April, 2012 - Annual Conditional Inspection
General Aviation airplanes must be inspected annual by a certified mechanic. Because I built the RV myself, I am legally allowed to do the inspection myself. I do mine in April, which works out well because winter is over and things have warmed up, but it is before most of the spring fly-ins begin.
The annual is actually a lot of
work. First I have to take off all the fairings and panels, inside
and outside. There are hundreds of screws to remove. Even with
an electric screwdriver, it is tedious. This takes about four
hours.
Then I go over the aircraft with a fine-tooth comb, looking for anything unusual: cracks, leaks, loose nuts, etc.
I inspect, clean, and/or replace the spark plugs, gasolator, air filter, brake pads, tailwheel assembly. I compression test the cylinders. I lubricate all the control hinges.
This year I touched up with black paint some areas on the fuselage bottom.
Then, it's another four hours putting
everything to back together.
I washed the plane and did a quick
maintenance check flight. Everything checked 4.0. Ready for
another season of fun flying.
