Maintenance Requirements

[QJB]

Hi looking for some clarification,

As far as I know in Australia aircraft owners generally comply with the manufacturer's maintenance schedule, this includes service buletins etc that may be issued from time to time. Where could I find a detailed break down of these requirements for a cessna 172S for example, without having to actually buy the aircraft?

Also are these requirements generally completed within the 100hrly / 1 year maintenance release period as part of that scheduled maintenance?

Aside from that I believe that engines have to be overhauled after 2000hrs, is this a legislative requirement or simply part of most manufacturer's maintenance schedules?

Thanks in advance for any help,

J

[Old Akro]

If the aircraft is in the private category, you can choose the CASA schedule 5 or the manufacturers schedule. You can download schedule 5 from the CASA website. The manufacturers schedule is in the service manual which you can get from a number of sources...ebay / essco, etc.

[Sunfish]

...and the AD's should be on the CASA website.

[Hasherucf]

Stuff you find on ebay or essco wont be approved data . If its a popular aircraft MRO's normaly have a copy which the cost of updating is shared across the aircraft they service of that type.

Check chapter 5 in the AMM for time lifed goodies. Also check the logbook statement for anything particular to the aircraft

[Old Akro]

Hasherucf is right that unless you buy a version controlled copy from the manufacturer or one of the providers (eg Avantext) then its not an approved document. But the reality is that the maintenance schedules & procedures haven't really changed much in the last 30 years. For armchair reference they are fine. And from my experience, its a pretty rose coloured glasses view of the world to think that LAME's have current version controlled approved copies. In my experience about 1 in 10 do.

[Engineer_aus]

AD's head off to the FAA website as it is all from there now, along with some from CASA still.

SB's are from Cessna

Casa Schedule 5. I think your best off to head down to your local LAME and have a chat. Different maintenance schedule if you follow the time or hours. Most of the maintenance will be done at a 100hrly and or a Annual will be the same, and or if your flying in the private category then there is again different reg's for maintenance, or Restricted, experimental etc

[kingtoad]

Hello J

Engineer_aus is right - find a good LAME, buy him a beer and have a chat.
CASA Schedule 5 can confuse the situation a little and different people (even in CASA) interpret it in different ways. In my experience about 90% of Australian GA aircraft (not just private category) are on CASA 5 rather than the appropriate manufacturers system of maintenance.

There have been various noises for some time about limiting what types of aircraft can be on CASA 5 and this will probably come eventually ... but if we start talking about that subject now we could be here for a long time.

To specifically answer some of your questions, for Australian registered aircraft the system of maintenance is specified in Part 1 of the Log book statement and the list of applicable ADs are in the front of the log book.

The engine overhaul period is determined by the engine manufacturer in both calendar time (12 years is the most common) and time in service - which ever comes first (see Service Instruction # 1009AS from Lycoming and SIL98-9 from Continental as examples). Many piston engines, as you say, are 2000 hours. Some are as low as 600 hours (IVO-540 series) and some are 2400 hrs (some O-235s). Many people forget that there are calendar time requirements too. These overhaul periods are mandatory if your aircraft is in charter category. They are not mandatory if your aircraft is maintained under CASA 5 & AD/ENG/4 and it is not in Charter category - but they are a really good idea and your LAME has to be willing to sign out an engine that is past the manufacturers TBO.

I hope this helps a little ...