Lycoming lawsuit

[pierre smith]

Hi everybody,
This arrived in my email hotline from EAA this morning: Pasted verbatim...Pierre

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST LYCOMING
A class action lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, in response to the FAA airworthiness directive mandating the replacement of certain Lycoming crankshafts. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, an injunction against the defendants from denying the defective nature of the Lycoming crankshafts and requiring them to recall the Lycoming crankshafts; and to pay all costs and expenses associated with replacing all such crankshafts. For further information contact Ralph C. Hardesty Esq., of Hardesty and Associates 312-346-0045, or Mitchell E. Jones Esq., of Jones Law Offices 312-236-2112

Regards,

[otterhunter2]

FWIW

More Info:

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...-677995ee2c89&

[mdredmond]

I'm not a huge fan of lawsuits, particularly class-action suits, but for as dear a price as Textron charges for its engines (which probably cost <5k to make) I can't say I disagree with this one.

[gmcjetpilot]

Well, the only ones who will win are the darn lawyers. They will make millions and the individual will get peanuts. It's a legal scam.

"What the difference between a catfish and a lawyer?"

I think Lycoming paid the cost of the one AD. No doubt customers where inconvenienced and lost money. The Service Bulletin or crank retirement program is not mandatory and there was no failures in the lot. Lycoming will sell you parts discounted but no labor. Since its not mandatory (yet) I don't think you can sue them effectively. I think they tried to do partly right with the AD on the main lot of suspect cranks.

This will only cost Lycoming more money who will in turn pass the loss onto us.

Ans: One is a scaly, slimy, bottom dwelling feeder and the other is a fish.


P.S. Erin Brockovich, who gained fame when Julia Roberts won the best actress Oscar for portraying her in the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich," filed against 30 Hospitals and Nursing corporations for over billing medicare. The judge just threw out a bunch of her lawsuits. Brockovich "is not a Medicare patient ... and has no injury that she can allege". She was neither a medicare recipient, and the lawsuits listed no actual cases of abuse. Brockovich's lawyers said they were hoping to find evidence of wrongdoing when attorneys began investigating before trial in the process known as "discovery". Beauty. WHO DO YOU THINK THEY ARE DOING IT FOR? Themselves, you think. Again Catfish vs. Lawyer. (note: not all Lawyers are bad, some of my best friends are Lawyers. Of course I have to say this because they will sue me. )

[prkaye]

(which probably cost <5k to make)

I doubt that's true when you factor in the cost of liability to lycoming. My bet is the cost to cover their butts if engines fail accounts for a measurable fraction of the engine purchase cost.

If engines as good as lycoming's could really be made for as little as $5K, surely some company would have come along by now and driven Lycoming out of business by selling them for a much lower price (free market and all).

[helocfi]

Perhaps something will come of this but I will not hold my breath. I had an '80s vintage pickup that was included in a class action lawsuit due to fuel tank ruptures during crashes.

The Lawsuit was settled with the lawyers getting hundreds of millions of $$ and the plaintiffs, those of us with the pickups, got a voucher for $1000 off the purchase price of a new Chevy pickup if we purchased in the next 12 months only. It seems that the lawyers are the only ones that benefit from such actions.

[cytoxin]

Originally Posted by prkaye

I doubt that's true when you factor in the cost of liability to lycoming. My bet is the cost to cover their butts if engines fail accounts for a measurable fraction of the engine purchase cost.

If engines as good as lycoming's could really be made for as little as $5K, surely some company would have come along by now and driven Lycoming out of business by selling them for a much lower price (free market and all).

liablity is not a cost of manufacture its a cost to sell to the public. i think he means the actual manufacture process..like a car engine only costs 1500$ but if it was to be certificated for aircraft the same engine would cost 20,000$ still doesnt change the maunfacture cost.

[David-aviator]

The only sure thing to come out of this action is a higher cost for the buyer in the future and with a little luck, a better crank shaft.

dd

[RatMan]

Originally Posted by prkaye

If engines as good as lycoming's could really be made for as little as $5K, surely some company would have come along by now and driven Lycoming out of business by selling them for a much lower price (free market and all).

I think there are a few out there making engines that are as good as or even better than Lycoming and selling them to us for thousands less than Lycoming. But why drive Lycoming out of business when they are helping keep the cost so high. The more Lycoming charges the more the experimental guys can charge and still look like a bargain. Much larger profit margins shared by all. Everybody is happy !

One thing not mentioned is the cost to get something certified. It's very expensive to bring a new product to the market in the US and Europe. Then tack on the years of liability you are responsible for.

[airguy]

Originally Posted by prkaye

I doubt that's true when you factor in the cost of liability to lycoming. My bet is the cost to cover their butts if engines fail accounts for a measurable fraction of the engine purchase cost.

If engines as good as lycoming's could really be made for as little as $5K, surely some company would have come along by now and driven Lycoming out of business by selling them for a much lower price (free market and all).

Of course it doesn't cost $5k to actually build a Lyc engine. The rest is overhead for previous R&D, insurance, lawyers, and "set aside" for the inevitable lawsuits that will occur as a byproduct of selling ANYTHING in todays society. As such, you can bet they most certainly DO have a per-engine slush fund in place for incidents such as this, just as surely as we as aircraft owners have a per-hour "set aside" for engine overhaul or other maintenance. Personally, I would be happy (and to be fair, I don't have a Lyc yet, so I have no skin in this game) to see them replace FREE the affected crankshafts and the users pick up the labor.