GrummanMechanics

There are frequent requests on the Grumman Gang for Grumman savvy mechanics. The hope is that we may build a database here, similar to the concept of TripAdvisor. The list should be organized by State, and then by field. Under state, insert the field in alphanumeric order, and then insert your mechanic. Please comment good or bad, but try to be fair. The reality is that someone may be excellent, but an owner may have a bad experience. That's fine, and expected. Just be straight, and at least the reader can make more informed decisions. Additionally, please inject a link to your user page after your comments. This will afford some sort of accountability, as well as give readers a source to query if needed.

Policy Change for this page. The intent is to solicit comments and personal recommendations, unlike the rest of Bondline, which is intended to be factual or instructive in the comments, with the content being neutral to individuals or companies. To claim your comments, good or bad, on this page, you must identify yourself with a link to your user page, and begin and end your comments with quotation marks, to separate factual information (name, location, phone numbers, etc.) from your personal experiences, praise, or criticism. Everyone is welcome to add to this page, but do not edit other contributor's quoted comments.

Link each of your comments to your user page, e.g. Bob Steward, like so:

[[User:Bob_Steward|Bob Steward]]

To learn how to format your entries, look at one of the other entries or read the Wikitext Help.

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ARKANSAS

D&T Paint, Mena, AR

Stephen Coffey: "In February, 2008, they painted my airplane, and did an acceptable $3,500 single color job. Communication is horrible. Yes, there are details I would have done differently myself, but didn't have time. I would NOT have them do anything unless you set up a $500 to start, $1000 after you strip it and send me pictures, yaddah yaddah type of plan."

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CALIFORNIA

Mike McCarthy, Spider's Aircraft, MYF (San Diego Area)

Stephen Coffey: "In May, 2007, I was looking at an airplane in the San Diego area, and Mike did a prebuy. He did it almost immediately, and called after he found a couple of items, giving me his impression. This decision saved me a good deal of money as I eliminated the airplane before he spent a ton of time on it. I really appreciated that. He seemed very type-knowlegeable."

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GEORGIA

PDK (Atlanta):

Steve Sirmer, AP/IA 404-788-3616

Stephen Coffey, February, 2009: "Nice guy, very reasonable, and has helped out with that 'needed this week' item for which it didn't make sense for Bob Steward to run over from Alabama. Seems knowlegable and very honest from my limited dealings. Definitely an option."

Bob Steward, AP/IA

Stephen Coffey, February, 2009: "There are just times you don't want anyone else to work on your airplane, if you live in the southeast. If I lived in Birmingham, nobody else ever WOULD work on my airplane. Due to the travel, small things don't make sense to have him travel over, but for most things I absolutely recommend Bob. The job gets done right, and you learn a whole lot in the process."

Mark Clowdus, AP

Stephen Coffey, February, 2009: "I have occasionally used Mark for two airplanes. Mark is thorough, but I've come to question some of his comments. On two airplanes at prebuy, he noted a rotten alternator belt. One of those had been replaced with new 3 months earlier! I've had mixed results, as have others on field. I requested an owner assisted annual at one time, and was turned down. He has insisted that my airplane, despite being 30 years old, needs 12-inch numbers. There are just better options available."

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MISSOURI

1H0 (Creve Coeur Airport) Jaime LeBlanc, AP/IA

Ben Kamen, February, 2009: "Jaime's a crazy cajun who used to work for TWA and has been painting and fixing airplanes for decades. A real craftsman whose prices are reasonable. He knows Grummans as he works on both 2 and 4 seaters regularly. (He usually fixes a few paint jobs from Mena, AR every year too) He's pretty laid back (read: "sometimes slow" with getting the work done. Sometimes it's because his schedule is hectic, sometimes it's due to weather (painting is a touchy thing as we know and he's a perfectionist)), but he gets the job done and the results are well worth it. He did the paint on my 74' AA-1B in 2004, but we had a lot of fixing to do on the plane and everything came out very nice. He also repaired the fiberglass on my front nosewheel and 2 years later you still can't tell."

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WASHINGTON

SHN (Shelton, WA)

Harold Haynes, AP/IA

Stephen Coffey, November, 2007: "I cannot comment on working with Harold, but there seemed to be a LOT of things unaddressed in the airplane that I now own, and had been under his care for 10 years. I know this is somewhat typical, as I've owned several airplanes, but this one was a bit more disappointing than normal. This may be at the behest of the owner, but I feel that at least some of it should have prevented labeling log books with 'found to be in airworthy condition.'"

Olympic Air

Stephen Coffey: "In November, 2008, They did the prebuy on my airplane. They did not want to do a wobble test, and talked me out of it. That cost me about 20 grand. They did not notice that the outboard wing section on the left side had been replaced, and unlogged. Fortunately I found the owner from 1974 and resolved this to the satisfaction of the guys I reluctantly contacted at the FSDO (dumb move, by the way). This is noticeable because of the purple glue in a '72 airplane, which I feel a Grumman savvy mechanic who actually inspected the airplane would have noticed. Essentially, I'm quite sure that the list of items to check I had sent was not so thoroughly checked. I'd travel the plane for another mechanic as opposed to using these guys."