I just read “Got an older airplane? Rumors abound that maintenance shops refuse to work on them” (Feb. 2 issue). In the fourth paragraph, your writer states that you have “found no confirmation that shops have turned away older airplanes…” I am not sure which shops you may have called, but it appears not the right ones.
I hangar at KCAC, at Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kan. Just after Christmas, I was clearly told by Tom Conley, maintenance manager, that KCAC had decided not to perform any work on aircraft 18 years of age and older, regardless of make.
My plane is a 1972 Cherokee Six/300. For the past four years, this plane has been actively serviced by KCAC’s maintenance department without complaint. No notice or warning was given to any of us, and the KCAC personnel simply say that it’s a new policy. End of story. If this sort of attitude is the beginning of a trend, all of us that own older aircraft are in serious trouble.
RICHARD HOWELL
North Kansas City, Mo.