Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

By Dean Showalter

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A podcast devoted to airplane owners and the maintenance of their airplanes.

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202 – Pax River Navy Test P...

06.15.2022

Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to visit NAS Pax River, a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. My friend, Trace Bowen, picked me up in his Cessna 310, flew me ...

Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter episodes:

06.15.2022 202 – Pax River Navy Test Pilot: Trace Bowen Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to visit NAS Pax River, a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. My friend, Trace Bowen, picked me up in his Cessna 310, flew me ...
05.14.2022 201 – SureFly Ignition Installation Have you ever seen one of these? It’s a SureFly Ignition Module, or “SIM” for short: I recently had an opportunity to install one on an E33A Bonanza, so I thought I’d do a podcast episode about it. Hopefully you’ll ...
04.09.2022 200 – My Recent Flight Review and Other Adventures You guys know I love out-of-the-ordinary things, and my recent flight review definitely qualifies as one of those! First, my good friend and excellent flight instructor worked me over in the ground portion of the flight review. Here are some ...
03.12.2022 199 – A Bulging Exhaust – Change it, or not? I recently inspected a Piper Saratoga, and I found the following condition on the right exhaust collector: Earlier this week, I sent this photo to my email subscribers and asked if they would change this piece of exhaust if it ...
02.25.2022 198 – Be Careful About In-flight Troubleshooting! Chris Saindon, a podcast listener and owner of a Cessna 172G, contacted me with a different, and important perspective that I had completely overlooked. I recently told of a landing gear light in a Piper Seminole, and how the pilots ...
02.19.2022 197 – When He Put the Gear Up the Right Alternator Quit This was what happened recently in a Piper Seneca… and in this episode, we discuss why the alternator quit… it was something I totally was not expecting. After verifying the field connections (power and ground) were good, and the brushes ...
01.23.2022 196 – Joe’s #5 Cylinder Mystery This fuel injector line must have only been attached finger tight when the fuel injectors were reinstalled after cleaning. The engine ran fine at first, but all of a sudden during one engine run, the #5 EGT took a nose ...
12.31.2021 195 – Is it Time to Tear That Engine Apart? When an airplane engine is making a small amount of ferrous metal, but the evidence is not totally conclusive, the decision to tear it apart, or not, can be gut-wrenching. Such was the case for the O-540 engine in a ...
12.10.2021 194 – All About Airplane Prebuys with Adam Sipe This episode is a good one! If you’re thinking about buying an airplane, stop right now and listen to this episode, because Adam Sipe can absolutely save you lots of time, money and needless frustration in the process of buying ...
12.04.2021 193 – How Did this Starter housing Break? That’s a good question, and although I don’t have the full story, we will toss around some possibilities in this episode. Thanks to all of you who responded with some really good guesses about the cause. I received responses from ...
11.20.2021 192 – We Always Knew He Had A Screw Loose! My good friend, Clark Trobaugh, flew into KSHD this past week, and while he was visiting with his family, I walked over to his airplane on the ramp and noted a few things that needed attention… Here’s the one that ...
11.14.2021 191 – A Tale of Two Exhaust Valves In this episode, we are talking about two different exhaust valves, both of which showed signs of burning when we looked at them with the borescope. One valve was in the beginning stages of burning, and the other was too ...
10.21.2021 190 – The Cessna 172 is Flying Again! It’s been a long and in-depth annual inspection, along with the extensive list of squawk repairs. But it’s a great airplane, and I’d love to fly it if I had the opportunity! In today’s podcast, we cover the remaining squawks ...
10.15.2021 189 – Cessna 172 Squawks Part Two In episode 188, we covered the first 30 squawks on a Cessna 172 that’s in the shop for an annual inspection and a bunch of repairs. In this episode, we are tackling another chunk of the squawks and repairs. Here’s ...
10.08.2021 188 – Cessna 172 Squawks and Repairs It certainly looked like a crusty old engine when we removed the cowling for the annual inspection. The exterior is one thing… but perhaps even more importantly, I wondered about the internal condition of the engine. Surprisingly, the borescope showed ...
09.18.2021 187 – Wonders and Woes of a Cirrus SR22 In today’s podcast episode, I talked about this specific SR22, and some maintenance I was involved in… scroll down for some related photos. But first, I just wanted to say the SR22 is a great airplane! Here are some of ...
