top of page
Brad Demsky

N6215B

Bethlehem, PA.

We had John at CessnaRigging do my pre-buy for a 182Q. It was truly an amazing experience.
He allowed us to be part of the inspection - letting us be by his side as he looked into all of the history of the plane. We learned so much about our future plane. It was a priceless experience.
John is an expert - I have never seen anyone dissect a plane so carefully and in such a detailed manner. He is so knowledgeable in this space and knows exactly where to look for any possible issues. If there are any - you can absolutely be assured he will find them, explain them, and what level of concern you should have. You will also get an idea of what those repairs look like financially so you can make an educated purchase.

I give John a six out of 5 star review!!!

Thanks for doing our pre-buy and helping us purchase our new-to-us 1978 182Q which we absolutely love.

Regards,

Brad (and son Max)

Héctor A. García Sepúlveda

N8889V

TJIG

San Juan, PR.

I’m the proud owner of a C172 M (N8889V).  I bought my C172 almost 4 years ago.  Little by little I have been doing upgrades to make it a better and safer flying machine.  After doing all of the mechanical fixes that were required after purchasing an old airplane, working on some avionics upgrades and a paint job, my focus changed to performance and flight characteristics. 

 

This is what led me to John, like all C172 owners trying to squeeze a couple more knots out of it.  I read about rigging and the drag that it induces when not done correctly.  So who else better to rig my C172 than John?  One little problem: John is in Texas and I’m in Puerto Rico (yes, a U.S. Territory).  So, I decided to give John a call & try to convince him to fly down here and rig my plane.  Long story short, he agreed and the rest is history.  

 

According to John, my plane wasn’t that bad (luckily no wing adjustments were needed).  After he did his magic and aligned the flight surfaces to the correct position, with the correct tensions, the plane is now way better.  It still flies straight like before, but now the controls feel tighter and the movements more crisp and precise.  

 

And about that speed increase? Well, like I said, my plane was not bad at all but I can see a gain of 2-3 mph in cruise speed on my Airspeed indicator at the old power settings in cruise.  You may think that 2-3 miles is not much, but with me being an engineer, that is an airplane that is now 2%-3% more efficient and that flies the correct way (tight, crisp and precise).  

 

John, thank you very much for coming down to the Caribbean and it was an absolute pleasure to have met you.  I hope I can see you soon.

Troy Whistman

N855WH

Midlothian, TX

John helped me tremendously when I narrowed my search of aircraft types that matched my mission, and settled in on the Turbo Retract 182 (TR182).  While shopping, he looked at several listings with me and helped me eliminate some.  We eventually found a TR182 that had spent most of its current life in Deer Valley, AZ, near Phoenix, and I went out to look at it.  I took tons of pictures, including inside inspection plates and the engine area.  John looked these and the logs over, and we felt it was worth a closer look, so he accompanied me via airline (FIRST CLASS!) to check the airplane out in person.  It passed muster, so I put in an offer and bought the airplane. 

 

John and my instructor then accompanied me back to AZ one more time, to take care of a couple of prebuy items (such as replacing the intake gaskets) and we flew it home to Texas.  Right after we got back, a huge ice storm hit the North Texas area, and that lasted for about a month, so I got John's undivided attention, as his scheduled customers were unable to fly in. 

 

With his careful attention to detail, we took care of adding things that I wanted in the airplane:  BAS inertial reel harnesses, JPI engine monitor, Rosen visors, and a thorough annual that replaced things like the wing root fuel hoses and some age-limited items like the brake and nose gear hydraulic lines.  I've had the airplane for 6 years now, and John has handled 95% of my maintenance, and we couldn't be happier with the dispatch reliability we've had under his careful maintenance and attention to detail.

