You will save money.... by doing some of the stuff yourself... you should only have the mechanic come check the stuff that you are doing... and some of the specialized stuff... When Kevin says its a 100 hr... it really is not... its normal routine maintance... until it involves a item that is not on the list that owners/operators can do... such as checking the cable tension... their it takes a special piece of equipment.... and knowledge of what to do... before attempting it...
Changing oil and filters yourself... especially if you get them from some place like Chief aircraft supply and the oil from the local jobber... you can save from what we have seen up to 300 bucks... by doing the job yourself... you will need a couple of tools and some special stuff... a new gasket for the fwd engine pan...and some safety wire..0.030 ss sold in spools... The grease that is used most of the time on the fittings and rails is 81322A,b,c again refer to the service manual for the proper itmes... they are listed in the front of the service part... buy a 5 lb can of grease.. and keep it closed up when not in use... its cheeper... and will last you a long while...
Tools.. ahhh here is where sears shines... with their good all around tool sets... you don't need a big one... just 3/8 and 1/4 dirve stuff will work... the only thing is screwdrives... Use apex bit holders... sears sells them... on the 1/4 drive adapter... looks like a screwdriver but, has a 1/4 squair end....
YOu should start seeing a savings in the mechanics cost too... as you do some of the lubing yourself... so that 50 or 75 bucks an hour that he chargers should drop from 8 hrs to 2 or so...
As to the things that need to be inspected and looked at at the periodic intervals... (I won't call them the 100 hr stuff) is more lube and looking.. and if you don't see where it says to take anything out... don't... its not a annual... its more a lube and check thing.... the annual is when you get to pay the IA for his look see.. and you have to do all the itmes... and your right if you start 3 months earlier you need to make sure that its completed in a timely manner... looking at the plane is checking for replacement itmes... Lubeing is where you check for slipping and sliding and metal wear....
Now if you can get the wife out to clean after you have lubed... great.. but, just remember... the pay is never good enough and the boss has a tendency to be too flirtatious... and the bum doesn't even buy lunch... smile...
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