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My original post was not to rehash the screwing we get, but to see if anyone had any ideas WHO is getting rich!
I feel sure if Vans could get these tubes for a lower price, they would pass it on to us, I highly doubt they are paying 3 or 4 dollars for them. Somebody in the middle is simply getting rich off of us. Would be nice to expose them. |
TSO = technical service order / PMA = parts manufacturing authority. The companies that are paper working with the FAA get to attach an extremely expensive paper tag on a component with one of those abbreviations so evidently the little tags are made of UNATANAMUM which very rare and hard to source.
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One of the best things of Experimental is that we don't have to use TSO / PMA's part. We can actually use much better and much less expensive parts. But there are some parts we have to get screwed over, like tires. I'd bet dollars to donuts a tube from ACS and the same tube from Wallymart came from the same factory. They cost pennies to make regardless of the name on the box. Who used to buy Chen tires (11X4) for 14 bucks... Then in one day they went to 35 bucks.. Same tire, same factory. Just open an ADS-B receiver and tell me where a $1000 worth of parts are?? Aviation.. |
Don't forget the cost of liability insurance to sell anything marketed for aviation use. A single lawsuit could cost the manufacturer of a product millions of dollars, even if it wasn't really their product to blame, and even if they win (usually cheaper just to settle). The same reason other manufacturers will plug their ears and run away as soon as you ask them about using their product in an aircraft.
There isn't a lot of risk in selling inner tubes to wheelbarrow owners. Once you start selling them to airplane owners, you open a huge can of worms. And if you don't think anybody could find a way to implicate an inner tube in an airplane crash, I'm sure there's a lawyer out there who would be happy to try. It only takes one incident to add a lot of money to the cost of a product, especially at the relatively low volumes seen in the aircraft world as opposed to automotive. Chris |
Lawyers. All the money goes to lawyers.
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I have been trying to find ways around this, where I can. I can't make transponders, ADS-Bs or tires, but the bendix p-lead terminal kit is 2 ferrules, a nut, an AN washer and a small piece of phenolic. It should cost $5 but it costs $113! So I got some phenolic from McMaster and spent a very pleasant evening at the lathe. Done. Next, I ordered a new plastic oil dipstick tube. It is a 10" long piece of molded ABS plastic. $90 US. And lo and behold the cap and dipstick assembly is not a common thread between the 3 different lengths of dipstick tube. They are different, so it will cost another $100 for a new dipstick. No, I will be headed back to the lathe for that.
I guess it is tough to make a profit in aviation, so when companies can, they really go to town. That bendix terminal kit is the biggest ripoff going, and it is a horrible way to attach the shielding to the mag - no straight relief at all. Bad design, horribly over priced. We are better off rolling our own where we can. |
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