Aircraft repairs

[UnAnswerd]

Is it legal for the owner of an airplane to perform... say major engine work without being a certified A&P mechanic?

 

[Lead Sled]

Is it legal for the owner of an airplane to perform... say major engine work without being a certified A&P mechanic?

What do you mean by major engine work? The simple answer is yes, provided he gets a powerplant rated mechanic to sign off the work.

Lead Sled

 

[UnAnswerd]

What do you mean by major engine work? The simple answer is yes, provided he gets a powerplant rated mechanic to sign off the work.

Lead Sled

Like overhauling a piston-engine. Many people (without certification) have a full understanding of the overhaul procedure, and how to assemble the engine.
So all you need to do is have a mechanic sign off the work?

 

[atrdriver]

So all you need to do is have a mechanic sign off the work?

Which may be considerably more difficult that you think, unless you happen to know one. If he signs it off and then something bad happens, it's his certificate on the line.

atrdriver

 

[lawfly]

Aircraft Repairs

As this is an FAR thread, the following cites are of note: FAR Part 43 generally, and 43.3, 43.5, 43.7. I don't own an a/c, but did know a couple of owners who, as I recall, went to a particular shop which offered A&P/IA supervision of owners for those things owners are allowed to do themselves or with supervision. Occasionally, I have seen ads by shops which mention this sort of thing and they offer a rate for it. Not everything is do-able by an owner. One of those shops should be able to tell you more.

 

[transpac]

Like overhauling a piston-engine. Many people (without certification) have a full understanding of the overhaul procedure, and how to assemble the engine.
So all you need to do is have a mechanic sign off the work?

An A&P mechanic can legally sign off only the work he/she personally performed or that was done under his/her supervision. No A&P is going to sign off an engine overhaul performed by someone else unless key items were inspected during the process.

 

[igneousy2]

The short answer to your original question is no.

Sec. 43.3 (relevant parts)

Persons authorized to perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alterations.

(a) Except as provided in this section and Sec. 43.17 (canadian shops), no person may maintain, rebuild, alter, or perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part to which this part applies. Those items, the performance of which is a major alteration, a major repair, or preventive maintenance, are listed in appendix A.
...
(d) A person working under the supervision of a holder of a mechanic or repairman certificate may perform the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations that his supervisor is authorized to perform, if the supervisor personally observes the work being done to the extent necessary to ensure that it is being done properly and if the supervisor is readily available, in person, for consultation. However, this paragraph does not authorize the performance of any inspection required by Part 91 or Part 125 of this chapter or any inspection performed after a major repair or alteration.
...
[(g) Except for holders of a sport pilot certificate, the holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61 may perform preventive maintenance on any aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under part 121, 129, or 135 of this chapter. The holder of a sport pilot certificate may perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft owned or operated by that pilot and issued a special airworthiness certificate in the light-sport category.

As far as the definition of major repair, preventive maintenance...it is specifically spelled out in Apendix A of Part 43.
Later

 

[A Squared]

What transpac said, yes with qualifiers.


If you show up at your favorite mechanic's shop with your freshly overhauled engine, and ask him to sign the logbooks, the answer *should* be NO. He'd be dumb to do that, and if he was dumb enough, it would be illegal.


On the other hand, if you overhaul that engine in your A&P's hangar and he's looking over your shoulder, monitoring what you do, the answer is yes. You would be no different that an uncertificated employee in his shop, and that is fairly common.

Yeah, it can be done legally, but there's more to it than "getting a sign off"