”Major and minor is in the eye of the beholder”

With everything going electronic in the cockpit, will owner-produced parts become a thing of the past? Plus, Mike, Paul, and Colleen talk about their least favorite magnetos, deferring maintenance, and more. Email podcasts@aopa.org for a chance to be on the show.

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Full notes below:

Justin owns a Columbia 400 and he’s wondering if he can make owners-produced parts for some of his electronics. The hosts agree that this is a problem with aircraft maintenance. Because it’s difficult to show original design criteria for electronics, it’s hard to prove the part meets the original standards. There are a lot of things you can’t easily duplicate, Paul says.

Ben is a new aircraft owner and a lot of the previous squawks were deferred. He wants to know what he can do to help keep the airplane in top form before the next annual. Most of what Ben mentions is preventative maintenance and relatively minor. Paul said to focus on corrosion issues, including at the forward and aft wing attachments. Those are steel attached to aluminum. If you catch it early you can avoid future maintenance issues. Paul recommends using FAR Part 43 Appendix D as a guide for the what Ben should watch for. Colleen said to focus on things that would be expensive later. There’s a lubrication chart in the service manual, and Paul said to use that and go over the entire airplane.

David had a scary experience in his Lance. He was approaching an airport and lost power. He ran through a checklist and nothing helped. At about 400 or 500 feet, descending toward a beach, he got a stall warning. The stall warning caused him to pitch forward abruptly, and the engine restarted. He was able to come in and land normally. After some extensive testing they found that a spring had broken in a mag. David thinks that maybe the spring was wedged in the wall of the case, and dislodged when he pitched forward. The hosts don't see how that's possible, but without further information, can't make a better diagnosis.

Ray has a P210 and used an in-flight mag check to diagnose a problem. He was flying back to the States from Canada and he noticed the engine was running a bit rough. He checked the mags and found one wasn’t operating properly. He later decided to stay on one magneto. He’s gone through three magnetos in the past few years. He wonders if continuing the flight on one mag was a good idea, and what he should do now. They all agree that he did exactly the right thing by continuing and flying on one mag. Mike said he hates pressurized magnetos, and he would swap them out for electronic mags ASAP.