Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

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

Episodes

254 – Solving an Air Conditioning Mystery and Learning New Things!

May 13, 2025 • 35 mins
This experience was a good one! (At least looking back in 2020 hindsight.) We had to dig deep to fix this one! I was about to give up and started thinking it might be time to take the airplane somewhere else for troubleshooting and repair. Thankfully Richard, our chief pilot, didn’t give up so easy […]
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253 – Missed Windows of Opportunity

April 15, 2025 • 22 mins
This morning I felt the inspiration to record a podcast episode… I got my hotel room set up with my computer and my microphone, and there it sat. I missed the window of opportunity… for whatever reasons, I did not record. And this afternoon, the inspiration was fading away. And then I remembered something. Often […]
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252 – Why Does the Bonanza Gear Relay Breaker Pop?

March 11, 2025 • 37 mins
(If you’re in a hurry, scroll down to see the tiny little chafed wire that caused this whole conundrum.) Now here’s the story… This landing gear relay breaker had been popping intermittently: It came time for annual inspection and we decided to replace the breaker with a new one, in order to rule out a […]
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251 – Bennett’s Exhaust Valve Rescue on his Cessna TTx

February 25, 2025 • 29 mins
Bennett contacted me awhile back to see if I could lap an exhaust valve for him. The #4 exhaust valve showed a very uneven appearance when viewed with his borescope. Bennett flew in to KSHD one morning and we got started. Before lapping, we checked the cylinder compression and it was 29/80… not good. Here’s […]
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250 – Frustrations with Piper Rudder Cable Tension

January 28, 2025 • 33 mins
If you look closely in the photo above, you can see my friend Chris, smiling. It was the day he arrived at Classic Aviation (KSHD) to begin his annual inspection with me. Chris is not only an airplane owner and pilot, but he’s also a certified airplane mechanic as well. I was very happy to […]
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249 – An EXHAUST-ing Mooney / Continental Story

January 3, 2025 • 31 mins
Today’s episode is about Pat’s Mooney, and how we sealed up some exhaust leaks. And it’s a fun story because Pat has become a good friend… check out the above photo where he’s showing his airplane to my grandson Spencer 🙂 Spencer and my daughter McKenzie stopped by the shop one day when Pat and […]
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248 – Mark’s Cessna T210 Exhaust Valve Story

October 14, 2024 • 30 mins
Last Monday, I lapped the #5 exhaust valve on a Continental engine. But more importantly, I met the owner / pilot of a Turbo Centurion, and now I’m happy to call him a good friend! Thanks for flying all the way up here Mark! Here’s the story: Mark had been a little concerned about the […]
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247 – Brake Failure After Landing

September 20, 2024 • 20 mins
Everything looks normal in this photo, right? What we can’t see from this angle is the fact that the brake disc has broken in two pieces! Check it out: Here’s the story: The pilot landed the Piper Cherokee, and after a successful landing, something gave way on the left brake, and it became ineffective. Now […]
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246 – Parts Changer or Real Mechanic? Cessna-210 Landing Gear Motor Story

September 14, 2024 • 43 mins
This story begins with a squawk from the owner. It went something like this: “When I fly my airplane, on the first landing gear retraction, the gear begins to move and then the “gear pump” circuit breaker pops. After I reset the circuit breaker, the gear retracts and extends normally with no further problems the […]
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245 – A Crazy and Amazing Week!

August 30, 2024 • 27 mins
The week I’m talking about here was almost too full! But I wouldn’t change a thing. A real highlight was taking my Pennsylvania cousin for a short flight in a Piper Cherokee: From Sunday to Friday, I had the following opportunities: Also, during the Bonanza inspection with my friend Mike, we adjusted the fuel quantity […]
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244 – Down a CHT Rabbit Hole!

August 6, 2024 • 26 mins
During a recent prebuy evaluation on this nice Beech A36 Bonanza, the question came up, “Does the old analog CHT gauge need to work in order for the airplane to be considered airworthy?” (In this case, the analog CHT gauge had an INOP placard on it.) Check it out: The airplane has a JPI engine […]
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243 – A Stranded Piper Saratoga

July 5, 2024 • 22 mins
This airplane appeared on the ramp not long ago at the Shenandoah Valley Airport in Virginia. I discovered it had taken off, and then very quickly made a 180 and returned for landing due to engine trouble. The pilot thought he may have lost a cylinder. His mechanic stopped by to check it out, and […]
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242 – Your Airplane’s Alternator: Neglected or Well-Cared-For?

June 20, 2024 • 32 mins
In this podcast episode, we’re talking about alternator maintenance! Here’s the alternator I removed from a Beechcraft Bonanza to inspect the drive coupling and the brushes… note the brush assembly in the lower right side of the photo: The brushes had plenty of length left, but they needed a good cleaning due to carbon dust […]
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241 – Best Airplane Engine Overhaul Shops

June 12, 2024 • 37 mins
When it’s time to overhaul your engine, who do you call? Where do you go? Listen to this episode to hear ideas from other airplane owners who have had good experiences with various engine overhaul shops around the country. I always love meeting podcast listeners, and I was surprised when I met Ken Blow recently […]
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240 – MEI Check Ride Struggles

May 7, 2024 • 46 mins
This ‘ol Piper Apache served me very well to get my MEI training and check ride done. Listen to the audio for this episode to hear how my check ride went… it was a challenging one! This part of the podcast is toward the end. This episode also covers something we did for our son […]
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239 – When Your “Perfect” Airplane Gets a Prebuy

April 13, 2024 • 45 mins
Note: Scroll down to see who I unexpectedly met in Florida this past week! Now for the Prebuy… it was some months ago, and I did a prebuy inspection on a nice airplane on behalf of the buyer. I also became good friends with the owner / seller, for which I was grateful, because sometimes […]
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238 – Check Ride Thoughts & Piper Door Stop Repair

April 5, 2024 • 41 mins
This podcast episode includes the following: Here’s a photo of the Piper Cherokee door stop I repaired by installing a new spring, P/N 65730-00. Now the door stop snaps nicely into the open detent, instead of closing on you while you’re getting in or out of the airplane. The post “238 – Check Ride Thoughts […]
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237 – Checkride Butterflies!

March 5, 2024 • 21 mins
My CFII checkride is in three days! Yikes! I’m excited, and I have a few butterflies as well… I just hope they are friendly butterflies 🙂 Today’s podcast episode is about checkrides, and some encouragement for all of us to move forward with whatever that next step is… whether it’s a private pilot certificate, an […]
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236 – Spare Parts and Tools to Carry in Your Airplane

February 2, 2024 • 33 mins
Check out this spare parts case my friend Bill created! Although you might not want to carry that much extra stuff in YOUR airplane, it still might be worth thinking about some items to have in case of emergencies. This podcast episode will include the following: Some feedback from others about spare parts. A story […]
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235 – Ugly Propellers and What to Do About Them

October 12, 2023 • 48 mins
The paint was eroding on the King Air 350 prop blades. After a lot of research for paint and new Hartzell decals, I was ready to begin. Here’s where I bought the prop paint and new Hartzell decals: aerotouchups It was important to NOT get paint on anything other than the prop blades… Finally, after […]
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