Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

Mar 11 2025 125 ep. 34 mins 295

Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter Podcast artwork

A podcast devoted to helping airplane owners reach higher levels of maintenance understanding, along with the inspiration to always continue learning.

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252 – Why Does the Bonanza Gear Relay Breaker Pop?

Mar 11 2025 37 mins

(If you’re in a hurry, scroll down to see the tiny little chafed wire that caused this whole conundrum.) Now here’s the story… This landing gear relay breaker had been popping intermittently: It came time for annual inspection and we decided to replace the breaker with a new one, in order to rule out a […]

251 – Bennett’s Exhaust Valve Rescue on his Cessna TTx

Feb 25 2025 29 mins

Bennett contacted me awhile back to see if I could lap an exhaust valve for him. The #4 exhaust valve showed a very uneven appearance when viewed with his borescope. Bennett flew in to KSHD one morning and we got started. Before lapping, we checked the cylinder compression and it was 29/80… not good. Here’s […]

250 – Frustrations with Piper Rudder Cable Tension

Jan 28 2025 33 mins

If you look closely in the photo above, you can see my friend Chris, smiling. It was the day he arrived at Classic Aviation (KSHD) to begin his annual inspection with me. Chris is not only an airplane owner and pilot, but he’s also a certified airplane mechanic as well. I was very happy to […]

249 – An EXHAUST-ing Mooney / Continental Story

Jan 03 2025 31 mins

Today’s episode is about Pat’s Mooney, and how we sealed up some exhaust leaks. And it’s a fun story because Pat has become a good friend… check out the above photo where he’s showing his airplane to my grandson Spencer 🙂 Spencer and my daughter McKenzie stopped by the shop one day when Pat and […]

248 – Mark’s Cessna T210 Exhaust Valve Story

Oct 14 2024 30 mins

Last Monday, I lapped the #5 exhaust valve on a Continental engine. But more importantly, I met the owner / pilot of a Turbo Centurion, and now I’m happy to call him a good friend! Thanks for flying all the way up here Mark! Here’s the story: Mark had been a little concerned about the […]

247 – Brake Failure After Landing

Sep 20 2024 20 mins

Everything looks normal in this photo, right? What we can’t see from this angle is the fact that the brake disc has broken in two pieces! Check it out: Here’s the story: The pilot landed the Piper Cherokee, and after a successful landing, something gave way on the left brake, and it became ineffective. Now […]

246 – Parts Changer or Real Mechanic? Cessna-210 Landing Gear Motor Story

Sep 14 2024 43 mins

This story begins with a squawk from the owner. It went something like this: “When I fly my airplane, on the first landing gear retraction, the gear begins to move and then the “gear pump” circuit breaker pops. After I reset the circuit breaker, the gear retracts and extends normally with no further problems the […]

245 – A Crazy and Amazing Week!

Aug 30 2024 27 mins

The week I’m talking about here was almost too full! But I wouldn’t change a thing. A real highlight was taking my Pennsylvania cousin for a short flight in a Piper Cherokee: From Sunday to Friday, I had the following opportunities: Also, during the Bonanza inspection with my friend Mike, we adjusted the fuel quantity […]

244 – Down a CHT Rabbit Hole!

Aug 06 2024 26 mins

During a recent prebuy evaluation on this nice Beech A36 Bonanza, the question came up, “Does the old analog CHT gauge need to work in order for the airplane to be considered airworthy?” (In this case, the analog CHT gauge had an INOP placard on it.) Check it out: The airplane has a JPI engine […]

243 – A Stranded Piper Saratoga

Jul 05 2024 22 mins

This airplane appeared on the ramp not long ago at the Shenandoah Valley Airport in Virginia. I discovered it had taken off, and then very quickly made a 180 and returned for landing due to engine trouble. The pilot thought he may have lost a cylinder. His mechanic stopped by to check it out, and […]