Bob Shettel

N759GL
Aspen, CO

I partnered in a great 182 (N759GL) a year and a half ago, and, with our partner, decided to have John check out and bring up to par our rigging. We had to fly with about a half-inch (on the wheel) of left rudder trim to fly straight, and had to use aileron trim to keep the plane from peeling gently off into its own turns. Full disclosure: I am a retired automotive and motorcycle mechanic, and have always prided myself in my own 'anal-ness' when it comes to my work. I stayed and helped with the job, just to get some education into the machine, and, frankly, John made me feel sloppy in comparison.


He replaced every single sheet metal screw he stumbled upon that should have been a machine screw; even installing new nut-plates where the threads were boogered up. The rigging was an exercise in precision and the ends justified the detail that John put into it. He also installed flap gap seals, so I'm not sure exactly how much of the resulting speed increase was the seals or the correct rigging, but the plane now flies dead straight, stays solidly in turns, and is so stable that my wife thought I had the autopilot on during our return flight when I kicked back with just a finger on the yoke. Our top speed is up about 6 knots, which is a bit more than just the seals would ordinarily provide, so I KNOW the rigging improved that, too.


In short, if you like super accuracy and attention to detail in your doctors, financial planners, or mechanics, John is your man.

Mark Blackmon

N734GR

KGPM

John re-rigged my Cessna 172N a year ago, and the difference is noticeable. I have owned N734GR for 8 years and for 7 of those years I have used right rudder to keep the plane on course. After the re-rig, my workload was reduced by half or more. Gone was the left turn, and the sloppy feel. The aircraft flies so well that I am rethinking the installation of an autopilot.


Subsequently, when I added an engine monitor six months ago, John was the only mechanic I trusted to do the job. He brought the same attention to detail for the monitor installation that I had seen on my re-rig. From clearing out old wiring, to re-running vacuum lines, and setting up the monitor, John went the "extra-mile". He found and corrected problems not related to my installation; things he noticed that "weren't right", he made right.

 

When I think of John and the quality of his work, the word that comes to mind is "CRAFTSMAN".

Dan & Vicki Eifert

N9069X

In 2008, we had Monarch main and auxiliary installed in our 1961 182D Skylane.

The installation required the wings to be removed and re-installed.

Since then I had suspected the aircraft to be somewhat "out of rig". To correct this, we took the airplane to John Efinger. John was highly recommended by the Cessna Pilot's Association. Since it was annual time anyway, John not only rigged the airplane but also completed the annual.

John did a fantastic job with the rigging as the airplane now flies perfectly "hands off". John also took extreme pains to ensure that everything was correct during the annual and this included many hours of cleaning under the floor. John pointed out several discrepancies that had been overlooked for many years of maintenance, some of which were quite serious.

I only wish we weren't based so far away from John, but we still plan on using John's services as much as we possibly can. Thanks John.

Phil & Pam Sprang

N9238G

I just got home from having John rig our 182 and feel compelled to comment on the experience. We flew our plane to Texas from Ohio just to have this done as John has the well-earned reputation of being the best. He proved it to us!


John went out of his way to make sure that our plane was well cared for, including leaving his house at 3:30 in the morning to make sure it was OK during a thunderstorm.

John spent the first day making adjustments a bit at a time until he was satisfied. Check, re-check, etc. By late afternoon, the plane was ready for a test flight but the weather didn't cooperate. The following morning however, the conditions were perfect. John and I flew the plane and I'm here to tell you that it has never flown so well.


In level flight, it flew perfectly straight, hands and feet off the controls and no need to adjust the trim other than to trim for level flight. We then put the plane in a 20 degree bank to the left. It stayed there with no tendency to deviate from that bank and no control inputs from me. The same was true with a bank to the right. I can honestly say that I've never experienced anything like this before in my 20 years of flying.


John has been rigging Cessnas for years and has truly perfected his methods into an art form. He knows what he is doing and does it well. I highly encourage anyone with a Cessna that doesn't fly straight to get it to John. It is time and money well spent! Thank you John!

 

Gary Andreas

182P

Our 182 flies better now than it has ever flown since we owned the plane. I honestly was not aware that the plane could fly like this. I am not exaggerating when I say I could tell the difference the moment the plane left the ground.


