Introduction to This Blog

My name is Peter Millard and I've owned and operated a 1974 Cessna 172 Skyhawk for 26 years.  Quite regularly, people ask me questions about operating and maintaining a C172.  How much does it cost?  How often is maintenance needed?  What has to be done?  What can you do yourself?

This blog is an attempt to answer some of those questions.  The goal is post stories about maintenance and repairs that have been performed on my plane C-GDKX.  Hopefully, some of the lessons learned by me in both watching and performing maintenance will be useful to others.

I'm a mechanical engineer by education and I've always loved working on mechanical stuff.  My dad was a Rolls Royce trained car mechanic (and an RAF pilot) and I guess I picked up my love of both flying and fine machinery from him.

There's a joke amongst AME's (Aircraft Maintenance Engineers) that asks: "What is the most dangerous thing in aviation?  Answer:  A pilot with a toolbox."

Well I guess I'm that guy.  Thankfully, I haven't done any damage to persons or equipment over the years, but I've been able to save a lot of money working on the airplane myself.

So here we go.  Whether you're a pilot, an aircraft owner, a wannabe or just curious, I  hope you enjoy this blog.