I like Aircraft Spruce

Jim K said:
I placed an order for some stuff I needed for the RV this evening at 4:47 PM. I got a shipment notification email at 7:07 PM. Not paying for expedited shipping or anything, just regular old ground, although I did pony up the extra $1 to ship it UPS instead of letting it fall into the USPS rabbit hole for a week. That's some pretty damn impressive order fulfillment in my book. I never guessed they'd have people there picking orders after normal business hours.
Click to expand...
I worked for a company that used the big shippers to ship small parcels, they came in everyday to drop off and pickup. We were integrated with them and as soon as your order came in, it would generate a shipping label in our office. We didn’t actually have the item picked. Some wise shipping folks tried to use this information to point out how good they were doing, despite complaints from customers concerning our slow shipping process. I knew the shippers came in everyday, so the problem on the front end was not the carriers fault but ours, but is an easy place to hide if you don’t know any better.

You can tell this is happening when the status of the tracking is “waiting for pickup” and remains in that status for days. In our case it would have been rare for the carriers to not show up, especially knowing we had a package to ship.
 
I like em, they provide good service.

I am going to need a battery soon for my 172.
WTH happened to the pricing?
Last battery about 2 years ago that I put in my buddy's arrow was $499. which I thought was a lot.
The battery I need is now $768.00! That's a flooded Gill.
The others are even more for a 172.

For another 300 bucks I can save 12 pounds with a sealed battery. That is if they are still a 1000 bucks.
Not liking this pricing now a days.
 
Last edited:
Craig said:
Jim: It will depend on which branch they ship from. I've had stuff come from Georgia or California, depending on what it was, and I was't picking up here in Roanoke.
Click to expand...
This... I missed that it's coming from the California branch, which pushes the local timestamps back two hours. Still, filling the order that fast is pretty good.

As to label shenanigans, ups shows the label having been created a few minutes before Spruce sent me the shipping notification. They also show picking it up at 9pm that evening.
 
Last edited:
Gary Ward said:
I like em, they provide good service.

I am going to need a battery soon for my 172.
WTH happened to the pricing
Last battery about 2 years ago that I put in my buddy's arrow was $499. which I thought was a lot.
The battery I need is now $768.00! That's a flooded Gill.
The others are even more for a 172.

For another 300 bucks I can save 12 pounds with a sealed battery. That is if they are still a 1000 bucks.
Not liking this pricing now a days.
Click to expand...
At that point, might as well go lithium and save 25 lbs. Earthx stc kit is $924, and the battery by itself is $699. I've had mine for a bit over two years now and it's been great.
 
Jim K said:
At that point, might as well go lithium and save 25 lbs. Earthx stc kit is $924, and the battery by itself is $699. I've had mine for a bit over two years now and it's been great.
Click to expand...
I watched a local AP install one in a early 172. He said the battery cost $999 plus another 100 for the STC. This was 2-3 months ago. I think it was the EarthX?
The plane's owner said he would save 12 pounds?
 
I ordered something from bass pro shop and it was delivered a day early with constant communication about the status of the delivery. Pretty solid and also had nothing to do with this thread topic but thought I’d share it with you.
 
I have ordered from AS several times and it was delivered the next day, less than 24 hrs, since I ordered it. Reg ground shipping.
Then when I really needed something the next day USPS screwed it up as it went to Memphis and several other cities until it got here about week later.
 
Last edited:
Gary Ward said:
I watched a local AP install one in a early 172. He said the battery cost $999 plus another 100 for the STC. This was 2-3 months ago. I think it was the EarthX?
Click to expand...
Yes, I should've mentioned I pulled those numbers from the earthx website, and that's what I have as well. I believe earthx and mid-continent's "trueblue" are the only ones certified, with earthx being about half the cost of the other.

It does take a couple hours to install the vent lines and indicator light, plus file the stc, so there's some installation cost, but it's the cheapest UL increase you're ever going to get.
 
Last edited:
Gary Ward said:
I like em, they provide good service.

I am going to need a battery soon for my 172.
WTH happened to the pricing
Last battery about 2 years ago that I put in my buddy's arrow was $499. which I thought was a lot.
The battery I need is now $768.00! That's a flooded Gill.
The others are even more for a 172.

