I appreciate the time it took you to pass this info along. I get the feeling you believe me to be yet another hobby pilot who just wants to do his own maintenance.
I'm not judging you, or your motivations, Gorilla. Just making a strongly worded general statement. Clearly you wouldn't have asked if you weren't motivated, and clearly you have a drive to achieve this goal.
The nature of maintenance is that it's all about conformity to approved documentation. Machining isn't even a maintenance skill; it's a separate skill that few mechanics know or understand. It's a valueable skill to be sure, and obviously one you do well. Maintenance in general, however, is a little bit different an animal. I'll give a few examples, with the caveat that holding the certification doesn't make one a good mechanic or mean that one does things right, either...I've known a lot of people involved in experimental aviation that were superb mechanics and more skilled and knowledgeable than many certificated mechanics. I've also known more than a few certificated mechancis and IA holders who were flat-out dangerous.
JAL had a 747 that was involved in a tail strike some years ago. Boeing did the repairs. They failed to do a double row or rivtets in a pressure bulkhead. It was signed off, approved by factory personnel, inspectors, long time exprts working with that specific product and that specific repair. Under pressure that seam failed, and the aircraft lost all hydraulic control. The aircaft crashed in Japaen with all but three dead. Boeing later admitted that they'd made a mistake. Something as simple as a small section of rivets in an unseen location.
Steve Whitman as regarded as a genius in the homebuilding and experimental community. He did some great work, and was well liked. He and his wife were killed on the way to Oshkosh some years ago, due to aileron flutter. He'd made the mistake of mixing two fabric processes, and the pinked seam tapes on an aileron delaminated, leading to flutter, which lead to the loss of the aircraft. Such a repair, you'd never recognize from the outward appearance. It would never be caught on an inspection. But mixing stits and ceconite, for example, just mixing dopes or fabric tapes, even though they're nearly the same...can be disasterous.
I found a big problem on a C-82 during an inspection some time ago. It had already been signed off at the time, but I re-opened the squawk and found a problem that lead me to remove all the fuel lines in aircraft and fabricate new ones. Had it flown in that condition, the aircraft would without any doubt have been lost to an inflight fire. I have no doubt about that. The individuals who inspected that particular item and signed it off were putting their signatures, unknowingly, on an improper repair done many years before...one that wasn't found without considerable effort and time.
I've seen repairs made with household silicon, with improper metal, with improper rivet spacing or sizes (the loss of RV-3 wings, or the failure of them years ago, was often traced to incorrect fasteners...they looked very close, but clearly weren't up to the task). I saw an exhaust repaired by an IA that was composed of a beer car and safety wire. A 182 signed off after an annual with the ailerons rigged 90 degrees out...to put the ailerons neutral, the control wheel was tilted 90 degrees to one side, and the aircraft couldn't turn left! That, by a 25 year IA!
I'm not saying you'll do these things. Looking at the pictures of your work, I see detail orientation and craftsmanship...something lacking in many today. I think you'll probably do fine. I think any inspector would be impressed by the pictures or by the finished product and I suspect a lot of mechanics or inspectors would be quick to sign you off based on that. However, again, the comprehensive nature of maintenance covers making a proper flare on a hydraulic line to safetying a control turnbuckle to balancing a propeller or control surface, to electrical wiring, fabric repair, or performing non-destructive inspection work on components.
I went to work in a repair station with a fresh A&P based on years of experience, and found that I was just scratching the surface. The first hour of work on the first day saw me fabricating fuel lines for a C-97...something I'd never done. I got schooled and got to work. I didn't intend on really using my certificate much. I'd used it in the past, but I had no idea how extensive the work would be that I'd be called on to do.and it was very extensive.
A few years ago I was in a hangar working on a company airplane, and the owner rented out a corner of the hangar to a mechanic who was trying to peddle repair services. His first job was a Commanche that needed an inspection and some work. I watched him progressively strip ever screw on the cowl, then ruin three windscreens. Later I was approached to see if I could open a brake with my shop air. I popped out the puck and looked over the brake, and was told that it was freshly overhauled and leaking like a sieve. The rubber 0-ring packing was the wrong material, wrong size, wrong color, and a cheap harbor freight type. The cylinder walls were scored and scratched, and the entire assembly was filthy, caked with years of buildup. Overhauled? I told the owner exactly what I thought of the individual who could have done that kind of work, and then learned he was standing next to me...and older idiotic IA who made a living pencil whipping annuals and work. That guy isn't alone. There are more out there. All I can say, and exhort n the strongest possible terms, is that whatever you decide to do and whatever path you decide to take, do everything in your power to keep from being that guy.
I'm sure you'll do well. Take it seriously, take the regulation and approved data seriously, and remember that the devil really is in the details. It's the smallest of corrosion, the tiniest of stress risers, the littlest knick or dent or scratch, the most detailed of part numbers or chemical compositions, that make the difference...between your career and the street, between legal and illegal, and between someone's bed, and their grave. One can never take it seriously enough; it's serious business. Vow to never compromise a standard, and to adhere to published procedure and practice like a dear religion. I've seen mechanics who felt they could build it better, stronger...and that's very much the wrong thing to do. There's no such thing as "good enough." Only "correct," or "right."
Again, regardless of your choices, good luck. Congratulations on that engine. It looks like a beauty.
