Decent Parts websites

Check www.socata.org under Resources/FAQ/Maintenance/electrical

Your plane uses a Gill battery. Figure about $380 from Aircraft Spruce (assuming a 24 volt system)

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/gillg242.php

Are you sure the guys at Socata.org are that bad :dunno:


SixPapaCharlie said:
Autozone, O'reileys, Pep Boys, etc all have this nice format where you enter a make, model, year and search for parts.

Every aviation site I go to is vague hard to browse and I always end up looking at a pdf of part numbers with no descriptions and no prices.

Anyone know of a aviation parts website that is intuitive?

I am on cutter and the best way is to live chat and then they send the details of the chat "somewhere" and then I get an email back with a photo copy of a part with a price written in pencil (2 day turn around for that little drawing)

Anyone have good source for parts?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
jonnyjetprop said:
Check www.socata.org under Resources/FAQ/Maintenance/electrical

Your plane uses a Gill battery.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I already replaced that. Here is the hard part.

I wanted a panel housing box. Basically on my plane all the gauges are contained in this box that can pop in and out. I wanted to add one to the right side so we could add some gauges.

A&P couldn't track one down.
I went through my manual and got the part number then called a distributor
They had to translate the part number to a different number because there are 2 numbering systems (socata specific deal there I think)

They couldn't track it down but I kid you not they called me and said. We can't find it but I used to fly with a guy that knew these planes inside and out and if he can't find it then it doesn't exist.

SMH

I call him and give him the info.
He gets me a number for a different distributor. I call them and they say they can get it to me as a kit but no instructions so we would have to figure out how to put it together and I would need to confirm all the individual parts that makeup this casing agree with my manual and then we could request it from the socata factory.

I do all this and then I get the price tag $8,500 :yikes:

For a metal / vinyl covered 1 sq ft box that I can add gauges to.

Piper and Cessna may be different but the Socata distributor is 20 miles from me and has a website that in the end only serves as a business card to get you their number so you can start this process.


I have gone through that iteration 3 or 4 times now looking for a PTT switch, new nav light, LED landing light.

It always takes 30 emails and several weeks for anyone to tell me they have found a part that will work.

The battery fortunately was available at a field nearby and I just went and picked it up.

Long story short, the whole process could be simplified.
 
It's a Socata parts number thing, it's like they don't want you to find a part. We had a TB20 come in and he needed a flap and wing tip (don't ask why, the owners story does not check out). We walked to the west coast Socata dealer 1 hangar over from ours and they looked up the number. They told us the parts are in stock in West Palm Beach. The flap had a dent. We told them get us a flap without damage. A month later the parts come in to Camarillo, I pull them out of the box and the flap is dented. They said take it or leave it. I called West Palm since I have a address in Fl. and ask for the part number and leed time. They would not give me a part number, so I used the part number from the dented flap, he said 8 months to get from France. Again, it's a Socata thing.
 
Last edited:
Luvrv8 said:
It's a Socata parts number thing, it's like they don't want you to find a part.
Click to expand...


Can any ANY of you read 21.303 (b)(2) and tell me that you can't find a good flap with a dented original? You just aren't reading the reg or understanding it. Read the FAA's Chief Counsel interpretation if you need further information.

Jim
 
bnt83 said:
With a certified or variant of a production aircraft engine and/or propeller?

Owning an EAB doesn't not solve the parts applicability determination issues. If an EAB owner uses poor methods to determine needed parts, they are setting themselves up for failure.

I have seen zero EAB owners that disassemble and repair their own Hartzell or McCauley constant speed props and governors. Probably because many require special tools that are most likely only found at certified repairs stations as it's uneconomical to own them.
Click to expand...

Your example is a bit extreme. An engine part is more to the point. For example, I had to replace the prop governor mounting studs because the ones that came with my engine were too short. I had already purchased the IO-540 library from ATP, so I looked up the studs in the IPC, did a Google search, and had the new ones in hand a few days later. Although not as convenient as PepBoys.com, it wasn't that bad either.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Found this thread because I need the plastic loops that keep the seatbelt shoulder harness strap attached to the seat and not at your neck.
Click to expand...

weirdjim said:
Can any ANY of you read 21.303 (b)(2) and tell me that you can't find a good flap with a dented original? You just aren't reading the reg or understanding it. Read the FAA's Chief Counsel interpretation if you need further information.

Jim
Click to expand...

Does this mean that I can bend a few wire clothes hangers to make new loops to hold the seatbelts in place?:D
 
only if you pay $300 for the hangars. Plane parts gotta be expensive.
 
