Price and availability of wing lift struts

[N96337]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Tom, why do you say it was so easy of a choice? In my book, even $800 every two years is alot less than $7000+..... am I missing something? I'm not trying to start an argument, just wanting to get YOUR perspective.
JH

[tabranch]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Easy decision....
Well, I live 100 miles from the testing facility where the struts would have to be left overnight. So I would have to make 2 trips and leave the planes propped up, hopefully in a hangar! The cost of removal, installation, inspection plus the total inconvenience of the process makes it break even in about 6 years. The resale value of a plane without this recurring AD is more than with the AD.

[fearofpavement]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Regarding the availability of struts, it would appear that a number of individuals are willing to shell out the bucks for a new set of struts to preclude having the repetitive inspection. This is certainly a viable option for those that have the up front shekels. Assuming that this ndt testing being done will find some struts that don't pass, I estimate that most will be ok. Thus is someone has a bad strut on their plane there should be a bunch of others in "as removed" condition to supply a market demand for airworthy used struts. e.g. if I have four struts on a plane and one is bad, I would lean towards finding one airworthy used strut to replace the bad one with as opposed to replacing all of them with new. This may also be the only viable option for getting grounded planes in the air unless the PMA manufacturers are going to start ramping up production. (which they very well may do to prevent losing market share in this upcoming boom). In recent times finding good used struts lying around has been as rare as someone stating they have a perfect condition lower cowling available. This may soon change as a result of this AD.

[Frank DeBartolo]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

As I understand the AD, the Univair struts would comply with the AD because they are sealed/oiled and are already FAA/PMA approved struts--and they are less expensive than the factory struts.

Frank D

[tabranch]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Please be careful about assuming any sealed strut not bearing the MA-A part number meets the requirement of the AD!

[Frank DeBartolo]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Please reference Dave Rude's comments on the Strut Airworthiness AD thread.

Frank

[NY86]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Please be careful about assuming any sealed strut not bearing the MA-A part number meets the requirement of the AD!

The AD does not apply to any plane with sealed FAA approved equivalent struts. The Univair struts are FAA PMA approved (equivalent) and sealed, therefore they are not subject to the AD.

TMSAISTI!

[Ron Greene]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

All,

The AD does not apply to my L-2B but I am following these discussions in great detail and will probably have my struts tested. I see a lot of confusion and jumping to conclusions, I also see very knowledgeable members trying to clear up misconceptions however....

Forrest/ Why doesn't the foundation disect the AD through expierience, talks with the FAA, talks with the manufacturers of the PMA parts and talks with NDT labs and then lay it out step by step for the members. This seems like a excellent mission for the Taylorcraft Foundation.

If I am out of line let me know it.

Ron Greene

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Tom, why do you say it was so easy of a choice? In my book, even $800 every two years is alot less than $7000+..... am I missing something? I'm not trying to start an argument, just wanting to get YOUR perspective.
JH

The F-22's he is working with have a different type of customer/purchaser than one with a BC12-D. If one went up for sale the value would be $3500 less because it did not have the new struts on it.

Mike

[cpirrmann]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Ron, I concurr 100%

[tawadc95]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

I don't understand all the whining going on.

[tawadc95]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

I don't understand all the whining going on.
This is part and parcel with owning an airplane.
The aviation community has learned an awful lot and made great strides in becoming a very safe hobby through ad's(even if the feds are involved).
Reading all this makes me see why we need outside standards(faa) as I have not seen so much paranoia in awhile and reluctance to spend a little on your RESPONSIBILITY TO YOUR PASSENGERS safety and the furtherance of Tcraft's long standing safety records.
My Piper buddies never complained this much about their strut ad's.They just went and did what went along with owning a Piper at that time.
I think I will put my paranoid feelings of someone trying to price gouge and make a profit off me into bread manufacturers or shoes or whatever.
Sorry if this is offensive but it is my opinion after reading all these strut threads and I could not contain myself any longer.
Chris

[VictorBravo]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

I don't understand all the whining going on.

Nobody likes to take it in the shorts if it turns out there is not a rampant problem with bad struts.

If there IS a problem with bad struts, then most of us experienced airplane owners would want it proven, and then we'd want to have as many different ways to fix the problem that are safe.

That way the people who want to buy new ones from the factory can do that, the people who want to fix their existing struts can do that, and the people who want to buy struts from a reputable manufacturer can do that.

I'm whining because I don't want to be a victim of extortion any more than I want to be a victim of structural failure.

[Guest]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

I don't see whining at all.

I see learning, people coming to an understanding and making decisions whether to purchase new or inspect.

I see it on a forum, a place where I can "see" peoples thoughts whereas I normally don't "see" them at all.

Each one one of us is coming up to speed at a different rate.

One has to become tolerant of others and their pattern of doing things even when its different than our own, often commonly referred to as wrong .

Part of the good news here is that all those that purchase will be providing a source of good used struts for those that decide to inspect can buy when needed.

Dave

[Ron Greene]

Re: Price and availability of wing lift struts

Chris,

I believe you have an L-2, it is the same age, same manufacturer, and used the same processes. For yours and your passengers safety what is your plan?

I think the Piper owners knew about the failures and expected an AD, they also had a reputable manufacturer to deal with. How many Taylorcraft incidents have you heard of? How many have our other members reported? That is the difference.

I feel for for every Taylorcraft owner as they search for answers and the correct direction to follow. They are not whining.


Ron Greene