I am a relatively new aircraft owner; I purchased a 1973 PA28-235 about a year ago. I turned my pre-buy into an annual inspection, and as such, just came upon the first one I would be responsible for. I am a SavvyQA client, and while Savvy did not have any shop recommendations in my area (Baltimore, MD), they gave me two nearby shops which had good comments/reviews.
My airplane was at the shop for about three weeks - in addition to the annual inspection I requested SB 1006 and SB 144C be completed and had them fix a tiny spot of hangar rash and upgrade my JPI 700 to a 730.
When I picked up the airplane, I admittedly didn't thoroughly comb through the logbook entries, but noticed AD 2013-02-13 was not listed. The IA said it had been done a few years ago according to an entry on the 2017 ADs, but when we found the entry the comment was just that it had been inspected. The IA said they did inspect and added this to the log entry (and reprinted the sticker). {I have reservations that it was completed and will be having this done/verified}
SavvyQA confirmed the oversights with the log entries and actually found a few additional issues with the logs/paperwork. For example, the kit I provided she shop from Airward for SB 1006 came with Dinitrol, but logs read treated with CorrosionX. In addition, there was no updated equipment list to show the 730 replacing the 700. The larger issue, however, was a crack I discovered in the left hand wing tip tank when preflighting. This crack was certainly not present when I dropped off the airplane, and the shop very much downplayed it and said it was a non-structural blemish on an older airplane that could have occurred anytime/anywhere. I understand that SB 1006 is vague in whether all four tanks be removed for just the two main tanks so I don't know if the tip tanks were removed as well when the inspection was done.
I have obtained a quote from a composite/paint shop for repair, and this will be a significant expense. As a female owner, I feel I am already at a disadvantage in dealing with the shop, and as such, I am *hoping* Savvy will let me upgrade to their concierge service where they will deal directly with the shop. The assessment from the shop is below:
From the photos, it looks like the LH tip tank assembly was pushed into, and up and over something. The top fiberglass is cracked just forward of the trailing edge of the rib and the bottom is buckled, with serrated scrape marks along the lower aft inboard edge.
Because of the crack and the buckling, the only way to repair it is to build-up additional layers of fiberglass cloth and resin on the inside of the tip to reinforce and try and straighten it to remove the buckle, then sand-down, fill, smooth and repaint the tip. It’s very difficult to estimate how long the fiberglass work will take – it mostly depends on how much work, and potential re-work is required to get the lower buckle out.
For re-painting, it looks from one of the photos like you might have stripes on the tip. If those have to be sanded off and repainted during the repair, it will add cost. The cheapest way to deal with them would be to try and back-mask over the stripes so the tip can be sanded and re-painted white without having to lay-out and repaint the stripes.
The repair work is not a standard, repetitive type of repair, so we would have to do it on a time-and-materials basis. Just as a ball-park number you’re probably looking at between 15 and 20 hours of labor to repair and paint, plus materials. A very rough cost range would be somewhere between $1500 and $2200.
Should the Savvy route not be an option, what is my best course of action? In spite of the less than optimal practices (missed AD, incomplete SB, denying the hangar rash) I understand that these mechanics are human and things happen.
Many thanks for any advice or guidance you may have.
My airplane was at the shop for about three weeks - in addition to the annual inspection I requested SB 1006 and SB 144C be completed and had them fix a tiny spot of hangar rash and upgrade my JPI 700 to a 730.
When I picked up the airplane, I admittedly didn't thoroughly comb through the logbook entries, but noticed AD 2013-02-13 was not listed. The IA said it had been done a few years ago according to an entry on the 2017 ADs, but when we found the entry the comment was just that it had been inspected. The IA said they did inspect and added this to the log entry (and reprinted the sticker). {I have reservations that it was completed and will be having this done/verified}
SavvyQA confirmed the oversights with the log entries and actually found a few additional issues with the logs/paperwork. For example, the kit I provided she shop from Airward for SB 1006 came with Dinitrol, but logs read treated with CorrosionX. In addition, there was no updated equipment list to show the 730 replacing the 700. The larger issue, however, was a crack I discovered in the left hand wing tip tank when preflighting. This crack was certainly not present when I dropped off the airplane, and the shop very much downplayed it and said it was a non-structural blemish on an older airplane that could have occurred anytime/anywhere. I understand that SB 1006 is vague in whether all four tanks be removed for just the two main tanks so I don't know if the tip tanks were removed as well when the inspection was done.
I have obtained a quote from a composite/paint shop for repair, and this will be a significant expense. As a female owner, I feel I am already at a disadvantage in dealing with the shop, and as such, I am *hoping* Savvy will let me upgrade to their concierge service where they will deal directly with the shop. The assessment from the shop is below:
From the photos, it looks like the LH tip tank assembly was pushed into, and up and over something. The top fiberglass is cracked just forward of the trailing edge of the rib and the bottom is buckled, with serrated scrape marks along the lower aft inboard edge.
Because of the crack and the buckling, the only way to repair it is to build-up additional layers of fiberglass cloth and resin on the inside of the tip to reinforce and try and straighten it to remove the buckle, then sand-down, fill, smooth and repaint the tip. It’s very difficult to estimate how long the fiberglass work will take – it mostly depends on how much work, and potential re-work is required to get the lower buckle out.
For re-painting, it looks from one of the photos like you might have stripes on the tip. If those have to be sanded off and repainted during the repair, it will add cost. The cheapest way to deal with them would be to try and back-mask over the stripes so the tip can be sanded and re-painted white without having to lay-out and repaint the stripes.
The repair work is not a standard, repetitive type of repair, so we would have to do it on a time-and-materials basis. Just as a ball-park number you’re probably looking at between 15 and 20 hours of labor to repair and paint, plus materials. A very rough cost range would be somewhere between $1500 and $2200.
Should the Savvy route not be an option, what is my best course of action? In spite of the less than optimal practices (missed AD, incomplete SB, denying the hangar rash) I understand that these mechanics are human and things happen.
Many thanks for any advice or guidance you may have.
