Progressive Inspection

Last week we started Progressive Check #4 on the 207. A progressive inspection is a way for flying operations to spread out maintenance and keep airplanes in the air. Ordinarily, an airplane has to be inspected once a year. We call this the Annual for some reason. We take the airplane in the hangar for 1-2 weeks (if all goes well) and open up the whole airplane, inspecting every system and component. It’s a lot of work, and means the airplane doesn’t fly for a couple weeks every year. A progressive inspection program spreads the inspection out in to smaller chunks.

 

This schedule works really well for Mission Flight Services. The airplane flies nearly every week, but not usually more than a couple days in any given week. That gives us two to three days a week to do maintenance, which is the perfect slot for a progressive inspection. We are able to keep on top of the inspection schedule without bothering the flight schedule.

Each progressive check focuses on a particular area of the airplane. There are four checks for the 207: Cabin and Fuselage; Engine and Tail; Wings and Landing Gear; Engine and Propeller. Yes, the engine gets inspected twice in each cycle. The check we finished this week was #4, Engine and Propeller. We went through the engine very thoroughly, working through a long checklist of inspection and service items. I spent a lot of time with a mirror and light (torch, they’re called here) looking for oil leaks, cracks, loose fasteners, and other anomalies. Then we changed the oil, cleaned and gapped the spark plugs, made a couple of small repairs, and sent it on its way. Each check begins and ends with a ground run to check the performance of the engine and other systems.

After the work is finished, the person in charge of the inspection disappears into his hole (office) and shuffles papers for several hours. I get that fun job. Everything we do has to be recorded in detail in the aircraft, engine, and propeller logbooks. Work order paperwork has to be completed and filed, and the inspection schedule checklist has to be updated so we know what is due next. Since this is the last check in the cycle, it starts over again. Check 1 is due in 50 hours, and we’ve already flown about 20 of those this week.

This was a big week of flying. John flew every day except Monday. Sakeji School is a mission boarding school nearby that just finished a terms, and quite a few of the students take the airplane home for break. Something like 25 students were flown home this week. We got to go visit Sakeji school just last weekend. It is a beautiful place. We’ll show you some pictures of it as soon as we get a chance.

Today is Saturday. Last night a group of about 10 ornery boys gathered at our fence laughing playing. We talked to them for awhile, and they said they were going to come back at 10:00 and they wanted to read “the Book.” It’s 10:30 now, and they’re not here yet. Of course, in Africa they won’t be late until about 11:30. They may show up yet.Thanks for stopping by.

 

Edit:

The boys did come about five minutes later. We read a Bible story book (though the language barrier made it tough), and had races and acrobatic displays. It was great fun.