This was posted on another forum, and I could not have written it better myself. It states everything that should be said, and nothing it should not. The drift was also that it is extremely important to select the maintainer, who has some semblance of knowledge on your particular aeroplane. The consequences of not doing this can be very harsh indeed. I speak from bitter experience on this one. The good news, I came out of it, saved the plane and my sanity, albeit at some financial cost.
Good re-post….but for certain types…like a V-tail Bo it is probably difficult to find that expert….even for a Mooney in the UK it is difficult (easier in Germany or France)….so YOU have to become that expert!
Exactly Anthony, and that can be a long and painful process….As time goes on, we are actually losing that expertise, being replaced by the, diagnostics chap, a bit like an Audi dealership.
It is no criticism, it is just a statement of inevitable fact…
My ‘practical use’ plane is endowed with precisely zero type experienced maintenance shops on the same continent and a maintenance manual that is useful mostly to make people smile. For instance, the manual provides a rigorous valve adjustment schedule when the manufacturer never shipped a single plane/engine with adjustable valves… Current manufacturer support is provided by a single man who can supply no parts and whose function seems to be collecting the names of owners for his collection 
I’m quite happy with my maintenance organization regardless, and have never had a problem getting my maintenance plan approved… (neither such thing exists). I think unless the owner is prepared to lead, organize and serve as the focal point in maintaining his/her property in real time there will always be some level of problems.
