I like Aircraft Spruce

Ed Haywood

Ed Haywood

Final Approach
Joined
Jul 12, 2020
Messages
7,624
Location
Tampa FL
Display Name
Ed
Home Airfield
FD77
Am getting ready for an annual, so I hopped on Spruce and ordered 5 cases of oil, enough to last a year. Searched my old orders and renewed my stock of gaskets, and added about 10 other bits and pieces of AN hardware and fittings. 2 days later a big box shows up on my doorstep, everything correct, with enough bubble wrap to give Greta Thunberg a stroke. Free shipping.

This is not news, it is ordinary. And that is awesome for all of us airplane owners.

PXL_20251010_195917266.jpg
 
Man… I have a love/hate relationship with them. They screw up 90 percent of my orders. Usually fix it, not always.

BUT, Jimmy John fast, and usually not back ordered…
 
MRC01 said:
I like Aircraft Spruce too and order plenty of stuff from them. But I get my oil from Aviation Oil Outlet because it's the cheapest I can find ($85 / case for Phillips 20w50) and they don't charge tax or shipping.
Click to expand...
I buy my oil at Oshkosh and Phillips gives me a ride back to N40. Like Uber, but free because it's something I need anyway.

I hope they still do it, but at least a few years ago that was still an Oshkosh-hack.
 
Spruce is great. When I was building my RV-6 the counter guy at the Peachtree City location would recognize my voice wen I called for a CPU order.
 
My experience with Spruce, including the occasional inevitable problem, has been quite good. During my OH, I also found Aircraft Specialties and Colorado Airparts to be very helpful. All three companies have done a great job for me.

Sporty’s, on the other hand,....
 
I like Spruce. Fast service, plus I get a (small) Military discount.
 
Tools said:
Man… I have a love/hate relationship with them. They screw up 90 percent of my orders. Usually fix it, not always.

BUT, Jimmy John fast, and usually not back ordered…
Click to expand...
My jimmy John's absolutely sucks. Spruce Midwest, zero issues. Except I wish they were on field at DPA
 
It annoys me when my "discount" rate is still more money than Chief just up the road, which is true for most of the items they overlap on.

I just ordered some random AN fittings and Textron, the high prince of darkness themselves, were about 30% cheaper. Wat.

I still buy a lot from them. But I shop and I grumble and the orders are fewer these days.
 
I get my oil for the upcoming year from Spruce at Sun’n’Fun. Good price, and they take it to your plane or car.

Got an order in the cart right now. I’ll add a couple more gaskets and there goes another order, almost like clockwork. ‘Cause within two days of an order, a squawk will pop up and I won’t have the part on hand. Aircraft Spruce is about the only shopping I enjoy.
 
ateamer said:
I get my oil for the upcoming year from Spruce at Sun’n’Fun. Good price, and they take it to your plane or car.

Got an order in the cart right now. I’ll add a couple more gaskets and there goes another order, almost like clockwork. ‘Cause within two days of an order, a squawk will pop up and I won’t have the part on hand. Aircraft Spruce is about the only shopping I enjoy.
Click to expand...
I should probably have thought of that, since I live 20 minutes from SnF.
 
I don’t like when things like mags are shipped with outstanding

Service Bulletins. Might be wise to see if compliance status can be

verified before shipping.
 
I'm kinda lucky in that I have a Spruce warehouse about 8 miles from me....I've also got a couple of sources for big quantity hardware orders on fleabay and online, and am going to see about using Genuine AIrcraft Hardware Co, as well. GAHCo has a wonderful printed reference guide on a lot of the common mil-spec stuff and it's free, so will send some orders to them as repayment.
 
Spruce has been very good to me as well. My complaint is that because their office is in Chicagoland, I have to pay 10% sales tax on everything. They're still almost always the cheapest. It's amazing they're a good as they are, as they really don't have any competition, at least on most of the stuff.

For engine parts, air power was always much cheaper, and somehow just as fast, despite coming from Texas. Their CS was not as good at dealing with issues though.

Aircraft specialties was uniquely awesome on my one dealing with them. I should have bought parts from them, but air power's website and online inventory was just so good/easy.

Grainger is the industrial supply I use, like McMaster but a thinner catalog and they somehow always get me stuff overnight even using the free farm bureau shipping option.

Shoup in Kankakee is my favorite for ag parts. They also tend to arrive overnight with free shipping. If I'm really in a bind, they're about a mile from KIKK, which has a crew car.
 
They have logistics figured out well.
I'd love some loyalty program for swag.

They helped sponsor the EAA sheet metal class, free catalog, discount coupon. What a smart move, they have received so much of my dinero since then.
 
Craig said:
I'm kinda lucky in that I have a Spruce warehouse about 8 miles from me....I've also got a couple of sources for big quantity hardware orders on fleabay and online, and am going to see about using Genuine AIrcraft Hardware Co, as well. GAHCo has a wonderful printed reference guide on a lot of the common mil-spec stuff and it's free, so will send some orders to them as repayment.
Click to expand...
How easy to just go pick up?
 
4RNB said:
How easy to just go pick up?
Click to expand...
Faster than the drive thru at a McDonalds.... I generally input my order online and swing by on the way home from work the next morning. Now that they have Saturday hours, even easier. I occasionally will do an order and go by while on the way to get some supper. I'm a 3rd shift guy, so wacked hours compared to the normal world.
 