1. It trims much, much faster. Before rigging,  it seemed like I had to make lots of adjustments and it took a while to get it trimmed. Now I can trim it very quickly.

2. It flies as well in non-smooth air as it flew in smooth air before you rigged the plane.
3. It is much more responsive to control inputs (it does what you ask it to do and does it much smoother and quicker).


It is now a pleasure to fly even when the winds are not perfect.

Larry C. Roberts, MD, MA

N185WG

Amarillo, TX 1977 Cessna A185F

I was of the opinion that I flew one of the best Cessna 185s in the country. Boy, was I surprised after my first real annual at John's shop.

John found over 90 deficiencies, some of which were significant flight safety items, and all either ignored, overlooked or inappropriately fixed by the mechanics in Amarillo to whom I had entrusted my plane.

Needless to say, I have had a meeting of the minds with the owner of the shop and his chief mechanic, supported by John's excellent photos and documentation. John is without question the most conscientious, competent and thorough mechanic that I have ever met. I will never let anyone else do an annual on my airplane. In addition, John performed a complicated re-rigging of my plane. It is now a pleasure to fly and a much more stable instrument platform as well. I can't say enough good things about John. He is as rare as he is good.

Al Boyles

N2725V

177RG

I brought my 75 Cardinal RG in for John Efinger to do a rigging and annual. Boy! This guy knows his "stuff".

If I had not brought my plane to John, I probably would have still, unknowingly, been flying an airplane not worthy of being in the sky. John found a lot of "stuff" not only in the sub-floor, but the engine compartment all the way to the end of the tail cone. There was 35-year-old wiring, high grade airplane tar, corrosion, illegal homemade parts, and "stuff" left behind by other mechanics and avionics installers.


I now, have a plane that I would be proud to show to anyone, and it is all because of John Efinger. Thank you, John, for making my plane safe for me and my passengers. If only other mechanics would take as much pride and care in their work as you do, we would probably have safer aircraft and fewer mechanical failures. I HIGHLY recommend John Efinger as your next IA to do a rigging and/or annual on your Cessna. I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

T210

I just wanted to say how pleased I was with the rigging job on my airplane. John is a wealth of knowledge and does a great job. I’ve been flying the airplane for a little over a month (25 hours) now since it was rigged and have noticed that the plane does fly about 1-2 knots faster than before and flies straight and level hands off.

 

On a side note, John went out of his way to drop and pick me up from the hotel. When I was unable to get a shuttle to DFW for a flight I needed to take on business during the rigging job, John brought me to the airport so I could catch my flight.I would highly recommend using John and plan to use him for some additional work on my plane in the future.

Gene Stocker

Krum, Texas, XA72

Just a very short note to thank John Efinger and his mechanic, Brett. John accepted my old Cessna 182 B (1959 model with 3300 hours) for a rigging job after someone else messed it up. I was shocked when I picked it up and went on a test flight with John. I've always had to use a lot of rudder to fly straight and level.


Not only did the plane fly straight and level hands-off for the first time, it also flew almost 15 knots faster than before, with the same power settings and same alts. Approach and landings feel a whole lot more stable now. I was considering adding an autopilot from a firm in Las Vegas when they recommended that I call John first. I am glad I did.
Thanks again, John.

WD Lewis

N182WD 1979 TR182

San Carlos, CA.

I had been shopping for a TR182 for a couple of years. I found one near Corpus Christi, TX. (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area). I called the Cessna Pilots Association, (if you aren’t a member you should check it out!), to get the name of a competent A&P/AI in Texas. John Frank gave me John’s name.


It was somewhat serendipitous in that one of the things I wanted done if I purchased the plane was to get it rigged and John is a CPA recommended rigger. John’s pre-buy is as in-depth as an annual so I ended up just having it annualed.