08.28.2021 186 – Diamond DA40 Squawks & a new Bonanza Friend! From left: Arthur, Dave, Mervin, Dean (I got to work with these guys last Monday at Classic Aviation., when Dave had me lap the exhaust valves in cylinders 3 and 5.) Scroll down for more info about this valve lapping ...
08.20.2021 185 – Standby Alternator System and Other Fun Stuff I’ve just completed the installation for a B&C Specialties standby alternator system on an E33A Bonanza. It’s a fantastic system, and I talked about it in today’s podcast episode. Be sure to listen for a caution about the right magneto ...
08.13.2021 184 – My Oshkosh 2021 Adventure! AirVenture was a fantastic experience once again! In addition to the audio podcast for this episode, I also made a video using some of my favorite photos… here’s the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/VlErN8RQNrQ Don’t forget to click the “Store” tab above ...
07.24.2021 183 – I’m Bringing an Engine Cylinder to Oshkosh! Here’s a sampling of items I’m planning to use for one of my presentations at Oshkosh this year. It’s called “Lapping Valves & Saving Cylinders.” I’d love to see you there if you’re attending Airventure this year. It’s on Thursday ...
07.10.2021 182 – Plane Lands in Farm Field After Engine Failure Note: I’m offering a 30% discount on the new shock strut servicing video course from now until Monday night, July 12 at midnight Eastern Daylight time. Use the code “STRUT” for a 30% discount and pay only $67 instead of ...
07.03.2021 181 – Strut Webinar Replay and Video Course Are Ready! We had a great webinar last evening! Thanks to all who showed up on the call. If you were not able to join us, but would like to see the replay, here’s the link: The webinar replay will be available ...
06.26.2021 180 – Almost Time for Oshkosh 2021! It’s almost time to make the journey to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for Airventure 2021! I hope to see you there… I’m super excited to give 2 presentations this year: Here’s the first one: Lapping Valves & Saving Cylinders Thursday, July 29 ...
06.19.2021 179 – Help! I Took A Turbo Apart Listen to the podcast episode to hear how Jeff bailed me out on this one! (The gasket between the halves of the turbo broke as I was trying to rotate the halves to reseal an oil fitting.) We also talked ...
06.11.2021 178 – Propeller Mystery Solved! We’ll talk about these photos in this week’s podcast episode, and how they explain the problem Aram was having with his propeller. (Photos courtesy of Dave Pasquale of Pasquale Aviation LLC.) Dave is removing the prop to be sent out ...
06.05.2021 177 – An Out-of-Control Propeller! He departed KSHD yesterday in his super-nice P35 Bonanza, headed for his home airport in Pennsylvania. The ground runup was normal, and things were looking good as he approached his cruising altitude of 7000 feet. But as he leveled off, ...
05.21.2021 176 – Lessons From the Best Kind of Airplane Owner A nice airplane deserves a high-quality owner, and that’s exactly what this amazing P35 Bonanza has. Aram takes meticulously good care of it. In today’s episode, you’ll hear why I think Aram is the best kind of airplane owner, and ...
05.08.2021 175 – Shock Strut Servicing Course Coming Soon! Does your airplane’s shock strut need fluid? Does it need nitrogen? … or air? And more importantly, could you service the strut safely? If you’ve ever had a low strut, you know it can be very frustrating. Sometimes it can ...
04.30.2021 174 – Turbo-Normalized Bonanza Exhaust Valve Rescue! I received an email recently from Spence, the owner of an S35 Bonanza with a Turbo-Normalized IO-520 engine. He included a picture of his #2 cylinder exhaust valve. Here’s what it looked like: At first glance, my reaction was something ...
04.10.2021 173 – What’s Happening With Cylinder #1 in my Mooney M20J? I got an email from Michael this past week. He owns a Mooney M20J, and something strange happened with cylinder #1’s EGT and CHT recently. Michael agreed to let me share the story, so that’s the main feature in this ...
03.26.2021 172 – A Perplexing Low Cylinder Compression on a Piper Saratoga 12/80! That’s a terrible compression test result. And unlike some cylinders, this one did not show any obvious reasons for the low compression… take a look at the valves after the cylinder was removed: Unless I’m missing something, I don’t ...
03.12.2021 171 – Bad Gas in the Cockpit! Can you see the problem with this exhaust muffler? Maybe a closer look will help: (The cracked area was just inside the shroud that collects heat for the cabin.) Thankfully Matt, the owner of a nice Cessna 170, had a ...
03.06.2021 170 – Eddie’s Jabiru Cylinder Compression: From 0/80 to 70/80! I had a surprise call this morning… my friend Eddie called and wondered if he could borrow a borescope. One of the cylinders in his Sonex’s Jabiru engine had zero compression, and he wanted to take a look inside the ...
