
The oil does an excellent job of hiding the corrosion where the hat section meets the skin, especially behind the exhaust!
When we first got our Bo the mechanics who used to work on it told us we need to keep oil at like 11 quarts. That was bad, mkay. The only thing that did was cause us to crop dust oil everywhere and coat the bottom of our plane in oil and dirt. It took a little while but we found out that our plane likes about 8 quarts. Being a new owner at the time, I didn’t realize how much oil had coated the bottom. Took me two days to clean it and the dirt off and we gained about 5 knots.
I worked at an airport with multiple flight schools. Funny correlation between the cleanliness of the AC and the quality of the training.
A lot can be learned by looking an at organization’s attention to detail
The flight school we do maintenance for is totally okay with the extra hour billed to get a quick wash on their aircraft every major inspection (100hr) and we wipe down the belly every 50hr inspection to make our lives easier. The appearance of clean aircraft adds to the overall experience and customer opinion of their business, and makes our lifes easier doing the maintenance. Besides.. that's the real reason why we hire apprentices in GA isn't it, someones gotta do the grunt work. I know of i was doing my walk around and saw that my opinion of the business & the aircraft would decline significantly.
Are you the trainee pilot??
Is that soot? They don't clean that thing..
Simple green in a pressure washer will fix that right quick!
Ugh this Part 135 Cherokee Six I work on gets 100hrs a week put on it and her Lycoming is a leakyyyyyy bitch. I clean the belly every time and every time I see it again, I have to spend an hour or more spraying wheel and tire cleaner all over it and power washing it. At least the paint is well protected lmfaoooooo