For another 300 bucks I can save 12 pounds with a sealed battery. That is if they are still a 1000 bucks.
Not liking this pricing now a days.
Click to expand...
These guys have a battery sale going on thru November, free shipping on Concorde batteries (lower 48 only)
www.WilcoAircraftParts.com
Saw it on Beechtalk: https://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3666868#p3666868
 
For funsies I priced oil from Spruce this last time around versus my regular place. The shipping alone was about the same as the total cost from my other place. Go figure.
 
Is an aircraft spruce anything like a blue spruce, and do they make good Christmas trees?
 
Jim K said:
It does take a couple hours to install the vent lines and indicator light, plus file the stc, so there's some installation cost, but it's the cheapest UL increase you're ever going to get.
Click to expand...

Depending on the aircraft type, there may be install paths other than STC. The EarthX is TSO, and some types like mine have added it to the TCDS drawings, so it can be installed with a log entry.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Not an EarthX?
Click to expand...
Nope, a soon-to-be-on-sale Concorde. The battery in an RV-4 is right behind the firewall and RV-4s with fixed pitch and 'normal' size engines have aft CG "issues". A battery that's roughly the same price and almost 20lb lighter does me no good. A battery that was almost $100 more than the sale price got me back in the air a month earlier, but ouch. Such is aviation.

Nauga,
currently
 
nauga said:
Nope, a soon-to-be-on-sale Concorde. The battery in an RV-4 is right behind the firewall and RV-4s with fixed pitch and 'normal' size engines have aft CG "issues". A battery that's roughly the same price and almost 20lb lighter does me no good. A battery that was almost $100 more than the sale price got me back in the air a month earlier, but ouch. Such is aviation.
Click to expand...
You couldn't add ballast? That's what the previous owner of my Starduster did when switching to an Odyssey battery. Fortunately he warned me, so I didn't freak out when I saw the trailer hitch clamped alongside the battery. His A&P who installed it said it just happened to be the exact right weight, and the holes were just right to securely mount it. Redneck engineering at its finest; it was still there when I sold the plane.
 
Spruce has a parent company website that you can purchase from if you are a shop or an FBO. They ship from the normal Spruce locations though.

I had two fuel drains and an OAT probe that I ordered on Saturday was supposed to be delivered Tuesday from Atlanta. Here I sit with a working plane AOG in Thursday due to "shipping delays." I was literally in Atlanta Monday and could have picked them up had I known.

Shipping costs and time is what kills it for Spruce sometimes.

I also do a lot of ordering out of Airparts Company. I can get UPS overnight shipping to my airport in Florida for less than it cost to order from Spruce.
 
Many years ago, my dad referred to them as "Aircraft Spruce & Slow Delivery". They greatly improved over the years.
 
Indeed two decades ago their customer support was pretty bad for a while and the owners were beligerent, but they seemed to have had an enlightenment and things vastly improved.
 
k9medic said:
Spruce has a parent company website that you can purchase from if you are a shop or an FBO. They ship from the normal Spruce locations though.

I had two fuel drains and an OAT probe that I ordered on Saturday was supposed to be delivered Tuesday from Atlanta. Here I sit with a working plane AOG in Thursday due to "shipping delays." I was literally in Atlanta Monday and could have picked them up had I known.

Shipping costs and time is what kills it for Spruce sometimes.

I also do a lot of ordering out of Airparts Company. I can get UPS overnight shipping to my airport in Florida for less than it cost to order from Spruce.
Click to expand...

They do? I still have my shop discount and it uses the main site. You make me think I'm missing out on something :D

The prices are bananas but so are shipping costs, and Chief doesn't stock all of the stuff I need -- so usually Spruce wins it, but I cross-shop more and more lately.

This was my last week "uh wtf?" order. nose tire and tube. in what world would a tube cost more than the tire? Right, Aviation bizarro-world. Sigh.

1764267119640.png
I couldn't beat the above anywhere else due to the free shipping. And it was here in 2 days from down south.

I'm also pretty sure I trolled myself with that extra deluxe tire talc, but... a dude had to know. It was just as powdery and easy to apply as the stuff they put on infant butts, just 5x the price. :)
 
schmookeeg said:
I'm also pretty sure I trolled myself with that extra deluxe tire talc, but... a dude had to know. It was just as powdery and easy to apply as the stuff they put on infant butts, just 5x the price. :)
Click to expand...

Shhhh, pretty soon the Internet will declare you gotta use only aviation talc. It's the law!
 
Gary Ward said:
I like em, they provide good service.

I am going to need a battery soon for my 172.
WTH happened to the pricing?
Last battery about 2 years ago that I put in my buddy's arrow was $499. which I thought was a lot.
The battery I need is now $768.00! That's a flooded Gill.
The others are even more for a 172.

