Ask the A&Ps
Experts Mike Busch, Paul New, and Colleen Sterling answer your toughest aviation maintenance questions. Submit questions to podcasts@aopa.org. New episodes are released the first and fifteenth of every month.
1
"If you go to 76 percent, the wings will fall off"
Electronic ignition, creative mods, lean of peak
48 min
2
"It's one of the few accidents where you get to...
Fuel indication problems, high oil temps, gear motors, and corrosion
49 min
3
"Being an aircraft owner is the hardest job in ...
Spark plugs, aircraft records, lean of peak, and circuit breakers
48 min
4
"That's an urban legend"
Keeping cool (and warm), plus oil composition and lean of peak
47 min
5
"More time to fly, less time to turn wrenches"
Flaming exhausts, lean of peak, and unnecessary maintenance
46 min
6
"You have a lot of splaining to do"
How to cycle the prop, cam spalding, and inop parts
50 min
7
"Mechanics can be ornery sometimes"
54 min
8
Live from Airventure 2025
The audience questions come fast at the AOPA tent
44 min
9
"That'd be like putting grease on the road"
Grease options, lean of peak temps, break-in, composite cracks
59 min
10
"That's one way to flat spot a tire"
Parking brakes, valve guides, and preflight gotchas
39 min
11
"An airplane with no engine is worth nothing"
Oil issues cause problems for owners
58 min
12
"You have to cart mogas around like a homeless ...
Fuel flow, mogas, and overhaul concerns
60 min
13
"You have license to go zorching around"
58 min
14
"Continentals burn valves and Lycomings stick v...
69 min
15
"My airplane is a flying experiment"
Engines go bang, stick, and hold on to oil this episode
63 min
16
"They put all their maintenance records on napk...
Picking the right aircraft logbook, Continental bulletins, lead scavenging, and ADs
59 min
17
"Keep torturing those airplanes...and students"
Shutting down engines, electrical problems, and more
52 min
18
"Shame on you for even thinking about it"
Lead deposits, turbo tips, setting engine monitors, and trading good airplanes
55 min
19
"If that doesn't work you've got the flame thro...
Engine vibrations, getting the bugs out, leaning for takeoff, and flap problems
62 min
20
"Your airplane is on a full-time IV drip"
Oil pressure and temperature issues, compression test benefits
66 min
21
"You don’t know if he’s going to hit you with a...
67 min
22
"There's a serious brain drain in aviation main...
Power loss, how to train technicians, and engine theory
61 min
23
"Check it, log it, and then relax"
A prop strike without a prop, broken rings, carbon monoxide, and Continental rpm advice
74 min
24
"There’s a reason they call these amateur built"
How to check the oil, leaning basics, erratic idles, and oil analysis concerns
57 min
25
"Don't open up the fuel system if you don't hav...
Clogged injectors, altimeter checks, engine design, and being kind to engines
61 min