The plane had somewhat of a checkered past. John went through the plane with a fine tooth comb. He totally rewired the panel as good, (probably better), than you would expect to see it come out of the factory. On top of that I did an avionics upgrade at the same time as well as added a JPI 800, (You gotta have one!). I don’t know the word to describe John… Craftsman? Artisan? Detective? I just can’t describe his dedication to quality. If he comes across something he can’t figure out he isn’t shy about calling others who may know. I guess my recommendation for John could be summed up in the fact that I’ll be making the flight to John’s shop in Fort Worth every year from the San Francisco Bay area for my annual.

 

Wayne Lenox

N2483G

John is one guy that loves his work and it shows. My 1959 C-182B was checked over and rigged by John. His detail to doing the job right showed in the finished product. When I flew 83G home, it flew straight, hands off. Thanks, John, for the great work..

Bob

N545BL

This is the best money spent on an aircraft. After the rigging it will fly like it's on autopilot. John does a great job and is very knowledgeable in his field. Thanks!

Dennis

182P

I took my 182-P to John for an overall "sanity check" (the airplane had not been flown very much for the previous 5 years) and a persistent right wing heavy problem. John was very thorough and found one issue with the flap that could have turned into a serious problem down the road and had previously gone unnoticed by more than one AP/IAs. Several other issues were also corrected.

 

The airplane now flies virtually hands off and I have the additional piece of mind that my 182 has been checked over in the "firewall aft" department. John's generous hospitality and friendliness were an unexpected nicety. Well worth the investment.

Mike Hopkins

N5515M, 9F9, Fort Worth, TX

John does great work and gets more done in an hour than any other GA mechanic that I have ever had work on my airplane for the 12 years I have owned it. He has replaced a windscreen, completed annuals, and rigged my airplane.

Robin Browne

N3217Y

Cessna 182E

Dallas Executive (KRBD)

I first used John a few years ago for re-rigging my plane, and I was so impressed by his work ethic and enthusiasm that I switched my annual to him. He has now done two annuals as well as a large amount of other maintenance work (replacing fuel bladders, installing EDM-800, and de-gunging the lower inside hull).


I would recommend John unequivocally and without hesitation; he does great work, refuses to provide anything less than the best service and support for his clients, and is a nice guy to boot. He epitomizes what a light aviation technical professional should be; great service, wide experience and 110% commitment.

Adam Von Hunter

N732ZU

Cessna 210M

Conroe, TX, (CXO)

I signed up for one of the rigging days just to get someone else to look the flight controls over. The 1977 210 was flying quite nice.

 

As soon as I pulled up to the door, John was inspecting the plane. As soon as it was inside he and Adam were making a list and opening the plane up. The next day was a real experience as they went to work. Not only did I get rigged, I got a good Airframe Inspection and a list of problems found. There were more problems than I would have liked, but glad to know about them.


At the end of the day, there was a lot of work done to an airplane that now flies nice. Both John and Adam were very apt to explain what they were doing. The only negative, if there was one, is that my time was up and they had to make room for the next plane. It was time and money well spent.

Dick Mundee

N110KM

Cessna 210N

Conroe, TX, (CXO)

I just returned from spending three days with John & Adam at Hicks Field in Ft Worth TX, a truly "GREAT" experience! John & Adam rigged my aircraft and Adam took care of a "nagging" nose wheel shimmy problem.

 

Fortunately for me, the weather turned bad enough that two of the scheduled participants had to cancel. Adam & John gave me a "THREE" day education on rigging and landing gear maintenance that was worth its weight in "GOLD"! I do all of my own maintenance on N110KM and this was two areas of concern that few A&Ps totally understand.


John is the first A&P I have dealt with that is "MORE ANAL" than I am about the "Accuracy & Quality" of work on an aircraft!!! Their work resulted in a very tight smooth handling aircraft that gave me 3 Knots in increased cruise performance. I would "Highly Recommend" these guys for any maintenance needs you may have.

Larry Guarcello

N5897C

1973 C182P

After 33 years of annual inspections and 33 years in the air, it was time for 97C to return to its original performance characteristics. While an annual inspection tends to renew your confidence in your bird's overall health, I've learned it does very little to insure that the most vital aspect of your bird - its flight controls - are prepared to deliver optimum performance and safety in the coming years.


