141 – Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, is Exactly Backwards!

Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

Scroll down for pictures of some things included in today’s episode.

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Sitting in my truck the other day, I had a revelation. Here it is:

When you are having maintenance done on your airplane, Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, is exactly backwards.

Instead, it’s important to “Communicate, then Navigate, and finally Aviate.”

First, communicate.

TALK WITH your A&P or shop about the work you need done. Establish good communication right from the start, and maintain that communication all the way through the process. This way, you can hopefully avoid the surprises that could happen.

Second, navigate.

WORK WITH your A&P or shop to navigate through the discrepancies on your airplane, and develop a plan of action you both agree on.

Third, and finally, aviate.

FLY WITH your A&P!

Well… maybe not always, depending on the situation. BUT, in my opinion, your A&P should trust their work enough to be willing to go flying with you after working on your plane.

Here’s the point:

When something unexpected happens in flight, it’s absolutely important to “Aviate, then Navigate, then Communicate.”

But for maintenance, it’s just the opposite.

For maintenance, it’s vitally important to “Communicate, then Navigate, then Aviate.”

Communicate what you need done, and stay in touch through the process.

Navigate a clear plan of action WITH your A&P.

And when the work is done, you’re ready to AVIATE!

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Here’s the Piper Cherokee that needed cowling latch repair: (Super nice-looking airplane.)

And here’s the Aerostar fuel quantity gauge that was discussed in this episode: (This was the successful reading after cleaning the wiring connection inside the right wing fuel tank.)

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Now back to my little “rabbit trail” I mentioned early in today’s episode:

I did in fact, fill out the contact information on Matt Guthmiller’s website, to see if he would be willing to be a guest on the podcast sometime… we’ll see what he says. (At 19, he became the youngest person to fly around the world solo in an airplane!)

I can’t find the video I watched last night, but Matt has a ton of great videos on YouTube… and if you’re interested, by all means check out his website:

MattGuthmiller.com

I also found a good video by Bold Method, that explains what a contact approach is. I was curious after hearing Matt Guthmiller talk about it.

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Have a great week friends!

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