Hey all,

I'm an aspiring backcountry pilot who is a ways out from being able to purchase the plane I want.

I'm hoping folks can chime in on a ranked list of skills needed to maintain/fix/modify a Backcountry plane. I may be way off base but... As an example:

1. Experience rebuilding engines
2. Experience re-wiring electrical systems
3. MIG/TIG Welding
4. Rebuilding braking/suspension systems
5. Experience working with sheet metal
ETC..

Any input would be helpful concerning what skills would be helpful to gain as I am just starting into my aviation training and I figure there are some other skills that can save me some time and money in the long run.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Welcome. Help an AI do maintenance, fly with other pilots, rent and fly. There is a lot you can legally do with the AI checking it. Purchase price and maintenance of a 185 is well beyond the financial capability of most of us. Do you have a rich wife?

When we have 2 income streams in a few years a 185 will be in reach, yes. And she will make substantially more than I do. Lol

Just trying to plan for that day and be as prepared as possible... I think 1-4 of the above are useful life skills anyways but figured I'd see if anyone would put more emphasis on a particular skill set to be as competent as possible.

Hopefully some more experienced dudes chime in, but I would consider sheet metal repair a really good skill to have. Airplanes get dinged up from time to time and if you can fix it yourself, you can save a ton of $$$$$. Rebuilding engines goes hand in hand with sheetmetal work.

You say you'll have a Skywagon in a few years and first off, that's an excellent choice. But there isn't too much you can do with a welder on a Cessna. These airplanes are made mostly of 2024 and 2024 don't take too well to welding. A few people I know can weld 2024 with TIG, but AC43-13 says don't do it. Besides, almost all of our repairs are done with rivets which reiterates my first point.

There isn't much you can do with the suspension system either. We have the steel spring gear, and it's best to let the pros fix those. There is a lot of information on the Cessna 170 Association forum about it and to sum it up, don't touch it!!

There isn't much wiring work to be done on a daily basis, unless you want to do your own avionics installs. That being said I would consider learning how to troubleshoot electrical gremlins as those lil monsters do pop up from time to time.

Those are my 2¢ so please take them with a grain of salt. Hope to see more from you fellow Ryan.

Concentrate on the money - making skills. The rest is easy.

Welcome.

gbflyer wrote:Concentrate on the money - making skills. The rest is easy.

Welcome.

I'm going to leave that to my girl who is much more qualified in that department.

pilotryan wrote:Hopefully some more experienced dudes chime in, but I would consider sheet metal repair a really good skill to have. Airplanes get dinged up from time to time and if you can fix it yourself, you can save a ton of $$$$$. Rebuilding engines goes hand in hand with sheetmetal work.

Those are my 2¢ so please take them with a grain of salt. Hope to see more from you fellow Ryan.

Thank you sir, that was what I was looking for as I would've put sheet metal skills pretty low on the list. But you don't know what you don't know.

Thanks for the info and I'll be sure to add that to the list of things to be proficient at.

Ko3n3k3 wrote:Hey all,

I'm an aspiring backcountry pilot who is a ways out from being able to purchase the plane I want.

I'm hoping folks can chime in on a ranked list of skills needed to maintain/fix/modify a Backcountry plane. I may be way off base but... As an example:

1. Experience rebuilding engines
2. Experience re-wiring electrical systems
3. MIG/TIG Welding
4. Rebuilding braking/suspension systems
5. Experience working with sheet metal
ETC..

Any input would be helpful concerning what skills would be helpful to gain as I am just starting into my aviation training and I figure there are some other skills that can save me some time and money in the long run.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Learning one skill or another is great but....

The ability to learn is probably the most important. Be humble. Take your time. Be a perfectionist. Don't put sheet metal screws in holes where machine screws go. Read and learn. Go help an old timer for a couple of years. Log your time and get your A&P.

Tim

Ko3n3k3 wrote:

gbflyer wrote:Concentrate on the money - making skills. The rest is easy.

Welcome.

I'm going to leave that to my girl who is much more qualified in that department.

Then you better forget welding, wiring, sheet metal work and engine rebuilding and concentrate on making her believe that owning an airplane is worth the expense. The ONLY thing that keeps airplanes in operation is vast quantities of cash, day after day, year after year.

Becoming friendly with an A&P with IA that’s ok with doing owner assisted work. The liability on there part is considerably higher. Without there sign offs, leaves you with “preventative maintenance” as all you can do. Experimental is another whole world

gbflyer wrote:Concentrate on the money - making skills. The rest is easy.

Welcome.

This x1000.

gbflyer wrote:Concentrate on the money - making skills. The rest is easy.

Welcome.

Perfectly stated!