4RNB said:
I'd love some loyalty program for swag.
Click to expand...
I figured out recently that they have stickers you can add to your order for free. They look great on every toolbox I own :biggrin:
 
MRC01 said:
I like Aircraft Spruce too and order plenty of stuff from them. But I get my oil from Aviation Oil Outlet because it's the cheapest I can find ($85 / case for Phillips 20w50) and they don't charge tax or shipping.
Click to expand...
I just went to order a case of Philips X/C 20w-50, and they wanted to charge me more than $50 for shipping to California. How do you get yours shipped without a charge? Is there a minimum order, after which shipping is free?
 
sarangan said:
Yes, cannot agree more. Another company I love is McMaster-Carr (though not aviation related). No chatbots, no call transfers, no complex voice menus. Just plain good old customer service.
Click to expand...
Agreed. McMaster's customer service is first rate. I had a defective part shipped to me once, and when I called they gave me a refund with no hassle, and I didn't have to ship the part back.
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
I just went to order a case of Philips X/C 20w-50, and they wanted to charge me more than $50 for shipping to California. How do you get yours shipped without a charge? Is there a minimum order, after which shipping is free?
Click to expand...
I use/add on to orders, cases of oil to get over the $350. min for free shipping.
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
I just went to order a case of Philips X/C 20w-50, and they wanted to charge me more than $50 for shipping to California. How do you get yours shipped without a charge? Is there a minimum order, after which shipping is free?
Click to expand...
Gary Ward said:
I use/add on to orders, cases of oil to get over the $350. min for free shipping.
Click to expand...
Yep, orders > $100 ship free and a case is only $84, so I order 2 cases at a time. I'm in WA state, the limit of $100 may vary by location.
 
MRC01 said:
Yep, orders > $100 ship free and a case is only $84, so I order 2 cases at a time. I'm in WA state, the limit of $100 may vary by location.
Click to expand...
interesting. Spruce is >$300 to get free shipping to me.
 
Jim K said:
Spruce has been very good to me as well. My complaint is that because their office is in Chicagoland, I have to pay 10% sales tax on everything. They're still almost always the cheapest. It's amazing they're a good as they are, as they really don't have any competition, at least on most of the stuff.

For engine parts, air power was always much cheaper, and somehow just as fast, despite coming from Texas. Their CS was not as good at dealing with issues though.

Aircraft specialties was uniquely awesome on my one dealing with them. I should have bought parts from them, but air power's website and online inventory was just so good/easy.

Grainger is the industrial supply I use, like McMaster but a thinner catalog and they somehow always get me stuff overnight even using the free farm bureau shipping option.

Shoup in Kankakee is my favorite for ag parts. They also tend to arrive overnight with free shipping. If I'm really in a bind, they're about a mile from KIKK, which has a crew car.
Click to expand...
Pro tip... Grainger owns Zoro and you can use most Grainger part numbers to find parts on Zoro. Except Zoro is usually cheaper and I've usually got a 10-20% off coupon to use on top of that.

McMaster is close enough to me I can pick up will call if Im in the area and need something. But I can also order some things first thing in the morning and have them by noon some days.
 
I like Spruce and McMaster, too. For electronic parts Digikey is great. Photo/video and some audio stuff, B&H Photo. Audio/speaker things, Parts Express. Regular and weird but not aircraft nuts/bolts and fasteners in small quantities at good prices, BoltDepot.

I miss the local electronics and privately owned hardware stores, but they haven't been around in years. At least near here, anyway.
 
IL folks, and others who have states with no sales tax on aircraft parts, check w/ Spruce and get your account notated. I emailed [email protected] which sent it to accounting ([email protected]) and gave them this:
Please see this IL Dept of Revenue link outlining the sales tax exemption on aircraft parts for IL.

https://tax.illinois.gov/content/da...errulings/st/documents/2023/st23-0021-gil.pdf

This change was effective 1/1/2024.
Click to expand...
Once I did that I see "Aircraft Part - Tax Exemption Applies" on items that it applies to in my cart.
 
Albany Tom said:
I miss the local electronics and privately owned hardware stores, but they haven't been around in years. At least near here, anyway.
Click to expand...
Long gone are the days I could stop in at the local electronics store and buy a dozen 7404s. The microprocessor spelled doom for TTL.
 
3393RP said:
Long gone are the days I could stop in at the local electronics store and buy a dozen 7404s. The microprocessor spelled doom for TTL.
Click to expand...
Sunsetting individual parts manufacturing can have weird consequences. When a vendor announced sunsetting a particular chip we used, the company went on a buying spree and bought every one that could be found on the open market at the time. It has since morphed into the customer starting to have to spend tens of millions of dollars to start the process of redesign and certification of a system. By the time it's all done, including retrofits, it will probably end up costing well into the 8 or 9 figures.
 
Must.... fight... urge.... to..... flame... horrible.... company.....

They are less than 45 minutes from my house and I still won't order from them unless its an absolute last resort... and I will pay more if it means they don't get my money.
 
pfarber said:
Must.... fight... urge.... to..... flame... horrible.... company.....

They are less than 45 minutes from my house and I still won't order from them unless its an absolute last resort... and I will pay more if it means they don't get my money.
Click to expand...
And the reasons for this are...?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top