Cessna window strap

brien23

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Brien
Just when I thought a simple part could not surprise me as to the price, Cessna 172 window brace strap the 6" flat metal with a hole in one end and a stud for the other to slide up and down in the door. Cessna $416.00 anybody got a more expensive part for less complex part.s-l640.jpg
 
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Why not try to find out the specs and produce it yourself under the owner produced parts regulation? Seems like the perfect part for this. You can even have someone else make it for you if you give them the specifications and instructions. Others are better at the regs than me, but it has been discussed in detail, especially in the Cessna Fuel sender thread here.
 
$416.00 for a little piece of metal that didn’t cost more than a few dollars to produce.

...Man, I’m in the wrong field.
 
$416.00 for a little piece of metal that didn’t cost more than a few dollars to produce.

You certain about that? ;)
 
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Cessna Part No. 0711021-11 Arm Assembly Door


Part Information

Part Number: 0711021-11


Pricing Information

List Price: $416.19

You Pay: $370.41
+ Add to Cart

In Stock

Prices and Specifications subject to change without notice.
 
Looks like 2 hack saw blades and a small machine screw would work
 
I considered owner produced on mine when the stud broke, but then I found a couple on ebay. The design consists of a CRES main plate, with a steel stud pressed in or crimped in (non-CRES stud). For the owner produced part, I considered drilling out the broken stud and inserting an MS part number pin with a reduced profile head. The pin would need a groove machined in (this groove holds the window spring). The pin would have to be welded in place unless you can mimic the crimp operation. Welding would be interesting with the two different metals.
 
Seat tracks for a 182, $550.00 each $2200.00 per set.

MacFarlane $254.00 each. $1154.64 with freight. to me
 
You would be surprised what some small local machine shops can do for a reasonable price. Plus you are supporting your local economy. Often these guys are happy to have a nice person with an interesting job to break up their day. My local guy talks my ear off, so I have to add in an hour of BS to the total cost, but as long as that is not too big a deal, I can get a lot of machining work done for cheap. He uses a CNC milling machine and basically only charges for the time to setup the machine, but not the actual machining time as it runs while he is off doing other work.

But I guess you still have to have a good natured AP to sign off on your owner produced part installation.
 
Heck, most guys replacing windshields opt for strapless, so finding one shouldn’t be too difficult. The problem is guys that remove them look at straps as worthless items and pitch them into the trash, speaking from experience.
 
Heck, most guys replacing windshields opt for strapless, so finding one shouldn’t be too difficult. The problem is guys that remove them look at straps as worthless items and pitch them into the trash, speaking from experience.

You're talking about a different strap.
 
But I guess you still have to have a good natured AP to sign off on your owner produced part installation.

Just in case you didn't know, Brian is a CFII, A&P-IA, Multi engine commercial land and sea, and a balloon pilot
with over 50 years flying and teaching..

Just blowing your horn for ya Brian. :)
 
So the discussion is about the control arm on a side window? Aircraft salvage yard.
 
Just when I thought a simple part could not surprise me as to the price, Cessna 172 window brace strap the 6" flat metal with a hole in one end and a stud for the other to slide up and down in the door. Cessna $416.00 anybody got a more expensive part for less complex part.View attachment 66473

Well comparatively speaking I can come close. Chaparral wanted $72 each for a seat belt anchor bushing which apparently was fabricated from ground up unicorn hooves. Just a tiny little steel bushing, 1/4" in diameter and 1/4" long. I locally sourced them from my local Aircraft Components Emporium at 18 cents apiece.

Sometimes, the middle finger is not only satisfying but necessary.
 
I think this design is deficient. These windows take quite a beating and impart the load to a small diameter pin with no damping. Like I said above, I found a couple used pair, but I don't expect them to last long. When they fail I'm back to searching for replacements while I contemplate a good owner produced design. Maybe machine the whole thing out of extruded bar, and circular interpolate around the pin region, thereby keeping it one piece. The pin-to-plate region can have a nice fillet radius to reduce stress where they are currently cracking.
 
So the discussion is about the control arm on a side window? Aircraft salvage yard.
I'd make one, install it and write it off as a repair of the window

"repaired window as required" yada yada :)
 
I may do that, too, if it was faster and easier than a salvage yard part. And that's an unknown until a guy makes a phone call or two.
 