After spending the day with John Efinger and Adam Halop, I can honestly say this was the best investment I've made in my airplane and I've learned more about flight performance and the necessity for proper rigging than I thought possible.

 

John discovered many vital areas which had never even been lubricated, tensioned or adjusted since it left the factory and, more importantly, located twisted cables in the elevator trim mechanism which posed a serious threat.

 

When completed, the rigging left my bird with better specs than when it left the factory and the flying performance, feel and speed were greatly enhanced. Hands off straight and level flight are a pleasure I've never experienced until visiting CessnaRigging.


Most importantly, my sense of confidence in the "guts" of the airplane has never been higher. I highly recommend John Efinger and truly appreciate his craftsmanship and dedication to perfection.

Van Ellis

N78183

 

 

I purchased C172 N78183 in 2001. The ailerons were visibly out of rig, riding 2 in. above the flaps on both sides at neutral. The Rudder required hard input to keep the ball centered; so much input, it was next to impossible to keep the heading centered and my right leg would be trembling after a long flight. There was not enough Rudder to allow a forward slip. I horsed this aircraft to the left coast and back in this condition. It came to a head when I began taking Instrument lessons in this plane, The inability to keep the heading indicator centered was very discomforting to my flight instructor and I was planning another flight to the coast.


I contacted John and told him that I had a 172 that really flew sorry, an understatement, and that I was planning a trip in six weeks. While half expecting the usual "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part", I was pleasantly surprised when John's reply was "bring it down and let me do a walk around". I did, and John said that he had no immediate openings, but would try to work me in. A week or so later, John e-mailed he had an opening if I could get the plane there.

 

I took it there on a Saturday morning and John replaced the flap rollers and started rigging the flaps. He worked through the day and into the night, getting the plane airworthy at 2130 hours, so that I could fly home. I brought it back on Monday and he finished the job.

 

I just returned from the coast two days ago and the plane flies absolutely hands off.

In fact I flew it most of the way with my feet off the pedals and a very light touch on the wheel.


John is one of those rare combinations of total competence along with the integrity to do what he says he will, when he says that he will, and at the price he says he will.


Before you spend cash for more electronic do-dads, get your plane rigged straight; absolutely the best money I have ever spent on an airplane.

Jon Lewis

N3267S

Taylor, TX

 

 

I purchased my Cessna 182G, N3267S, from an ad on the CPA forum. After flying it for a short time I noticed that the rudder trim was necessary for all flights and at cruise was not sufficient for coordinated flight. After doing some research I contacted John and we scheduled a time for my rigging.


Now John is a real gentleman and he needed to be as I drove all the way to the airport that morning without the plane keys. It turns out that I was 1.25 hrs late (without a phone call as I didn't have his number) and he never complained about it. We did get right down to business and start the rigging process.


At the time John would either do all of the work himself, or let you help by doing the tasks that you are capable of. I also brought my best friend with me so we were able to keep up with him.

After explaining my issue in detail, John walked around the airplane and spent about 15 minutes just with a thorough examination of all control surfaces. During this time he found the problem with the rudder, hidden damage and a faulty repair were the cause.

Okay, well, I now knew that I needed a new or repaired rudder, but we came to get everything rigged and proceeded down that path.


Since we had a known rudder problem, we proceeded to complete the rigging prior to dark so I could make my way back to home. The return flight was a dream. My controls were much smoother and lighter than they had ever been. I would highly recommend this to any airplane as it really makes a difference.


The real benefit of working with John is that he shows you what to do to keep your airplane in tip-top shape. This knowledge is a wonderful addition to the ease of flying once his rigging job is accomplished.

Lander Gerez

XBIFL

TR182 Cuernavaca, Mexico

 

It all started when we bought a "flying" right gear up landed TR182 1980 at a cheap price with 400 hrs SOH and everything, I mean everything, working. Recent new paint job, new windshield, strike finder, Northstar GPS, Garmin GTX320 transponder, oxygen, etc.


