No plans ... no purchase

[Daleandee]

Earlier this week I was asked by a friend to order a couple of parts for his experimental airplane. He's an older pilot that bought his plane instead of building it and isn't real comfortable using the internet. The parts involved were parts of the door latching hardware.

The order was confirmed over the internet but two days later I received an email from the manufacturer advising me that I could not order the parts as I wasn't listed as a builder one of their planes.

I built and fly a Sonex and they too require that anyone purchasing parts have a set of plans and/or a serial number for one of their planes in order to buy parts. In fact, Sonex requires new owners to pay a "transfer fee" in order to be able to order parts for planes that were purchased and not built by them. I know I've purchased parts from Van's Aircraft and wasn't asked to prove I was a builder of one of their planes.

Not really a big deal as a workaround has been found. Not sure I understand the reasoning behind it ...

 

[DaleB]

Not really a big deal as a workaround has been found. Not sure I understand the reasoning behind it ...

For big stuff like engines and props, they will have agreements in place with the manufacturers that prohibit them from selling to non builders/owners. For other stuff it can be that or they just don't want to become general purpose sellers of supplies, material, and hardware to everyone - especially in situations where they might have something at a lower cost than someplace like Aircraft Spruce. If they buy a lot from places like Spruce, they probably have an agreement with them as well not to sell to the general public.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Concern that someone might be building a "bootleg" Belchfire 3000 instead of buying the kit/plans????
If a kit is mostly flat stock / tube it wouldn't be hard to clone. If it's plans built, well, plans get sold.
What were you trying to buy parts for?

 

[Daleandee]

Concern that someone might be building a "bootleg" Belchfire 3000 instead of buying the kit/plans????
If a kit is mostly flat stock / tube it wouldn't be hard to clone. If it's plans built, well, plans get sold.
What were you trying to buy parts for?

A friend recently bought a Zenith and he wanted some replacement door handles as he didn't have keys for the door locks. Turns out it is cheaper to have the current handles rekeyed than to replace them (the price may be based on the fact that he's been using that same locksmith for his rental properties for about 20 years).

I do understand the reasoning in so far as keeping people from building knock-off copies without company plans or approval. That's one of the reasons Sonex uses a particular spar cap design that would be extremely hard to duplicate and requires a set of plans be purchased before spar caps can be ordered. In the case of a damaged wing that needed a replacement spar, Sonex does have a method in place for a builder to prove the damage and order a replacement spar although I have no idea what all is entailed in that.

Seems to me that small replacement items that are sold from other vendors (handles, lexan, tires, wheels, etc.) would be easy money for aircraft companies to sell as my experience has shown that they usually have a bit of a mark up over online vendors selling the same product. But we buy from them at a slightly higher price because we want to be sure to get the correct part and to support our aircraft manufacturers ...

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Sonex uses a particular spar cap design that would be extremely hard to duplicate

And, when Sonex goes out of business, I guess you just hope that you don't tweek one of your wings...

 

[Daleandee]

And, when Sonex goes out of business, I guess you just hope that you don't tweek one of your wings...

Yep ... or find another one that has the parts you need. Aside from the spar caps everything else on the plane can be duplicated. Perhaps I could bend up some angle iron and use that.

Building an earlier "A" model (conventional tail only) from plans shows all the parts, dimensions required, and assembly order. Building from a kit puts the builder at a disadvantage as the paperwork coming with the kits is more like assembly instructions and not detailed plans that scratch builders get.

Pay your money and take your chances ...

 

[nauga]

...I know I've purchased parts from Van's Aircraft and wasn't asked to prove I was a builder of one of their planes

They changed the way the store was organized a while back and made it either difficult or impossible to buy *some* (not all) parts without a builder number.

I believe it changed when models were produced with CAD-derived plans and extensive CAM, but my RV-3 and RV-4 plans have everything one needs to scratch-build one, if one were a masochist. It has come in handy but I hope it doesn't become necessary.

Nauga,
de-parted

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

the paperwork coming with the kits is more like assembly instructions and not detailed plans that scratch builders get.

Yup. For my ride, everything in the manual is referred to by part number. Doesn't help much given the kit manufacturer has been out of business for years.