Robin maintenance in the South East

[Three Wheeler]

Are there any Robin owners based in the South East who would like to recommend/comment on their current maintenance organisations. I'm particulaly interested in impressions of overall quality of work of the company and whether they specialise in Robin aircraft. We've had a rather unfortunate experience recently with our current maintenance outfit and considering if its time to look elsewhere.

[A and C]

My recomendation would depend on the type of Robin.

[aiglon]

We use Goodwood and find them pretty reliable and user-friendly. I wouldn't go as far as to say "no gripes at all" but then a perfect maintenance organisation would be a bit of a miracle, wouldn't it :) :)

[SteveR]

Our Aiglon has had a bit of bother with finding a trustworthy set of mechanics - but SkySure at Lydd seem to be a responsive and knowledgable lot.

Perhaps I'll know more after the annual she's suffering/enjoying atm......

Steve R

[Three Wheeler]

A and C - Its an Aiglon the all metal variety, so interested in any suggestions you have.

Aiglon/SteveR - As we have the same aircraft, I'd be interested in your impressions of what the type specific knowledge of your maintenance org's is on the Aiglon. Most of the maint. co. I've spoken to haven't even heard of an Aiglon; as it has some idiosynchrosies, such as the exhaust system, that seems to baffle even those that have heard of it, I don't generally get a warm feeling!

[aiglon]

Three Wheeler,

Goodwood Engineering are an Approved Robin Service centre and seem to have pretty good knowledge of the Aiglon. They deal with a few Robins since Mistral Aviation, the UK Robin dealer, are based at Goodwood.

They are not cheap but then who is :sad:
They took a long time to diagnose and fix a fuel pressure problem a while back but then Mann Aviation at Fairoaks simply gave up :*
But at the end of the day, they know our aircraft and they have helped us out at short notice on more than one ocassion :) :)
They also seem to have a reasonable relationship with Robin when it comes to getting parts.

All the best

Aiglon

[max roll rate]

another one to think about AKKI at turweston

[A and C]

WLAC at white waltham or ATS at Booker would be my first recomendations , however AKKI at Turweston seem to have a good reputation but I have no first hand knowlage of them.

[Hairyplane]

I used and recommended AKKI exclusively for my Regent until an incident last year. I was totally happy. I am most certainly not now.

The matter is sub judice (but can be quickly resolved if they stop ignoring my letters ) so I will not post it here.

However, if any bona fide Robin owners want the facts, please contact me.

I used Brinkley at Meppershall (just inside the Henlow circuit on a delightful strip) for my last Annual. They use some of the Shuttleworth engineers on a part-time basis as well as their own and thus have considerable expertise on wooden aircraft.

I rate them highly and will certainly use them again.

HP

[Three Wheeler]

All,
Thanks for all your suggestions, I'll go and talk to the respective companies over the next few weeks. One last thought, there used to be a maintenance outfit at Rochester that used to specialise in Robins - this was a few years ago now. Does anyone know if they are still in business?

[Saab Dastard]

Three Wheeler,

I'm not an owner, but I do know of a Robin maintenance operation at Lashenden / Headcorn that you might want to investigate.

I visited there with a Regent owner who was interested in checking them out.

SD

[t'aint natural]

A friend has moved his DR400 to the Headcorn outfit, after doing some research. This was six months ago. A private message gets you his name and phone number.