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.
51
"Placard it inop"
Leaky struts, leaky brakes, and a leaky defroster
67 min
52
"Don't pull the throttle back until you want to...
64 min
53
"Don't do that!"
Throwing away an engine that's hard to start
63 min
54
"I have permission to get an airplane."
The challenges of tying down, major or minor, fuel pump problems, and more.
62 min
55
"I'm against throwing a part at something"
How much oil burn is too much?
62 min
56
"You become the supervisor of your maintenance"
62 min
57
"Don't split the case halves"
Oil leaks don't always come from the case
59 min
58
"This guy is on his own, he's a test pilot"
The best plugs, advice for a Van's customer, and is carb heat necessary?
63 min
59
"Let us know how the exorcism goes"
Ridding an engine of it's demons
57 min
60
"The breather is a slobber pot"
An engine that won't quit, oil temps, tuned exhausts, and ELT batteries
53 min
61
"Think of the prop control as a gear shift"
Valve lapping, oversquare, and the basics of leaning
50 min
62
"Major and minor is in the eye of the beholder"
Can you make your own electronic components? The experts discuss.
59 min
63
"It's not good form to jam the throttle forward"
How to use a borescope, best throttle practices, and keeping water out of the tanks
58 min
64
"We call it an Italian tune-up"
Valve clatter, damage history that isn't, why POH numbers change, and more
54 min
65
"Use whatever time runs the slowest"
When the tachometers don't agree, which one do you pick?
55 min
66
"You can't fully pickle it"
A curiously rough running engine, another that's cursed, and one that needs to be preserved are on the agenda.
65 min
67
"Cleaning injectors causes more problems than i...
55 min
68
"Why don't you just fix the problem?"
Cold-weather flying, radio issues, and how to become an A&P
61 min
69
"It's not the mechanic's job to make flying che...
A wonky compass, lean of peak advice, and liabilities of being a mechanic
55 min
70
"Inspections are an imperfect process"
46 min
71
"Don't attack anything with tools"
How to hot start, a faulty tach, and unnecessary cylinder removals
51 min
72
Live from Airventure 2023
Mike, Paul, and Colleen take live questions from this year's Oshkosh
48 min
73
"My airplane is so clean you can eat off it"
Washing during annual, turbocharging problems, how to start an airplane, and more
59 min
74
"The only that thing that can cause CHT to rise...
Engines are blowing up all over in this latest epiosde
60 min
75
"I'm a total turbocharging bigot"
Turbocharging versus non, engine stumbles, improper fuel levels and more
73 min