For another 300 bucks I can save 12 pounds with a sealed battery. That is if they are still a 1000 bucks.
Not liking this pricing now a days.
Click to expand...
It's not close to a relevant comparison, but on Tuesday I bought a replacement battery for my Cadillac XT5. On Monday the cranking speed dropped noticably, and I knew it was time.

The new battery cost $280, which was an eye opener. It's an AGM. And if you want to look at engineering gone mad, check out this:

1000004351.jpg

Nice. Dealing with this mess while keeping the computer hot resulted in my best hillbilly self. I didn't want to deal with the computers relearning engine and transmission parameters. I usually use a 5 AH battery for this but didn't have one around.

1000004352.jpg
 
What pops into my mind with the above is the possible thought process of a GM engineer who shouldn't be one: "They thought side terminals were bad? Wait until they see THIS design." Followed by an evil cartoon villain laugh.
 
schmookeeg said:
They do? I still have my shop discount and it uses the main site. You make me think I'm missing out on something :D
Click to expand...
For comparison -

Spruce - Concorde Sealed Battery RG24-15M $947.00

Parent Company - Concorde Sealed Battery RG24-15M $864.46

Both free shipping. With the parent company, the more you purchase the better discounted rate you can negotiate.
 
3393RP said:
It's not close to a relevant comparison, but on Tuesday I bought a replacement battery for my Cadillac XT5. On Monday the cranking speed dropped noticably, and I knew it was time.

The new battery cost $280, which was an eye opener. It's an AGM. And if you want to look at engineering gone mad, check out this:

View attachment 147593

Nice. Dealing with this mess while keeping the computer hot resulted in my best hillbilly self. I didn't want to deal with the computers relearning engine and transmission parameters. I usually use a 5 AH battery for this but didn't have one around.

View attachment 147594
Click to expand...
I also ran into the same thing when I replaced the battery in my wife's XT5 a few months ago.
WE noticed that the auto engine stop, stopped working a week or two before she ran into slow crank.
We thought the auto stop was messed up at first.
Yup I found out it was big ole heavy AGM battery and it listed for 280 bucks. I got it from O riellys for a little cheaper since we have business account there and one of my long time friends manages the store. It was on a Sunday.
It had 10 pounds of crap on top of the battery exactly like in your picture.
I just took it out and didn't use backup power. Luckily everything worked like it should when I put the new one in including the auto engine stop.IMG_6034.jpeg
 
Gary Ward said:
I also ran into the same thing when I replaced the battery in my wife's XT5 a few months ago.
WE noticed that the auto engine stop, stopped working a week or two before she ran into slow crank.
We thought the auto stop was messed up at first.
Yup I found out it was big ole heavy AGM battery and it listed for 280 bucks. I got it from O riellys for a little cheaper since we have business account there and one of my long time friends manages the store. It was on a Sunday.
It had 10 pounds of crap on top of the battery exactly like in your picture.
I just took it out and didn't use backup power. Luckily everything worked like it should when I put the new one in including the auto engine stop.View attachment 147599
Click to expand...
I bought an Amazon $18 harness jumper that fools the ECU into thinking the hood is unlatched and it disabled the auto stop.
 
schmookeeg said:
This was my last week "uh wtf?" order. nose tire and tube. in what world would a tube cost more than the tire? Right, Aviation bizarro-world.
Click to expand...

I recently discovered the "tube costs more than the tire" thing after ordering a pair of 500-5 Air Hawks.

Earlier today a friend was looking for some tie down bolts. Plans call for AN46-7A (undrilled shank). Wicks had the AN46-7 (drilled shank) for $10.55. That seems a lot for a (one) bolt but not to be out done Aircraft Spruce has the proper (undrilled) AN46-7A for ... $57.75! o_O
 
Daleandee said:
Earlier today a friend was looking for some tie down bolts. Plans call for AN46-7A (undrilled shank). Wicks had the AN46-7 (drilled shank) for $10.55. That seems a lot for a (one) bolt but not to be out done Aircraft Spruce has the proper (undrilled) AN46-7A for ... $57.75! o_O
Click to expand...
Wait til you need something exotic, like AN27-72's or AN12-80's...:eek:
 
I replaced the flaps on my Cherokee a few years ago and the bushings were $49.35 each. I needed eight.

SGP58899_156_main__50168.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top