MX7-180A Annual cost and time required for completion?

[widgeon13]

I have had my Maule since 1995 and have paid a range of prices for the annual so I was wondering what the average might be for this aircraft as well as how long the aircraft is down for the work. Never had any issues other than problems with the exhaust system and had that reworked and it's been fine since that work was done.

I'm obviously new to the forum but spending a lot of time reading to catch up with what's going on here. Most of my flying is in the NE.

Love the Maule but I will say that my paint is the one complaint that I have with the aircraft and since it doesn't effect the performance or reliability, it's not a high priority right now. My aircraft was purchased new and before they changed paint process/application.

I've checked with Maule Flight and for a small investment of approx $20K they'll recover the plane and repaint. So for now, it's touch up and fly.

Regards from K09

[a64pilot]

I would think an annual would run in the neighborhood of between $500 and $1,000. An annual is an inspection as I'm sure you know. The cost of fixing the things found during the annual is basically impossible to determine without knowing what is wrong to begin with. So how's that for not answering your question?
Sometimes with an annual, you get what you pay for. I would tell you to try to go to a Maule specialist. There aren't really that many Maules out there. Someone without much Maule experience will spend a lot of time that you are paying for to learn about the aircraft, that's the good IA. A sloppy one will look at it like it was a Cessna and probably will not look where it really needs to be looked at. A specialist will know where to look and know all the SB's etc. without spending as much time looking up as many things. I will tell you to pick a IA and stay with them. If I do an annual on an airplane that I did the annual on last year, then I only have to concern myself with the AD's etc. that have been issued in the last year. If I have never seen the aircraft then I have to go back to it's birth so to speak and that takes more time.
I would think not more than a week if they have the time to devote to your aircraft and not have to stop working on it all of the time to do something else.

[widgeon13]

Thanks for the fast reply. I've been using the same shop now for three or four years and never had a problem as well as I always give the airplane a good inspection myself in the spring. My annuals have run around the $1000 figure each year w/ no issues other than some minor adjustments. I had one annual that was significantly more than the $1000 figure from another shop and have not returned to them as I believe I was actually overcharged although they did a good job. In that case they did have to do all the research for AD's on the plane but still think I was milked somewhat. That was the annual when the exhaust needed some welding repair and had to be sent out.

The shop that does it now has been good on the work but sometimes I have to wait a week or so to get the plane back and that is because I keep getting pushed back due to higher priority jobs, just gets frustrating when that happens and the weather is nice all that time.

I'm aware of what goes on during an annual and don't mind the time if things get done properly since my fanny is on the line if there are any problems. I also give the plane a good inspection when I pick it up prior to flight.

Thanks again for the feedback, hopefully others will reply as well.

[maules.com]

Generally speaking, an annual "inspection" takes 14 hours for the inspection plus the cost of fixing discrepancies. If a fresh to the airplane mechanic works on it, he/she has to satisfy themself that the last shop did a full inspection and that the SL, SB, AD lists were actually complied with rather than entered from the previous entries in the books that quote 'all SL's,SB's,AD's complied with'.