We have had the airplane for 2.5 years and we have upgraded with complete new leather interior and plastics, fuel scan 450 and Garmin GNS430, and so on. The only open issue was that the airplane had a heavy right wing and that the autopilot would hold straight and level, but would not turn to the left.

 

We have heard many nice things from CPA about John, and as he was the closest to our home-base, we finally decided to fly the airplane to Dallas. We are located in Cuernavaca, Mexico, like 60 miles south from Mexico City.
 

I personally flew the airplane with another friend. Both of us are VFRs. We stopped at McAllen for customs, then took another leg until Austin, because the weather caught us. We slept there, and the next day, at about 13:oo hrs we started our next leg trying to reach Dallas. We flew all the time beneath the ceilings of 3000- 3500 ft. We got there and John was waiting for us, so we hangared the airplane fast and we started work the next day.

 

John worked many, many hours in the airplane for a fixed rate, as it was quite complicated in our case. He also worked Saturday and Sunday until we got the best settings. We actually tested the airplane at 10:00 PM many times. He really worked for 4 days long. He changed some rollers kits and did a superb job. He has quality.


At the end, our airplane still suffered from right wing heavy, but a very light one. But this is caused by a bent right aileron that we have to change soon. After we came back, my brother and Robert (third partner) have been flying the airplane and everybody agrees that he gave us like 8 knots more plus just a light right wing heavy that the autopilot can work it out.


We are very pleased with his work and let me tell you that this was a very interesting experience for me, as I had never flown inside the US, plus I know my airplane better and learned a lot.
 

Let me tell you US citizens, you guys have it easy there to fly, with so many airports, strips, helps, etc, etc, etc. I might think that Mexico has less airports than just the state of Texas. Now I know why all the GPS have the "nearest" feature.

Conrad Koerper

TR182

Del Rio, TX
 

 

Adam at CPA recommended John to me.

John Efinger is the most motivated, compulsive, and thorough A&P I've met. I was one of his initial "rigees" and have had no complaints.

 

I flew from San Angelo, TX to Fort Worth in the middle of July; and hung around to help with shagging tools and the small talk. By mid-afternoon I had become a limp, (sweat) wet shop rag trying to catch one more breath before I fell into a full heat stroke. John, on the other hand does all his work on inline skates and never broke a sweat. He adjusted and lubricated rigging, stopped to sweep and tidy the shop and the plane, and rigged some more. That night we had a great steak somewhere in the downtown bowels of Ft. Worth.


Expecting we were through the next morning, I watched John check a few things out till the middle of the afternoon. We flew a plane and found it much easier to fly straight and level, gentler on the controls and couple of knots faster.

 

When time is coming for a second rigging adjustment. I wouldn't take TR182 N73622 to anybody else. John is a phenomenon doing phenomenal work..

Mike Hoke

N4709B

Reno, NV
 

 

I just had my 1955 180 rigged by John at the end of October 2004.

 

He found an amazing number of problems, and I was very impressed by his thoroughness and attention to detail, and willingness to keep on working until everything was right.

 

My airplane had mis-rigged ailerons, much too loose cable tension on the flaps, too tight cable tension on the stabilizer trim, bent push-rods on the ailerons, several frozen pulleys, etc, etc.

 

It now handles much better, flies absolutely hands-off, and is a few knots faster. In short, I highly recommend John Efinger's rigging service!

Bill Whatley

N1729F

"52" 180

 

My plane’s rigging had been analyzed by several mechanics incorrectly before taking it to John.

 

He solved my problems. John Efinger is the kind of individual I want working on my Cessna 180 Skywagon.

 

In addition to being very knowledgeable, he is very conscientious about his work. You’ll find mechanics that may work for less but not have John’s attitude for doing work on your plane “the correct way.”

Rob Johnson

N711P, Cessna T-210M

 

Folks, I want to talk about two things here.


