Ed, Thanks for a most informative reply. I am going to Florida for about 4 months during which time I will be getting in touch with the owner of my old coupe. Who knows, maybe I can convince him to sell it to me. Anyway, I will take your advice to heart and when I do find a coupe to buy I will touch base with you for John's phone #.
>From: Ed Burkhead <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Coupe-list <[email protected]>, Robert Hartman ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Getting a good annual >Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2000 21:58:43 -0600 > >Where and how do you get a good annual? > >Over the last 21 years I've owned the Coupe, I've only had about five >annuals in my local area. For the others, I traveled from 50 to 150 >miles to a mechanic I respected. About 6 of those years, I or the plane >have been grounded and didn't get an annual. For those people, you need >to schedule the work well ahead of time. > >Then there's the problem of trying to get minor or immediate maintenance >done at your home field when you go elsewhere for the annuals. I don't >blame the local FBOs at all. My current FBO is fully booked up and >doesn't mind if I take the plane elsewhere. > >I now (last year and the year before) take my plane to John Wright, Sr. >John is exceedingly thorough. He may also be the best Coupe mechanic in >the world. When people take their planes to him for the first annual >after decades of just any old mechanic, they need to budget (in my >casual observation) about $4,000 and be prepared for more. > >When I took my plane to John a year and a half ago, it had set for five >years in a fully enclosed hangar without running. (I was, and still am, >grounded for diabetes. This may be solved in the next few weeks.) > >His bill was for about $4,500 which included some used parts. I spent >another $1,500+ on things like three tires and tubes, ELT, battery, >intercom, windows and windshield, headset repair and purchase, etc. > >I couldn't afford to have the vacuum system overhauled to get the gyro >instruments working. I'm strictly VFR, so they're just placarded for >now. > >My upholstery is original, my paint is 36 years old and showing it. The >instrument panel is a hodge-podge of instruments fitted in where ever. >But it is in good mechanical condition. I'd trust it with my daughter's >life. > >You can do one of several things: > >1. Have you local mechanic do the work. Download the annual inspection >checklist from Dave's Ercoupe page. (I wrote it with the advise of John >Wright Sr. and several other nationally respected Coupe mechanics -- >they had the knowledge, I did the collation, checking, and writing.) > >Get all the appropriate books from Univair and Skyport. (Ask me tomorrow >-- it's past my bed time.) > >Tell the mechanic to research all the correct procedures and do all the >stuff on the check list. This won't be cheap. You'll be paying for his >education. Then again, who else do you have who knows the special stuff? > >2. Get the checklist, then talk over each item with the mechanic and >choose a subset you can afford. > >3. Get the checklist, then do everything he'll let you do while he >checks your work and does the things you can't do. Try to do it all the >first time. > >4. Let him choose what to do. > >5. Some combination of the above. > >6. Or get an appointment with a really good Coupe mechanic. I haven't >been paying attention while I've been grounded but there may be some, >other than John Wright Sr. & Jr. in the Midwest. > >Note: the annual a year after the expensive one was $380. > > >-- >Ed Burkhead >Peoria, Ill. >Ercoupe N3802H, 415-D ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________ Keep up with breaking news! Join our Hot Topics list. http://www.topica.com/lists/breakingnews/t/12
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