This time, we interview A&P/IA Dean Showalter to get an introduction to aircraft maintenance for airplane owners. We’ll cover everything you need to know about maintenance from inspections and overhauls to preventative and owner-assisted maintenance, to upgrades and STCs. Plus, how to save money with your aircraft’s maintenance. If you’re an airplane owner or plan to become one, you won’t want to miss this!

This podcast is all about aircraft ownership. Like it or not, maintenance is an inevitable part of ownership. Unfortunately, maintenance is often the most expensive and misunderstood aspect of ownership. It is often the source of anxiety, frustration, and contention. However, with the right knowledge and a good team on your side, it doesn’t have to be that way…

The truth is your aircraft requires maintenance regardless of how much it flies. All aircraft must comply with scheduled inspections such as annuals, phases, or letter checks. They must also comply with the replacement of life-limited parts such as landing gear assemblies, engine components, and safety equipment. Of course, aircraft will inevitably require unscheduled maintenance such as troubleshooting, component replacements, and servicing. In other words, there’s no way around aircraft maintenance.

For most, aircraft maintenance is overwhelmingly mind numbing. It can be both complex as well as convoluted. Some maintenance is only performed on condition, while in other cases, it is accomplished on a specific schedule such as hourly, by calendar date or by cycles. Likewise, some maintenance events are required by regulation while others are mere recommendations. Knowing what maintenance to complete and when, is vital to keeping your aircraft safe, compliant, and airworthy.  

The next hurdle to overcome is finding a qualified, capable, and competent maintenance provider to perform maintenance on your aircraft. Some maintenance providers are certified by the FAA as a Repair Station under FAR Part 145, while others operate under the less restrictive FAR Part 43. How do you know which shops you can trust and which ones to run away from?  

In today’s discussion, we are going to cover everything you need to know about maintenance as an airplane owner. We’ll help you understand what maintenance is required versus what is recommended, show you where to find maintenance and inspection information for your airplane, demystify some common terminology used in aircraft maintenance, give you advice on how to select a quality mechanic, and show you ways to save money on your maintenance with preventative maintenance as well as owner-assisted maintenance, plus a lot more.

Our guest today is Dean Showalter. Honestly, I can’t think of a better guest for this topic. I consider Dean a great friend of mine; he’s probably the nicest A&P/IA I know and is also extremely knowledgeable and experienced with it comes maintaining GA aircraft. Dean has been fixing and flying a large variety of piston-powered airplanes in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for 27 years.  As an A&P/IA and pilot who loves planes and people, Dean has found there's an endless supply of adventure and inspiration in general aviation.  He hosts the Airplane Owner Maintenance podcast, which has put him in touch with so many amazing people around the country and beyond. In fact, I met Dean through his podcast, so I’m really excited for our conversation today. So, without further ado, let’s get into today’s interview.