Let me just say that as a person that works on cars almost everyday, those car part web sites are full of B.S. I just worked on a Volvo 740 that a DIY guy couldn't get to run right despite spending $2K throwing various parts at the problem. Long story short the problem was that he had ordered a new fuel pump from one of those websites that said it would fit. It sure looked like the one that came out, but Volvo used two different fuel injection systems in those years, one with a lift pump in the tank that ran at 14psi, the other a single in tank pump that runs 45psi. The website didn't specify a fuel injection system, it only said in tank fuel pump for a 1991 Volvo 740. Cost this guy more than the car is worth to sort that out, BUT he saved money on the parts.

Don't be fooled, there is no substitute for expertise.

That's why I am happy to pay a good mechanic to work on my bird.
 
I am too but 7k labor to get an EDM700 installed?
I just bought a calculator and a stopwatch.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I am too but 7k labor to get an EDM700 installed?
I just bought a calculator and a stopwatch.
Click to expand...

I would shop around and talk to people before I committed to that number. Let's say for argument that is a reasonable number, I'd pay it. Some cut rate installation could cost me my motor and those are more than $7K.

I haven't found that aircraft mechanics charge that much relative to other mechanical things like your car.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Yep.
I just happen to be sitting at my office and I do not happen to have the battery or all my binders with me so it would be nice if I could go to a website and find out a ballpark price on a battery for my plane. That's all.
Click to expand...

I know it is not your favorite site, but you can download the complete IPC off of www.Socata.org.

http://www.socata.org/resources/manuals.php?t=1&a=3&sid=520bdc1c6c51dc132ea7ae90d2f98426

Oh, and I paid $450 locally for my battery a couple of years ago when I left the master switch on overnight...:(

Jim
 
I got ~6500 labor quote from 3 sources.
My CFI owns ~12 planes so I asked him and he said Eff no, it should not take 40 hours to install that and that rate is way too high.

He referred me to some people in Fredricksberg that he uses. I need to call them still. My CFI does not part with money easily but he also doesn't take safety and junk parts/work lightly. He has to keep a fleet flying and he has made me optimistic but I think I am going to call his people and when they find out I am not giving them work in bulk I may get the same quote.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got ~6500 labor quote from 3 sources.
My CFI owns ~12 planes so I asked him and he said Eff no, it should not take 40 hours to install that and that rate is way too high.

He referred me to some people in Fredricksberg that he uses. I need to call them still. My CFI does not part with money easily but he also doesn't take safety and junk parts/work lightly. He has to keep a fleet flying and he has made me optimistic but I think I am going to call his people and when they find out I am not giving them work in bulk I may get the same quote.
Click to expand...

Sounds like an opportunity to name drop.
 
I know a guy. Let's say this guy owes me a favor. Now let's say I talked to this guy on your behalf and he agrees to do this EDM thing, for say, $1000. How does that sound? Would you consider that a favor? That's good, because one day I'm going to call you and ask for a favor, capisce?

$6500? Fugetaboutit!
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got ~6500 labor quote from 3 sources.
My CFI owns ~12 planes so I asked him and he said Eff no, it should not take 40 hours to install that and that rate is way too high.

He referred me to some people in Fredricksberg that he uses. I need to call them still. My CFI does not part with money easily but he also doesn't take safety and junk parts/work lightly. He has to keep a fleet flying and he has made me optimistic but I think I am going to call his people and when they find out I am not giving them work in bulk I may get the same quote.
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound way out of line to me. Especially all the screwing around access of low wing aircraft. I imagine in your airplane there is a pile of interior bits that need to be pulled just to get started.


I quoted a guy 20 hours just for an EI FP-5L in a Cardinal and he didn't seem too shocked.

I just saw a quote for 100 hours to install a GTN650 in a high wing
 
Last edited:
bnt83 said:
Doesn't sound way out of line to me. Especially all the screwing around access of low wing aircraft. I imagine in your airplane there is a pile of interior bits that need to be pulled just to get started.


I quoted a guy 20 hours just for an EI FP-5L in a Cardinal and he didn't seem too shocked.

I just saw a quote for 100 hours to install a GTN650 in a high wing
Click to expand...

Nope. Drop the belly pan and you have great access to everything from below. Pretty much zero trim on the inside. Two screws and you can tilt the instrument panel out for great access to the back. Two big access panels in front of the windshield give you even better access. Four screws gets the trim off of the avionics stack, if you need it removed. Maybe a dozen camlocks to get the top half of the cowling off. A dozen screws & tinnermen washer and the bottom cowling is off.

All in all, easy to work on.

Jim
 
Yes the panels on these planes are genius. Tilt in and out.
I get that Socatas are strange looking french planes but they are so well thought out.

I don't pretend for a second I would have gotten one. My dad went round and round looking for the most comfortable plane. Having been in it for a while now, I think it is awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top