Silver Sky is quickly becoming the premier maintenance facility for inspections and repairs in South-Central Alaska and beyond. We perform maintenance for many established operators in Alaska and have fine-tuned our operations to provide the quality and professionalism they require.
Our team has a wide range of experience and has performed inspections on many types of aircraft including; Kingair’s, PC-12’s, Twin Otters, Learjets, and many other light and medium-sized turboprop and piston aircraft.
Inspections
Major Airframe Inspections
Engine and airframe inspections are a necessary part of owning an aircraft and play a critical role in the overall safety of your operation. At Silver Sky, we strive to be sensitive to your needs and provide maintenance solutions that fit into your operational plan while still holding to our values of quality and safety.
We are always looking for ways to raise the bar in aircraft maintenance here in Alaska. We achieve this through providing the support and capabilities of a large company while maintaining the agility and flexibility of a small, focused group of qualified technicians.
If you are an aircraft owner or operator in Alaska we encourage you to contact us or stop in to see our operation in action first-hand. We guarantee that you will enjoy the friendliness of the company culture we have worked hard to develop and maintain.
Other Inspections
We can perform inspections that would otherwise be impossible by using a fully articulating, state of the art, fiberoptic borescope and a set of custom-made and engine-specific guide tubes. In addition to the standard inspections required by Pratt and Whitney and other turbine engines, we have developed specific processes and tooling to deeply inspect piston aircraft as well. Have you ever wondered about the condition of your camshaft or feel you have gone too many annual or 100hr inspections without doing a complete inspection of your wings or tail surfaces? When was the last time you checked your horizontal spar? We can help without invasive or complicated disassembly. Borescope inspections are just one more way Silver Sky is challenging the status-quo of aircraft maintenance in Alaska.
We know that your time costs money when it comes to getting inspections done and putting your aircraft out for revenue. That’s why we offer in-house flow checking of fuel nozzles for your PT-6 engine using factory approved tooling and flow fixtures. We understand that you may not want to install an exchange set of fuel nozzles (many times the exchange set is very well used and you never know how long they have been in service). If you send your nozzles out for flow checking, it may take a few days for them to be shipped to an outside facility, checked and returned. Both of those processes require time and potentially reduce quality. With our in-house system we remove the nozzles, clean and flow check them, and then install the same set back in your engine. Its your engine, your nozzles, and your time. This is just one more way Silver Sky is changing the way maintenance is done in Alaska.
Silver Sky has the capability to capacity check most main aircraft batteries and emergency power supplies using our unique set of calibrated load meters and chargers. Every test is done according to the manufacturer’s procedures and, once complete, you will be supplied with a report detailing the outcome and results of the test! If you have any doubt about your battery’s lifespan, bring it by and we would be happy to help you determine the true condition of your battery.
The value of a quality pre-buy inspection cannot be overstated. There are many headaches lurking in some aircraft and a thorough pre-purchase inspection is your last chance to find them before someone else’s problems become your own.
Before we start, it’s important to remember that a pre-buy inspection is just that, a “Pre-Buy”. There is no regulatory requirement to perform one, and the goal is simply to help you make an informed decision. Our objective as mechanics is to help you understand the condition of the aircraft and any costs that might come up during ownership. There is no standard, and we can be as quick or detailed as you would like. We feel very strongly that it’s a good idea for prospective buyers to set aside time to have qualified technicians aid in the process. Not only will this give you a better understanding of the investment you might be making, but it will give you a chance to ask questions and see for yourself any damage or items that could be a concern.
Most pre-purchase inspections begin with a conversation about the type of aircraft you are looking at and any major problems that are known to affect that model. This moves into to a review of the records to check for compliance and determine any areas that we might want to look into further when we do the physical inspection (such as damage history or modifications from the aircrafts original type design).
Once the records review is done we should have a list of a few things that will need further investigation on the aircraft. we need to keep in mind that we will need permission from the current aircraft owner before disassembling anything major but most times its easy to effectively assess the condition of the engine and airframe. In addition to the list, we will typically perform a cylinder compression check and open the necessary panels to look everything over. If the aircraft is close to being due for an annual inspection, we can also perform a few service items at your or the owner’s request. If you do end up buying the aircraft and are in need of an annual we might be able to count part of the pre-buy toward the annual.
If you are interested in purchasing an aircraft, we can help you locate one that will fit your mission and budget. We see many aircraft come up for sale every month and can help you find the right one sometimes before it even hits the market. If you have questions or would like to talk more about aircraft ownership, give us a call! We would love to help however we can.