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Compass Overhaul
by Mike
ANSWERS: If you are a certified airframe mechanic, then the answer is yes you could overhaul the compass following instructions provided by the manufacturer. You would then need to perform a compass swing to determine the accuracy of the compass and prepare a compass correction card. Once the work is completed, you would need to make a logbook entry to document the maintenance performed. Any time you perform maintenance on an aircraft, you are required to record that maintenance in the aircraft records. This requirement can be found in FAR 43.5. On the other hand, if you are the owner/pilot without a mechanics certificate, then the question becomes an interesting one. As a pilot, you can only perform preventive maintenance, which is defined as simple or minor preservation operations and the replacement of small standard parts not involving complex assembly operations. Overhaul would not be classified as preventive maintenance. The definition of maintenance is inspection, overhaul, repair, preservation, and the replacement of parts, but excludes preventive maintenance. Aircraft Spruce calls the kit you are referring to a repair kit. Is the process considered complex? Not really. Are you only replacing small standard parts? Perhaps. But, if you were to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the compass with the replacement parts provided in the kit, and make a logbook entry as outlined in FAR 43.9, would that be within the definition of preventive maintenance? I would say no. Another question would be, can a pilot perform a compass swing and record the results on the compass correction card? I would say no to this as well. This all comes down to ones interpretation of the rule, but I think it would probably be best to have a mechanic take of these tasks for you. |
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