The first is the NEED to have your rigging checked. When I bought my plane it was right wing heavy. The 210s have ground adjustable trim tabs on the ailerons so I tweaked those guys and had her flying OK but I have had a full blown rigging job on "the list" ever since I bought her just because I like everything "just right". So, when I finally worked down "the list" to rigging, I went out to see John Efinger.

 

I took my plane to John to "fix" my ailerons but it turned out that I had what was a VERY serious problem! It turned out that my flaps were seriously out of rig. When I would select the 10 degree detent they were going down to 15 and 17 degrees! The 20 degree detent was actually going to 25 and 27 degrees and on the last notch they only moved 5 and 3 more degrees!


On my 210, the first 10 degrees can be extended at 140 knots then the rest needs to be extended when less than 105 knots. My usual practice is to drop the gear and the first notch of flaps at 120 knots but sometimes if I am "behind" I will drop them at as high as 130 knots. (thinking that I was still 10 under max). So for the first 6 months I owned the plane every single time I extended the flaps, I oversped them! Just think, on the right flap I was going down 17 degrees, nearly to the second notch while 15-30 knots too fast!
Silly me! All this time when that flap indicator said "10 degrees" I thought it meant 10 degrees! Never assume! So even if your plane flies "right", get that rigging checked guys! You really just don't know what's going on until you do!


Then back to the original reason I took the plane to John, the right wing heavy. The very first thing John did as part of rigging was to level the plane! Then, the very first thing John noted was that the turn coordinator is not level. When the plane is level I have about 10% of the ball across the line.


So as far as the right wing heavy goes, I was inducing a lot of that by centering the ball when the ball was wrong! I was flying in a perpetual slip! In the course of rigging the plane I found a serious problem I did not know about. The problem I thought I had was something else altogether!

 

Check your rigging guys!

You simply do not know what is going on with your plane until you do!

 

Now that we have established that you absolutely should get your rigging checked, lets cover why John is the man for the job. I like professionals. I enjoy people who have a strong work ethic and an inner desire to do the best job they can possibly do. John is that kind of person. He is the consummate professional who will be happy with nothing less than a job that is dead spot on. If John is working on my plane I know it is going to be 100% right when I taxi away. I simply can't say enough good things about John and his work. Give your plane a treat; let John give it a full body massage. Both you and your plane will be happy you did!

Harmik DerSahakian

N5193T

Cessna TR182

 

I own a 1982 Cessna TR182. I bought it in November of 2009. As with any pre-owned aircraft, there is always an element of unknown about how the aircraft was flown. Log books give you a picture of how it was maintained but not how it was operated.

 

I flew my plane to John’s base airport (T67) for rigging. As he started working on it he called me on a daily basis. He had given me an update to his findings and progress. As his work went on, I also added more requests and he was very gracious to do his best to accommodate me.

During his test flight he recognized that my plane was not performing as this model should. He contacted me and told me what he thought the problem was and that it was up to me if I wanted him to look into the possible problem. To cut a long story short, his diagnoses were on the money.

 

For example, my aircraft had been suffering from excessive oil loss. I was losing a quart of oil for about 5 hours of flight. John’s methodical approach to the problem identified my wet vacuum pump as the problem, and by changing it to a dry pump he fixed the problem. No more dripping pool of oil on the tarmac after flight.

 

As far as performance goes he identified my other problems. He installed a new fuel pump, completely overhauled my mags and overhauled my carburetor.

 

After his expert rigging, my plane is as stable as it comes and it absolutely leaps off the runway. His suggestion of overhauling the above mentioned parts resulted in a decrease in fuel burn (I was burning about 15 gph with ¼ cowl flaps closed in order to keep my cylinders within the 380° F). Now my fuel flow is about 12.6 gph with cowl flaps closed ¾ and making book speed numbers.

The work was first class and the communication was over and above. No work was performed without first calling and discussing it with me. No surprises when I got my invoice. Looking forward to a long relationship with John. Thank you for all the hard work, John.

bottom of page