FFS. I need a new hobby.

Work it with your local A&P. Find a machine shop that has the tooling if you have to. DIVCO seems to have gone full Kirk Cousins. Used to be good, is now completely out to lunch, causing a lot of pain, isn’t going to get better, and can’t wait to cut him.
 
WDD said:
DIVCO seems to have gone full Kirk Cousins. Used to be good, is now completely out to lunch, causing a lot of pain, isn’t going to get better, and can’t wait to cut him.
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Wish I'd know that before I sent them my crankcase....

Oh well. We shall see.
 
Jim K said:
2 steps forward, one step back. Or maybe it's two back. I don't know anymore.

Case came. Got to work on dimensioning it. Split it to put bearings in. Noticed it's not doweled as expected. Called Divco and spoke to shop foreman. He said they only dowel them on request, and to go back and add them upsets the case enough that it has to be re- machined. In their experience o-rings and body- fit studs are a good solution.

Hmm.... case isn't cut for o-rings either. "Oh" he says, "don't know how we could've missed that". I asked if it was worth sending back, or just counting on the interference fit of the studs (the original design), and he didn't hesitate in telling me to send it back.

Sigh.

My supervising a&p thinks he might have the tooling and has done it before, so we might try to do it ourselves if he can find it. We shall see.

View attachment 137914View attachment 137912View attachment 137911View attachment 137913
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When my friends ask me why I do my own vehicle and home repairs , I show them crap like this.

“If you want it done right…”
 
Bill said:
When my friends ask me why I do my own vehicle and home repairs , I show them crap like this.

“If you want it done right…”
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Sigh. "A man's got to know his limitations."

I greatly prefer fixing my own stuff, but there are times where I know I'm not up to the task, and I *hate* having to figure out who I'm gonna call because if I'm paying for someone else to fix my stuff, I want it done right. And faster than I'd do it, given that they're supposed to be the experts!

I've got an electrician I like, and some garage door guys I *really* like (I don't mess with those springs). Anything else... Ugh. There needs to be an "Angie's List" but the only people allowed to leave reviews are people that fix their own stuff, watch the people who they're reviewing, and can tell whether they actually know things.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Sigh. "A man's got to know his limitations."

I greatly prefer fixing my own stuff, but there are times where I know I'm not up to the task, and I *hate* having to figure out who I'm gonna call because if I'm paying for someone else to fix my stuff, I want it done right. And faster than I'd do it, given that they're supposed to be the experts!

I've got an electrician I like, and some garage door guys I *really* like (I don't mess with those springs). Anything else... Ugh. There needs to be an "Angie's List" but the only people allowed to leave reviews are people that fix their own stuff, watch the people who they're reviewing, and can tell whether they actually know things.
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I feel you. Not aviation related but during our recent move from Canada to Texas, we had our grand piano shipped to our new home. It arrived in an unplayable state. All keys were stuck. I expected that somewhat considering the distance and the fact it also was in storage for almost a month. I called a piano repair person and tuner, he comes by, looks at it and says he can repair it but it'll cost about $3,000. He charged me $89 to look at it but said he'll credit me that if I hire him to fix it. Now, I don't know anything about pianos, other than how to play them but that didn't sound right to me. Stuck keys ain't that uncommon. Sure, the piano is over 100 years old but in absolute great condition. So, I asked around people who know more about pianos, they told me do this and do that and I did. Got every single key unstuck except for 5 keys, I just couldn't get them to work. Since the piano needed a tuning, I called another piano repair person and tuner, he came out, tuned the piano for $150 and fixed the 5 stuck keys at no extra charge. He said the piano needs nothing, no repairs. I was shocked - that a**hole I initially called either didn't know his trade or was just simply a scammer. Maybe a bit of both. The $3,000 repair the piano absolutely needed, ended up costing me an hour of research, 15 minutes of wiggling keys and $150 for tuning.
 
The youth of today who are raised to be useless at everything except collecting a paycheck are doomed.
 
Yes. OPs resourcefulness and die-hard DIY attitude is very impressive, especially when so many owners are stuck at the mercy of mechanics and shops who charge a fortune because they have the FAA permission slip but apparently no other qualities. I hope he can pass that on to someone in the next generation.
 
Jim, we need to get you in front of a Congressional committee.
 
moparrob66 said:
The youth of today who are raised to be useless at everything except collecting a paycheck are doomed.
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Unless the shop in question is populated with only 20 somethings, I don't see your premise holding up. I believe the A&P, machine shop, and other skilled trade issues we are facing today are because for a long time everyone assumed college was what was needed vs a skilled job. Hence the shortage of people who know what they are doing, and the subsequent lack of competitive pressure that produces quality choices.
 
WDD said:
Unless the shop in question is populated with only 20 somethings, I don't see your premise holding up.
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I don't think it was implied as a dig on the shop. More of a credit to the lack of ingenuity of the younger generations to throw up their hands at the face of adversity instead of getting pi$$ed of for a few minutes and then saying F it I'll find a way to make it happen myself. Resiliency is a mind set that doesn't seem to be around much past gen X.
 
