Partain - Not Just for Whole Kits!
I had a nice visit from one of the Partain trailers today, and boy does it pay to call Tony!
We discovered that our choice of engines for the RV-3 was going to require a slightly different cowl than what we had received in the finish kit. Van's was good enough to give us a fair exchange, since we hadn't touched the lower cowl we had, and they could supply the one we needed. the only fly in the ointment was that shipping was going to run about $250 each way using UPS or fedEx - cowlings are big and ungainly boxes!
Enter Tony Partain. I gave him a call a few weeks back, just to see if he could help out, and sure enough, he was willing to pick up the new cowl at van's when he had a load coming our way, and take the old one back - all for a pretty darn reasonable fee - let's face it, I'd almost call it a "tip" for the drive, given what i have aid shipping companies for small boxes these days. originally, he had a load going to corpus Cristi in December, and he thought that his guy could "stop off" in Houston on the way. take a look at the map folks - Houston is more than just a little bit out of the way - that's a heck of a commitment to an RV'er in my book.
It turns out that he had another load coming to the Houston environs this week, so the cowl showed up this morning, in perfect condition. I'd sen pictures of the Partain rigs before, but pictures don't do them justice - these are custom made kit haulers, and the drivers know their business.
It almost makes me want to but another kit, just to let Partain transport it - thanks again Tony - and Mike, the driver!
Paul
