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
"Too much data is a bad thing"
Bad intake valves and camshafts, shock cooling, and AD compliance
49 min
2
"TBO is not a reason to do anything to an engine"
Dirt daubers, creeping EGTs, and cloths in wheel wells
54 min
3
"If you lose a cylinder in your Cessna 150 you ...
Sticky valves, A&P currency, and sleepy cylinders
47 min
4
"Am I doing anything evil?"
Leaning, overhauls, and ignoring borescope images
54 min
5
"That installation is fraught with peril"
50 min
6
"I'm an old mechanic and really like the idea o...
46 min
7
"That's an oft-reported myth"
46 min
8
“Is this like pulling a mattress tag off?”
Borescope primer, torque tales, manufacturer nonsense
52 min
9
"The owner can't do maintenance because the own...
A guide to owner maintenance, slipping starter adapters, and more
47 min
10
"You're going to give him nightmares"
Rust on new cylinders, creative leaning, manifold issues
53 min
11
"He has a piston with a smiley face on it that'...
How many hours are too many?
40 min
12
"Just be sure you lube it with something"
Wood wings, generators, and pre-emptive engine overhauls
41 min
13
"If you go to 76 percent, the wings will fall off"
Electronic ignition, creative mods, lean of peak
48 min
14
"It's one of the few accidents where you get to...
Fuel indication problems, high oil temps, gear motors, and corrosion
49 min
15
"Being an aircraft owner is the hardest job in ...
Spark plugs, aircraft records, lean of peak, and circuit breakers
48 min
16
"That's an urban legend"
Keeping cool (and warm), plus oil composition and lean of peak
47 min
17
"More time to fly, less time to turn wrenches"
Flaming exhausts, lean of peak, and unnecessary maintenance
46 min
18
"You have a lot of splaining to do"
How to cycle the prop, cam spalding, and inop parts
50 min
19
"Mechanics can be ornery sometimes"
54 min
20
Live from Airventure 2025
The audience questions come fast at the AOPA tent
44 min
21
"That'd be like putting grease on the road"
Grease options, lean of peak temps, break-in, composite cracks
59 min
22
"That's one way to flat spot a tire"
Parking brakes, valve guides, and preflight gotchas
39 min
23
"An airplane with no engine is worth nothing"
Oil issues cause problems for owners
58 min
24
"You have to cart mogas around like a homeless ...
Fuel flow, mogas, and overhaul concerns
60 min
25
"You have license to go zorching around"
58 min