February 2006 - American Bonanza Society

Perhaps the Cessna 210 owner was uncomfortable aboutasking the FBO in Memphis what it wou ld cost to de-ice hisairplane because he thought it couldn't possibly be enough toworry about. (He found out otherwise.) Or perhaps it wasbecau e he felt he had no alternative but to have the airplanede-iced, no matter what it cost. (There's always an alternative.)Whatever the reason for their discomfort, failure to askfor an estimate before authorizi ng it cost them dearly. It nevermakes sense to purchase goods or services without first askingwhat they will cost.Purchasing aircraft maintenance is just like any other purchase.The fact that it is not your field of experti se shouldnever intimidate you into failing to ask key questions. In fact,the less you know about something, the more questions youshould ask before making a decision.Never feel embarrassed to ask for an estimate beforeauthorizing work to be done on your aircraft. The only time it'sbad form to ask the price is when someone gives you a gift!Case 2: Don't know what's wrongBut what if you don't know what's wrong? Say you putthe airplane in the shop because the engine was running rough,but you don 't know why. How can you possibly ask your shopor mechanic for a cost estimate under such circumstances?My answer is simple: ever ask a shop or mechanic to fixa problem unless you know what's wrong. That's like going infor surgery before your illness is diagnosed. Aircraft ownersdo this all the time, and it's an expensive mistake.I spend a lot of time discussing owner-performed troubleshootingin my seminars, and I'll be discussing it at lengthin future ABS Magazille columns. In a nutshell , I advise aircraftowners to do as much troubleshooting as possible beforeputting their aircraft in the shop. In my view, it's primarily theowner's job to troubleshoot and the mechanic 's job to fix.It's often difficult or impossible for a mechanic to reproduceproblems in the maintenance hangar. If we owners don'tdiagnose a problem before our aircraft is in the shop, ourmechanic often has no choice but to resort to guesswork, tryingvarious things and hoping he gets lucky. When mechanicsguess, owners pay.Returning to your rough-running engine: In a perfectworld, you use your digital engine monitor and well-honedtroubleshooting skills to diagnose the problem, e.g. a cloggedinjector nozzle or faulty bottom spark plug in cylinder #3.Then you put your aircraft in the shop and obtain a cost estimateto fix the problem.But what if you can't figure out why the engine is runningrough? In that case, you put your aircraft in the shop andauthorize your mechanic to spend up to two hours (or whateverseems reasonable to you) troubleshooting, and instruct himto report back to you with his diagnosi s. Only then. when theproblem has been diagnosed, do you ask for a cost estimateand-if the estimate is acceptable-authorize the repair.Case 3: Annual InspectionIn the case of an annual inspection, where by definitionyou don 't know what problems will be found, my advice issi milar. Put yo ur aircraft in the shop and instruct your mechanicto perform the inspection (normally done at an agreed-to flatrate) and prepare a detailed list of discrepancies with a costestimate for each one.At this point, sit down with the mechanic, go over the discrepancylist and estimates in detail, and come to an agreementon exactly what repairs are to be done and what they will cost.Only then should you authorize the repair work to proceed. (I'llhave a lot more to say about annuals in a forthcoming column.)No matter what the si tuation is, there is never a good reasonto authorize a shop or mechanic to perform maintenanceon your aircraft until you have received a cost estimate, preferablyin writing.Always know before you say. "Ga."Questions for Mike Busch may be e-mailed to.Mite Busch has flown for more than 40 years and 7.000 hours. Mike cofoundedAVweb and served as irs editor·in-chief for more than 7 yeors. His "Savvy OwnerSeminars teach aircraft owners how to obtain better aircraft maintenance whifespending a 101 less money. www.savvyoviator.com