02.19.2021 169 – Transformed Interiors with Autumn Elizabeth Design Our guest for today’s episode is Autumn Duntz, an aviation interior designer and refurbishment expert… welcome Autumn! After observing some poor quality elements in a newly refurbished Beechcraft A36 Bonanza interior, I wondered how this type of thing could be ...
02.12.2021 168 – Things I Found on an A36 Bonanza Does your airplane have emergency exit windows? If so, would your passengers know how to operate them? Here’s an emergency exit window where the instructions were hardly readable: Thankfully, the lettering was etched into the panels, and a fine point ...
02.06.2021 167 – Shop Towels in Wrong Places In a previous episode, I shared the story about how I accidentally left a shop towel in an engine… I got some great feedback from that episode, including the picture above… a flight student found a shop towel during preflight… ...
01.29.2021 166 – A Strong and Humble Blue Angels Pilot: Jim Cox Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) James Cox, a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels Team, is our guest today on the podcast! He exceeded my expectations in so many ways in our conversation, and I’m thrilled to share this interview with you. ...
01.22.2021 165 – A Shop Towel in the Engine! Don’t Do What I Did! Hi Friends! I have a story for you today that I wish I didn’t have. But it’s true, so we might as well learn from it. Thankfully, everything turned out well on this one. At Moody Aviation where I went ...
12.18.2020 164 – Airplanes, Motorcycles, and Bob’s Grass Runway Bob Shenk (right) is a huge fan of Luscombes… this beautifully restored aircraft was among the airplanes I got to see when I visited Bob’s place a week ago… what a pleasure that visit was! Donnie Simmons (left) is a ...
12.06.2020 163 – Gear Warning Light Mystery I recently did an annual inspection on a Rockwell Commander, and the gear warning light was not working. Before we tell that story, I want to thank our sponsor, PilotWorkshops.com This week’s “Tip of the Week” was about emergency checklist ...
11.26.2020 162 – Giving Thanks for my Good Friend Jonathan Brush Without Jonathan Brush, this podcast might not exist! I’m super-thankful for his part in pushing me to launch this whole thing. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation with him today. At the end of the podcast, I asked Jonathan to ...
11.21.2020 161 – Tobin’s Cherokee Six Our sponsor for this episode is PilotWorkshops.com Be sure to sign up for the “Tip of the Week” and you’ll receive a short, but valuable tip to make you a better pilot… it’s a fun way to learn! Click here ...
11.09.2020 160 – Jessica Spangler Becoming an A&P in Cameroon Jessica is our special guest on the podcast today. She and her husband Mark, along with their 5 kids, are serving with a mission organization in Cameroon, Africa. Mark flies helicopters, and Jessica works in the maintenance shop, with plans ...
10.31.2020 159 – In the Approach Path of a Boeing 737! I’m so glad I got talked into this one! (Thanks Kenneth!) It turned out to be a definite highlight of the week… you can hear more about the details in the podcast audio. I want to thank PilotWorkshops.com for sponsoring ...
10.25.2020 158 – Starters, Starter Adapters, and Starter Solenoids I installed this starter and starter adapter on a Beechcraft Debonair IO-470 engine last week… the starter adapters (or sometimes called a clutch, or starter drive,) sometimes begin to slip, and when that happens, it’s time for overhaul. It’s also ...
10.17.2020 157 – Valve lapping, shock mounts, and vacuum issues Valve lapping is sometimes a great option for improving cylinder compression and extending the life of an exhaust valve. We’ll talk about it in today’s episode. Pilot Workshops.com is our sponsor for this episode, and I wholeheartedly recommend their resources. ...
10.05.2020 156 – The Weirdest Vacuum System Problem I’ve Ever Seen Although a shop vac might not pull as much vacuum as an engine driven vacuum pump, it can still be useful for some parts of the troubleshooting process. This was just one thing we did on the path to solving ...
09.26.2020 155 – My Retractable Landing Gear is Not Moving! This is what Josh discovered recently in his Beechcraft Debonair while getting some training in his airplane with an instructor as part of the Bonanza Pilot Proficiency Program (BPPP.) The gear motor was the culprit. Josh’s story is the main ...
09.19.2020 154 – If I Looked at YOUR Airplane, What Would I Discover? A good friend from another airport recently bought this Piper Archer, and I’ve had the opportunity to do a little maintenance on it and take a look around. This is one of three airplanes I’ve had an opportunity to look ...
08.29.2020 153 – A Flying and Maintenance Adventure at Ravenswood WV Josh recently purchased his 1963 Beechcraft Debonair and needed some help, so I flew to his airport and spent the good part of a day with him. We replaced a broken exhaust support angle on the right exhaust tailpipe, and ...

