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.
26
"You have a lot of splaining to do"
How to cycle the prop, cam spalding, and inop parts
50 min
27
"Mechanics can be ornery sometimes"
54 min
28
Live from Airventure 2025
The audience questions come fast at the AOPA tent
44 min
29
"That'd be like putting grease on the road"
Grease options, lean of peak temps, break-in, composite cracks
59 min
30
"That's one way to flat spot a tire"
Parking brakes, valve guides, and preflight gotchas
39 min
31
"An airplane with no engine is worth nothing"
Oil issues cause problems for owners
58 min
32
"You have to cart mogas around like a homeless ...
Fuel flow, mogas, and overhaul concerns
60 min
33
"You have license to go zorching around"
58 min
34
"Continentals burn valves and Lycomings stick v...
69 min
35
"My airplane is a flying experiment"
Engines go bang, stick, and hold on to oil this episode
63 min
36
"They put all their maintenance records on napk...
Picking the right aircraft logbook, Continental bulletins, lead scavenging, and ADs
59 min
37
"Keep torturing those airplanes...and students"
Shutting down engines, electrical problems, and more
52 min
38
"Shame on you for even thinking about it"
Lead deposits, turbo tips, setting engine monitors, and trading good airplanes
55 min
39
"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
40
"Your airplane is on a full-time IV drip"
Oil pressure and temperature issues, compression test benefits
66 min
41
"You don’t know if he’s going to hit you with a...
67 min
42
"There's a serious brain drain in aviation main...
Power loss, how to train technicians, and engine theory
61 min
43
"Check it, log it, and then relax"
A prop strike without a prop, broken rings, carbon monoxide, and Continental rpm advice
74 min
44
"There’s a reason they call these amateur built"
How to check the oil, leaning basics, erratic idles, and oil analysis concerns
57 min
45
"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
46
"The engine didn't explode"
Oil pumps, oil ratings, and oil filters
59 min
47
"When they go bad the engine is toast"
Parts no longer available, lean of peak vibrations, and more
60 min
48
"It goes through cylinders like flapjacks"
When things rattle, shake, and go boom
57 min
49
"When it starts to talk to you it's time to rep...
TBO myths, preflight techiques, on-condition maintenance, and lean of peak
55 min
50
"The people who design these airplanes don't wo...
Some problems are easy to fix, if you can reach them
68 min