Great now i find out the spring is gone. good news the Cesna part 0711021-9 only cost $10. ea what a deal I just might have to get two.
 
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You could make that part with a piece of scrap metal, a hand drill, a file, and a pop rivet for the stud.
Might take you all of one evening.
If you wanted to go crazy you could braze the stud in.
 
Great now i find out the spring is gone. good news the Cesna part 0711021-9 only cost $10. ea what a deal I just might have to get two.
You'll need three, they go into orbit if you slip.
 
You could make that part with a piece of scrap metal, a hand drill, a file, and a pop rivet for the stud.

If the solid steel pin in the original design keeps failing, I don't think a pop rivet would hold up for very long.

Great now i find out the spring is gone. good news the Cesna part 0711021-9 only cost $10. ea what a deal I just might have to get two.

I agree with Tom. You need to have extra in case you lose one. I installed two new ones in an afternoon. It took a certain technique using safety wire to fish it into the door frame, then pull it over the steel pin on the door arm.
 
Just when I thought a simple part could not surprise me as to the price, Cessna 172 window brace strap the 6" flat metal with a hole in one end and a stud for the other to slide up and down in the door. Cessna $416.00 anybody got a more expensive part for less complex part.View attachment 66473

I have over 24 of these that I bought from an estate sale in Washington State. The pin is brazed into the steel strap, over time as the window pivots open and closed it starts to wear through the pin. At least this is what happened on my dads 172. All of the ones that I have look to be new unused but will sell them as used for $99 each. Let me know if you are still interested.
 
I may do that, too, if it was faster and easier than a salvage yard part. And that's an unknown until a guy makes a phone call or two.
I have 2 dozen brand new never used but selling as used for $99 each. Let me know if you are interested.
 
20190203_185310_Burst01.jpg 20190203_185407_Burst01.jpg

This is 3 out of the lot that I purchased. I will never need this many, the last one lasted 40 years so I imagine if I keep 2 or 3 for myself it should last me the rest of my life or the airplanes life.
 
View attachment 71350 View attachment 71351

This is 3 out of the lot that I purchased. I will never need this many, the last one lasted 40 years so I imagine if I keep 2 or 3 for myself it should last me the rest of my life or the airplanes life.


There's the crux of the matter. They do last a long time, and they last longer if you rub some paraffin on the slot in the door to reduce the friction against the aluminum. In the flight school we had the originals still working in the 35-year-old airplanes with 12,000 hours on them.

I bet Cessna hasn't used that part in new airplanes since 1986. I'm trying to remember what our 172S had in it, but I don't think it was that part. So Cessna runs out of stock and has to pull out an old drawing and get some guy to go make some. Not thousands, just a few, since they're not going to sell that many. Every one handmade. Every pin machined and staked. Every hole marked, center-punched and drilled. The whole thing electroplated. Inspected against the drawings. Track the source materials. Bill all that out at factory rates, add some for the necessary certification paperwork, add some more for profit and liability coverage, and publish the shocking result.

Go to Ford and try to buy, say, a new glovebox latch for a '68 Fairlane and see what they want, if they'll even talk to you about it. Insist that they make one for you. I think we're lucky that Cessna even bothers with this stuff anymore. Someday they won't.

My worst-ever price story: over $4000 (Canadian) for the plastic rack that hold the folded shoulder harness over the door in the 180/185. Didn't buy it, of course. Next was $900 for the little clamp that holds the tailwheel locking spring on the 180/185 tailgear stinger; it's about the size of a man's wedding ring, made of thin steel with a pair of holes for a screw and nut and a third hole for the spring. $7000 for the "hockey stick" section of aluminum angle that fits into the tail of the 180 and 185 to support the aft stabilizer mounts. One angle on each side. Mechanics don't read the manuals about the proper bolt torque, leaving them loose so the stabilizer can rotate around the bolt (they think) when it's actually supposed to rotate around the steel bushing in the nylon bushing in the stab mount; the steel bushing is supposed to be pinched between the angle and inner bracket so it can't shift around. That loose bolt eats up the angle and bracket. VERY expensive mistake. Too many times I've also seen rudder and elevator hinge brackets worn for the same reason.
 
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