Jones, sorry.. it's not that I lost interest in the other thread, it's just this night shift stuff takes some getting used to! The last job I had before going to work at a regional was overhauling piston engines at a little shop near Atlanta.

It's challenging work, in that an O-320 is not an O-320 (every single engine that came in was a little different) and that two identical parts can have different part numbers. It was rewarding, though, when a customer showed up for lunch while out flying his freshly overhauled engine.

I overhauled an engine for an airplane I was part owner in. It still cost a ton of money, though..

If you're going to go this route to make your airplane ownership idea a reality, work there a while, find an engine model you like and can find cheap parts for before choosing a plane.

Some engines that seem like they should be dirt cheap (Lycoming O-235 series) are deceptively expensive. I spent $1400 a cylinder on it, and that was before Superior went under and left Lycoming as a monopoly.