Moultrie for Annual

[gregorydshanks]

Flew into Moultrie Spence Field yesterday afternoon to have the annual inspection done. Two people were waiting with wrenches poised when we arrived and loaned us a car to use while we are here. Moultrie, despite my first impressions last year, is actually a very cool town, with a number of very upscale restaurants.
Right off the bat, Kip found the pesky oil leak that had been worrying me to death that my home A&P couldn't locate. A leak around the vacuum pump seal was the culprit.
It's worth the trip to Moultrie just to get the annual done in a day and a half; it would have been a day but for the oil leak. The neat restaurants on the square in Moultrie are a bonus, and getting to sit and talk to Ray Maule is icing on the cake.
In case I haven't mentioned it before, talking to Mr. Maule about flying techniques is like having a conversation with god. I only wish I cold have taken instruction from him, but hangar flying with him is still amazing.
Flying down yesterday, we had a 30kt tailwind. 160mph in a Maule is like a dream. ATC around Atlanta was very friendly but missed three traffic alerts and one near-miss. I realize that flight following is a service available as secondary to their primary mission, so it was a reminder to not depend upon ATC in a fairly busy environment. Believe it or not, a lot of the small planes around Atlanta had ADS-B and it was my first time through the area with my ADS-B. It was amazing to watch how accurate the traffic alerts were.

[Mountain Doctor]

Sounds like it was an excellent experience. Any pictures? Having your plane inspected at the factory that built it has to be a great reassurance and give you wonderful peace of mind

[Mog]

Round about what does a factory annual run? Sure would make me feel warm and fuzzy to have them crawl around my plane.

[LT4247]

Well, not exactly. Maule Air is the factory. They make new airplanes.
Maule Air does not do annuals.

Maule Flight is the maintanence shop on the other side of the field and is not associated with the plant. However, both are family owned.

The basic inspection takes 12-14 man hours (i think) times the shop rate plus parts. My costs have run on average $1200. Get it done inside 5 days.

The good thing is Maule Flight rarely works on anything not Maule and knows everything to look for AND the parts dept. is a half mile away.

Round about what does a factory annual run? Sure would make me feel warm and fuzzy to have them crawl around my plane.

[gregorydshanks]

Don't believe for one minute that Maule Air and Maule flight are separate. They have different names and different hangars, and technically, they are different operations, but in reality, they operate in unity. the employees seem to be interchangeable. When Maule Flight needs a part, they stroll into Maule Air and grab a part. It's a beautiful synergy.

I think Ray runs Maule flight and his son Brent, is now president of Maule Air and his grandson works for Maule Air. Ray's sister, Shirley, I believe, ran Maule Air until Brent became president. She may still preside over it.

Last summer during the crunch, it appeared that all the Maule Flight were working at Maule Air.

Anyway, you can take great comfort in knowing that the guy doing your annual has also built them, and probably flies them.