What should I expect in the way of the cost for a Pre-Buy Inspection or Annual Inspection at Laurens KLUX?
Search strings: Annual Inspection cost, Annual cost, Pre-buy cost, repair cost
Technical Editor:
Here is a reply on Annual Inspection and Pre-buy costs I recently sent to another member. Between this and the information posted in the KLUX Work Schedule (inter Technical on BAC), it is the best I can do to addresses potential costs at KLUX.
Re Annual Inspection costs, there has been no ‘average number’. The fixed costs are posted in the KLUX Work Schedule at the bottom of the Technical tab, on the BAC website. What Pre-Buy or Annual costs turn out to be is completely dependent on what you choose to have done while the inspection is going on. The basic inspection is just that. You open the plane up (or Chad does it by himself if you don’t, and you don’t want to pay time for Monty or me). Chad does the inspection, gives you the discrepancy list, makes the log entry, and you or he closes the plane back up. If Monty and I don’t work on the plane, the only billing beyond Chad’s would be my $20/hour fee for the hangar overhead, billed for the hours the plane is actively being worked on (not for all the time it is in the hangar).
Contrary to popular belief, the Annual Inspection does not include things like oil change, lubrication, filter changes, hardware repair, other repairs, etc. If you want those things done, either you would do them, pay Chad to do them, or pay Monty or I to do them. I charge $35/hour for my time, Monty charges $25/hour for his time. This is all spelled out in the BAC topic. I don’t see Chad’s bill; his will vary depending on whether he just does the inspection, or performs repairs as well. You deal with him on that. Any bill from me is for Monty’s and my labor time, shop time, hardware, parts, and consumables. I have had planes for which Chad’s bill was probably $600-$700, and my bill was about the same. But I have a plane here right now that has been here since April, which arrived for an Annual with a badly cracked engine case. He left the plane here so we could get the engine repaired for him at Graham Engines in Newnan, GA, just SW of Atlanta. Then he started traveling for a new job. He has been sending us upgrade requests ever since. I have had to get the fuel injection servo overhauled ($1,600), just as a small example. His eventual ‘requested improvement list’ to us finally came to nearly two full printed pages. JPI engine analyzer, new battery, new vacuum pump, ground blower installed, overhauled landing gear pump, all new interior air ducts, all new flush fuel drains, new marker beacon antenna, new glareshield, gear actuators resealed, Corrosion X treatment, and much more. This fellow’s bill from me is certainly going to exceed $10,000; and I am only charging him for 75 labor and shop hours; I probably have 150 actual hours in the plane, over six months. And he paid for the engine repair directly. But keep in mind that he has requested all of this work; and due to travel he was only able to help himself during a one-week visit. None of it, other than the mandatory engine case repair, was required by us before he could leave. We don’t hold planes hostage here. The sooner they get on their way, the better I like it.
So the short story is, the final cost, whether for pre-buy or Annual, is basically dependent on how much of it you want Monty and I to help with, in addition to the work done by you and Chad. And by what improvements you wish to make, and how much servicing you want to get done, and how many of the discrepancies you want to go ahead and take care of, while the airplane is opened up. For example, if you take a light plane to most shops for a Corrosion X treatment, they will charge you $275 to $350, and they won’t let you help. If Monty does it here, while the plane is opened up, it costs $75 for the anti-corrosion treatment and maybe $25 for an hour of his labor to do it. Unless you have something like a cracked engine case or corroded-away spar, it is highly unlikely that any of the discrepancies would result in a ‘grounded airplane’. That decision is actually up to the owner, believe it or not. The Inspector simply provides input to the decision. If a plane has a severe defect that truly makes it unairworthy, but the owner wants to move it somewhere else for a second opinion or repairs, Chad can help the owner arrange for an FAA Ferry Permit for the flight. We don’t want to see planes stranded at KLUX if at all possible.