One question that we have seen on the guru help line several times is, “How do I know if the shop that has been doing the work on the plane I want to buy is a ‘good’ shop?”

This question is usually answered in the pre-purchase inspection. Here is what you are looking for, “Attention to Detail.”

Take the following case: Leaking Fuel Sender Gasket

During an inspection process, it was noticed that the Fuel Sender Gasket appears to be leaking. Here is a general overview shot as well as a close up of the affected area.
Notice in the overview the weep stain on the wing root flange.

This work was done on a Grumman Traveler (AA5), which unless your arm has 6 joints, needs to have the wing pulled off about 4 inches to gain access to the Fuel Sender and to have room to remove it for the gasket change. This required removing both the aileron and the flap from that side of the aircraft. While the control surfaces were off and the wingtip removed, the Wing Tip Flange and the Rear Wing Spar were cleaned, and the hardware gotten to replaced it all. Total additional cost to the whole job? $12 dollars for the 10 minutes of cleaning labor, and $1.46 for an bolts and washers for the brackets. The owner supplied the bearing also to be replaced as part of this change. Here are some pictures of the cleaned areas.

Finally, After all this was done, the cleaned fuel sender areas and flanges area ready for reinstall.

It is attention to this level of detail that marks one shop above another. Yes, all the old hardware could have been cleaned and reused, but the labor cost out weighs the new hardware cost, the expendable solvents, and the consumables rags to clean. I learned under an old Cajun who said, “Cleanliness is next to Airworthiness!”.

Roscoe
Yankee-Aviation.com
513-519-7008