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Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

What's Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter about?

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Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter episodes:

202 – Pax River Navy Test Pilot: Trace Bowen

201 – SureFly Ignition Installation

200 – My Recent Flight Review and Other Adventures

199 – A Bulging Exhaust – Change it, or not?

198 – Be Careful About In-flight Troubleshooting!

197 – When He Put the Gear Up the Right Alternator Quit

196 – Joe’s #5 Cylinder Mystery

195 – Is it Time to Tear That Engine Apart?

194 – All About Airplane Prebuys with Adam Sipe

193 – How Did this Starter housing Break?

192 – We Always Knew He Had A Screw Loose!

191 – A Tale of Two Exhaust Valves

190 – The Cessna 172 is Flying Again!

189 – Cessna 172 Squawks Part Two

188 – Cessna 172 Squawks and Repairs

187 – Wonders and Woes of a Cirrus SR22

186 – Diamond DA40 Squawks & a new Bonanza Friend!

185 – Standby Alternator System and Other Fun Stuff

184 – My Oshkosh 2021 Adventure!

183 – I’m Bringing an Engine Cylinder to Oshkosh!

182 – Plane Lands in Farm Field After Engine Failure

181 – Strut Webinar Replay and Video Course Are Ready!

180 – Almost Time for Oshkosh 2021!

179 – Help! I Took A Turbo Apart

178 – Propeller Mystery Solved!

177 – An Out-of-Control Propeller!

176 – Lessons From the Best Kind of Airplane Owner

175 – Shock Strut Servicing Course Coming Soon!

174 – Turbo-Normalized Bonanza Exhaust Valve Rescue!

173 – What’s Happening With Cylinder #1 in my Mooney M20J?

172 – A Perplexing Low Cylinder Compression on a Piper Saratoga

171 – Bad Gas in the Cockpit!

170 – Eddie’s Jabiru Cylinder Compression: From 0/80 to 70/80!

169 – Transformed Interiors with Autumn Elizabeth Design

168 – Things I Found on an A36 Bonanza

167 – Shop Towels in Wrong Places

166 – A Strong and Humble Blue Angels Pilot: Jim Cox

165 – A Shop Towel in the Engine! Don’t Do What I Did!

164 – Airplanes, Motorcycles, and Bob’s Grass Runway

163 – Gear Warning Light Mystery

162 – Giving Thanks for my Good Friend Jonathan Brush

161 – Tobin’s Cherokee Six

160 – Jessica Spangler Becoming an A&P in Cameroon

159 – In the Approach Path of a Boeing 737!

158 – Starters, Starter Adapters, and Starter Solenoids

157 – Valve lapping, shock mounts, and vacuum issues

156 – The Weirdest Vacuum System Problem I’ve Ever Seen

155 – My Retractable Landing Gear is Not Moving!

154 – If I Looked at YOUR Airplane, What Would I Discover?

153 – A Flying and Maintenance Adventure at Ravenswood WV