After last week’s “heavy flying” week, this was a no flying week (except for JetBlue).  I needed to be in New York for some IBM business.  As usual, I felt the urge to multi-task and decided that this was the perfect week to get the annual inspection done on the Cirrus.  The annual is not due till next month … But since I was out of town anyway, I thought it was the perfect timing.  Besides… I would feel much more comfortable going to the WFIF event next month with a fresh annual.

Luckily, the folks at Leading Edge were able to accommodate my last minute request and said they “hoped” to finish by Friday “depending on what they find”.  Like many aircraft owners, the annual inspection usually strikes fear in my heart.  While the plane has no known squawks, who knows what they will find when they start taking things apart.  Worse yet, who knows how much will it cost!

So when I returned home to Tampa today, I called the folks at Leading Edge to see how it was going…

This is what they showed me:
While the picture was downright painful for me to see, they told me some gr8 news!!  After the complete annual inspection, the only material item that needed attention was the left main tire, which needed to be replaced.  As you can see, they were almost done with that today:

By tomorrow, they tell me that it will be washed and back in my hanger.

That is absolutely perfect timing…. On Saturday, I am planning to go to the EAA fly-in in Vero Beach and on Sunday I am planning to do an Angel Flight from Pensacola to Miami for 2 year old boy that needs to get to Miami Children’s Hospital.

So overall, my anxiety is greatly relieved and I can happily say … “Another year’s annual drama done!!”

Cheers,
== T.J.==