Originally Posted by
Eddie Dean
Anecdotal evidence, as impressive as your's may be, could still be made up.
The obvious answer, if the lack of quality control is true, would be to change service provider.
Whilst there is no doubt that spark plugs have been dropped and damaged, I struggle with the concept that the said plug would not have been replaced. It would behoove the mechanic to sell you a new one, considering that you would have no idea when it had been damaged.
To be honest, I would agree that there are indeed some dodgy workshops operating in the GA environment, and in fact have rolled my swag twice due to disagreements with the practices in outback workshops.
On your comment in a recently closed thread, I see your bet and raise you a carton of beer.
It’s not “anectdotal”. It’s fact. Witnessed. My post-maintenance pre-flight inspections and test flights are always carried out these days accompanied by another person. I do that precisely because of the pervading folklore - manifested in your post and the AWB - that LAMEs never make mistakes.
I have changed LAMEs. The one I use now seems less mistake-prone than the one I used previously.
The other pervading folklore is that plug manufacturers never produce a defective product, and nor do engine manufacturers.
If I ran my engine in accordance with the POH, I’d be giving the engine the hardest pounding I could give it. Unnecessarily. There’s a reason POHs say these things: Back in the heyday of GA, it was a speed race between the brands and a couple of knots on the competion was a key marketing advantage. So what if the engine was getting the hardest pounding it could get? The chump who purchased it had deep pockets and any damage done was always their fault.