Taking an active role in your airplane’s annual inspection can lead to better understanding of the airplane.
MAINTAINING YOUR AIRPLANE: CESSNA 172 ANNUAL 1.0
What to know before you begin.
BY RICHARD SCARBROUGH
IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, FOLKS. No, I am not discussing sweater weather, changing leaves, or college football. The ritual I speak of may not have quite the grandeur of cheering your team to victory, but each of us has our passions. For those aviator types who would rather skip the game for a hundred- dollar hamburger, you better check to see if your airplane is “in annual” before you taxi out. What Is an Annual Inspection? The term “in annual” refers to the annual inspection your A&P IA must complete every 12 months. Consult your logbook. If the last annual entry is October 5, 2022, your airplane is due another annual before November 1, 2023. As you know, A&P is a mechanic holding an airframe and powerplant license. The added IA denotes inspection authorization, a higher rating level, and the only individual who can return the aircraft to service after the annual inspection. Annual inspections are mandatory. Besides, why wouldn’t you look closely at your aircraft periodically? After all, you cannot simply pull over and check under the hood up there. An annual inspection features three main phases, which are not totally siloed from each other. Each of the steps play a role in maintaining the aircraft, and skimping on any of them could spell trouble down the line.
1. Inspection 2. Discrepancies 3. Return to service Read on to find out how each phase works with the other, and what happens if you skip a step. I first introduced you to the annual inspection during our first few months together. The topic is so fundamental that I had to lead with it during the initial ground school of articles. Much of the intel presented here will help you better understand what we discuss. Go check it out. Preparation All right, gang. You remember my friend Corey Sampson and his Cessna 172? Well, friends, we are back again, and you guessed it! It is annual inspection time. A recent hangar sale has Sampson occupying his very own T-hangar at my old stomping grounds, Newnan-Coweta County Airport (KCCO) in Georgia. Sampson has invited us to join in the fun as we annual his airplane in a few weeks. First, let’s head back to the three-phase approach introduced earlier. Phase I is entitled inspection, which means we head to the hangar and start ripping off wing access panels to find the bad stuff, right? Wrong. We have a few hours of work ahead of us before we even begin to lay wrenches on hardware.
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