^^^yes, that. I think even a good shop with good A&Ps cant be expected to search high and low for every possible part to get the plane repaired in the fastest time possible. If their regular suppliers are out of stock, there it sits in pieces so they can move on to the next project. Thats life, and unless you have the gumption to DIY as allowable by law, youre stuck with the shops timeframe and they can name their price.
 
Skyrys62 said:
Story from a local guy: waited and finally got his fresh shiny engine for a beauty of a 182. Excitedly he watched as they unloaded it to his hangar...during which the fork truck stabbed through the crate.
I could only imagine that moment..
I think it was several months later before he got it back again.
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Volunteering for an airshow, I handled the military ground support equipment. We were taking delivery of the five semitrailers full of GSE, and the trucker was unloading the items with a forklift. These are generators, start carts, et cetera, the size of a subcompact car. One of them was labeled “DO NOT FORKLIFT”. The trucker inserts the tines right into two openings next to the warning and lifts it up.

Diesel pours from underneath. The forklift tines severed the fuel line right below the tank. Call the airport fire department because about 15 gallons leaked onto the ramp, FBO manager is there, airport manager shows up, environmental health gets called.

And of course it’s my job to call the supplying air guard base to report the damage. The Senior Master Sergeant was beyond nonchalant. He says just leave it plugged and they’ll fix it when it gets back to them. He picks up on my stress and says “we have 18 and 19 year olds working on this equipment - they do stuff like this all the time. This is not a problem at all.”

I let the trucker sit and worry for half an hour before letting him know what the SMSGT said.

He responded well. He stepped up and pointed it out to the other drivers, and double-checked every piece of equipment to make sure it was being handled properly.
 
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moparrob66 said:
The youth of today who are raised to be useless at everything except collecting a paycheck are doomed.
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On the other hand, they're largely just adapting to the world they live in. A *lot* of stuff now is not designed to be repairable in the field, so learning how to fix stuff in an age when taking something apart is often a destructive operation and parts are impossible to find is maybe a bit of a waste.

That said, my 8-year-old can already model things in CAD and 3D print them, and "right to repair" has become a thing. So maybe there's hope after all, even if we do have to drag manufacturers kicking and screaming into a new age of repairability.

I would expect that even without parts support, someone with enough skill, drive and equipment will be able to fix things in many cases before too much longer. You can get a good 3D printer for about $200 these days, and while things like good laser cutters and CNC machines are still quite expensive, they're starting to get down to the consumer-maker level as well. Glowforge has a laser cutter for $699 now (that's... mighty interesting) and it looks like there are even some sub-$1000 CNCs now too. So, when you can't find parts, maybe you can make them. And it looks like I need to get to work building my basement workshop so I have room for more tools soon. :D

Also, there's now services like SendCutSend, OSH Park, and PCBWay that allow you do get one-off parts and circuits fabricated for amazingly reasonable prices. So, even more hope on the horizon.
 
DJTorrente said:
Empasis added. Perhaps someone will come along to actually take the chains off of aviation.
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I wouldn't want to be outside if they allowed me to work on airplanes. I'm sure eventually one would fall on me. Or at least parts of one.
 
Sitting by the side of the road right now with a thrown serpentine belt on my car. My next vehicle is going to be user-serviceable. :rolleyes:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
On the other hand, they're largely just adapting to the world they live in. A *lot* of stuff now is not designed to be repairable in the field, so learning how to fix stuff in an age when taking something apart is often a destructive operation and parts are impossible to find is maybe a bit of a waste.

That said, my 8-year-old can already model things in CAD and 3D print them, and "right to repair" has become a thing. So maybe there's hope after all, even if we do have to drag manufacturers kicking and screaming into a new age of repairability.

I would expect that even without parts support, someone with enough skill, drive and equipment will be able to fix things in many cases before too much longer. You can get a good 3D printer for about $200 these days, and while things like good laser cutters and CNC machines are still quite expensive, they're starting to get down to the consumer-maker level as well. Glowforge has a laser cutter for $699 now (that's... mighty interesting) and it looks like there are even some sub-$1000 CNCs now too. So, when you can't find parts, maybe you can make them. And it looks like I need to get to work building my basement workshop so I have room for more tools soon. :D

Also, there's now services like SendCutSend, OSH Park, and PCBWay that allow you do get one-off parts and circuits fabricated for amazingly reasonable prices. So, even more hope on the horizon.
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Got a staircase in the shop that uses 1-1/4 sch 10 pipe for pickets. Looking at a rotary CNC plasma Monday to compliment the plasma table. In the meantime, had one of my steel suppliers laser cut the pipe with weep holes for galvanizing. After factoring in pipe cost, the cost to have it all cut was 300 bucks.... beginning to rethink spending 60k on the CNC for that price.
 
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