Unaffordable/Unavailable

[Saml]

I have a hunch that 9, 200 is some sort of default price in Cessna's system. They want the same for a shimmy dampener and a carb heater box for a Cardinal.

[johnopalko]

Love DigiKey. They're my go-to parts supplier. You may have had better luck soldering if you'd used solder paste and a heat gun.

[lisaleedavidson]

On the strut, NH hydraulics in Manchester NH and Dynachrome in MA can refurbish then it has to be inspected by IA for serviceability. These companies specialize in hydraulic cylinder repair/re-chroming. Not an FAA repair station so has to be inspected for use by an IA under the new replacement parts rule.

[aero]

Good content. (I set speed to 1.5X normal).

[williambeatty]

I would have taken the strut to an auto shop and had chromed and put it together myself. So many aviation prices are just ridiculous. If an issue won’t cause a safety of flight problem just fix it ! Also, if you have an A&P that wants bankrupt you find a different mechanic.

[pharmakon]

Legacy Part 91 operations for standard GA planes 30+ years old should fall under the same repair rules as Experimentals, full stop.

You can load an Experimental with 6-people, file IFR, and land at the Class Bravo with nary a certified part on it.

The hamstringing of Legacy GA is absurd.

[bigdaddie]

I had the same problem years ago with my C-310H. I found a shop in San Jose, CA that was an FAA approved repair station that did gear replating for airliners. I think it cost me like $500 for both struts, BUT that was 30 years ago.

[lowik]

Savvy junkie happy to be among first 10 viewers.

[galen]

Wentworth Aircraft Inc is another great source for parts.

[Brian_C_]

Does anyone fly for fun anymore? I got back into aviation a year ago after not flying for 10 years, and it’s really hard to find a place that’s not marketing rentals exclusively towards the 141/ATP path. Prices are too high, the airplanes are junk, and the CFIs/owners are kinda jerks toward people who just want to rent an airplane to fly occasionally for fun. I like Mikes’s presentations; but the state of GA is depressing these days.

[JK-rvtp]

Canada has a category called "Owner Maintenance". You can put your plane into that category and the owner can sign off all maint and overhauls (he only has to be a pilot) and use uncertified parts. Major serialized components must be Xed out on their data plates. The list of eligible aircraft is quite large. The guy with the Corvette powered SeaBee put it in OM to do so. The biggest downside, other than it being very difficult to go back, is Transport Canada couldn't get the FAA to recognize the category. So you can't even overfly US territory in your OM airplane, let alone enter the us via customs. Perhaps FAA will look at a similar category based on canadian data in future.

[amtpdb]

I am an a&p for 20 years with little to no work experience. I have a few questions I hope you will answer. 1. What type of paperwork did you have to do on the electronics connector you did? 2. On the wing access for the piper structs there are no dimension listed. The AD does not list or connection attachments. How can you make this and what paperwork is needed? 3. If the part is available, can you copy the part and install the copied part? (The Cessna bottom struct added parts on the floor cost at 8, 000 and are only 8 parts plus rivets and bolts)What paperwork would be needed? 4. As I understand if you install a owner made part on a plane it cannot be rented out. What if it cannot be found at any price? 5. If a plane lands without the gear, can I make the skins and ribs, former, ect. or do I have to buy them if available? Alot of this was not covered very deeply in school. 5. What would it cost to have a engineer draw up something like an access door and do what ever paperwork needed by the FAA? (What paperwork would be needed?). What log book entries would be needed? Sorry I brought all this up here, but you can see that on the webinar I most likely not get one question answered. Thanks for the Webinar and any answers you have for me. Have a nice week.

[dbkonkle]

It was a sad day when I learned Garmin stopped supporting the 495/496/696 series. Those units are better in many ways than the newer units that replaced them. I bought several 495 marine units off eBay for use on my motorcycle long after garmin discontinued them.

[whoanelly-]

Solved this problem. LSA. Light Sport Repairman. 👋🏻

[onedsc]

GA is effectively dead for anybody that wants to do it for fun and doesn't own an airplane. I was considering getting my PPL, but this is depressing.

[richardturner]

Yet another example of the absolute absurdity the FAA. Owner produced parts. 1st rule should state that liability is 100% on the owner and not the a&p. What we are facing is hundreds of old airplanes flying around in the near future with lots of unsafe parts. Its inevitable as these older airplanes become near impossible to service legally. The experimental side has a huge advantage in this respect. I see the market falling completely out the bottom on most of the old trainers for this very reason. The days of 50 thousand dollar 152s are nearing the end.

[jmizzonini]

It’s sad really. A new off the line C172 in the 70s would be like $85k in today’s dollars. I wish there were more affordable modern options. GA will die out eventually imo. It’ll be the domain of zero to ATP training pilots and ultra wealthy old men. Maybe it’s all by design

[jasonhurdlow]

$9200 for a part that would be $92 at an AutoZone for a car. Seriously jumping the shark! Even $920 (10x) would be pushing it IMO.

[Mooney]

Any used part "should" come with the "N" number of the airplane it came off of. I think this is actually in the regs IIRC
This suffices for "traceability" per the regs. Also each part should have a Part Number attached somewhere on it.

[engineerinhickorystripehat]

I know exactly which stoplight switch that is . Sold a bunch, but to a car collector