Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

Everything looks normal in this photo, right? What we can’t see from this angle is the fact that the brake disc has broken in two pieces! Check it out: Here’s the story: The pilot landed the Piper Cherokee, and after a successful landing,

This story begins with a squawk from the owner. It went something like this: “When I fly my airplane, on the first landing gear retraction, the gear begins to move and then the “gear pump” circuit breaker pops. After I reset the circuit breaker,

The week I’m talking about here was almost too full! But I wouldn’t change a thing. A real highlight was taking my Pennsylvania cousin for a short flight in a Piper Cherokee: From Sunday to Friday, I had the following opportunities: Also,

During a recent prebuy evaluation on this nice Beech A36 Bonanza, the question came up, “Does the old analog CHT gauge need to work in order for the airplane to be considered airworthy?” (In this case, the analog CHT gauge had an INOP placard on it.

This airplane appeared on the ramp not long ago at the Shenandoah Valley Airport in Virginia. I discovered it had taken off, and then very quickly made a 180 and returned for landing due to engine trouble. The pilot thought he may have lost a cylinder....