Mike Busch’s “Manifesto” Hits The Mark For Potential Future A&P’s

By Tom Woodward

The first “Oshkosh” fly in was in Hales Corner, Wisconsin in 1953. From its move to Rockford in 1959 and then again to Oshkosh in 1970, people have come to see new and innovative homebuilt airplanes. Of course AirVenture, as the newcomers refer to it, is now much more than just homebuilts. Any aviation “jones” can be satisfied with the addition of Warbirds, Ultralights, Helicopters, Commercial Aviation, Light Sport Aircraft and, heck, even flying cars to the Experimental fleet! But not everyone is looking for a project. Some are still trying to determine what they want to build and whether they are capable of building something at all. Some dreamers realize that they will never be in a position to build their own airplane but still enjoy reading about them.

If you are just looking for a stimulating publication, then of course, “Sport Aviation” hits the mark for a reasonable entry fee. I have several books in my Aviation library which were obtained at Oshkosh. In my collection I have “Sole Survivor” written and personally signed by George Gay, the sole survivor of the Battle of Midway. I also have “Baa Baa Black Sheep” written and again signed by Pappy Boyington. Both legends have passed away so I especially cherish these books. Perhaps my favorite is “Forever Young” written by R.A “Bob” Hoover who personally signed it with the inscription of “All the Best with your flying.” I don’t know how many years ago it was when he shook my hand and signed that book, but while I now probably have five times the number of flying hours in my logbook that Bob has ... I sadly still have only 1/5 the skill.

I picked up a copy of “Manifesto” ... just published by Mick Busch (Savvy Aviator Inc. available from Amazon and other outlets) ... another individual whose line of reasoning I admire. Mike’s RCM, Reliably-Centered Maintenance has always made sense to me. As a relatively new A&P who doesn’t practice as much as I should, I never understood why we take apart an airplane once a year and replace appliances because of manufacturer’s time limits when they are working perfectly well and then hope the airplane works better then it did. Mike doesn’t come up with these ideas out of thin air but he supports his theories with some well researched history of successful maintenance practices.

This is the first in a line of more-to-come books about maintenance from Mike. If you are looking for a book that tells you how to change an alternator or do a fabric punch test, this isn’t it. This book is about a movement to fundamentally change the way you and your 'stuck in the past' mechanic thinks about maintenance. RCM wasn’t Mike’s idea, but he brings it to the General Aviation theater to inform you ... and more importantly, save you money. He highlights his points with personal stories that have you scratching your head and asking yourself “Why have I always done it the other way”. The answer, of course, is ancestor worship and litigation. I’m looking forward to upcoming books.

In other Savvy Aviator news, Mike offers three levels of service. The first is a Prebuy service ($750 for singles, more for twins) where Mike's team will handle everything for your prebuy, including;

• Choosing a shop,
• Ferrying and test flights,
• Managing the physical exam
• Evaluating the prebuy results, 
• A triage of the discrepancies (who pays for what), 
• Coaching the buyer through the final negotiations with the seller.

If you're on the fence about which airplane to buy The Savvy Aviator can help you there. Mike will consult at NO COST;

• Your personal mission profile analysis
• Make and model recommendations
• Preliminary logbook review
• Review of the sales/purchase agreement
• Comparative analysis of multiple aircraft

Savvy Aviator's second offering is their FEVA, Failure Exhaust Valve Analysis. FEVA auto-detects incipient failures of exhaust valves. This service is provided free to customers who are enrolled in Savvy Aviators maintenance program.

Lastly to come out of the Savvy 'Skunkworks' is the Savvy Analysis Report Card. This will alert the customer directly to an iPad or iPhone of how they are managing their engines compared to a database of similar airplanes.

FMI: www.savvyaviator.com