Triad Aviation?

[Bob Chilcoat[_2_]]

It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring on
the side of caution.

At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting a
shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck, that's
over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH. I would
appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have any direct
experience with these guys, in Burlington, N?

Thanks.

Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
N44511

[Jack Allison]

Bob...Triad did the engine overhaul on our Arrow before we bought the
plane. IIRC, it had 180 SMOH when we bought it and we're somewhere
around 650 SMOH now. The engine is running and performing just fine.
Oil consumption is about a quart every 15 hours (I don't know how this
compares to other IO-360s). The previous owner was pretty meticulous
about maintenance so I'd be surprised if he went with Triad simply if
they were the lowest price in town. Still, I have no firsthand
knowledge of Triad...hopefully someone who has dealt with them can give
you more info. on this front.



--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

[John Taylor]

Bob,

We bought our factory rebuilt Lycoming IO-360 from Triad about 14 months
ago and had it installed at PYM. We did it all through the phone and by
mail. They never cashed our core deposit check, which was convenient
for us. We found Triad to have the best price after a brief, though not
exhaustive, survey. We had no transactional difficulties.

The engine has 12 months on it now and not quite 100 hours and has had
no problems. I would imagine that any deficiencies caused by Triad
would already have surfaced by now.

-John

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring on
> the side of caution.
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting a
> shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck, that's
> over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH. I would
> appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have any direct
> experience with these guys, in Burlington, N?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
> N44511
>
>

[Dave Butler]

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring on
> the side of caution.
>
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting a
> shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck, that's
> over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH. I would
> appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have any direct
> experience with these guys, in Burlington, N

I've had two overhauls from Triad, one in my Archer, and one in the
Mooney. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. The Mooney has 700+ hours
on the overhaul with no problems.

I chose them in part because they are nearby. I am based at
Raleigh-Durham. I had had a previous not-so-good experience with a
nationally advertised overhauler who was far away. Much of the badness
of that experience was because of the distance from the shop, which
complicates warranty issues enormously.

Naturally, I recommend including distance from the overhaul shop as one
of your criteria in selecting an overhauler.

All the nearby FBOs with rental fleets that I know of send their engines
to Triad.

H&H Propeller is colocated with Triad Engines.

Give Othman Rashed a call at Triad and ask him if you can stop by for a
tour of the shop. Mike Branham is another person I talked to there. It's
been 5-6 years since I've been there.

Dave

[xyzzy]

On Mar 12, 6:39 pm, "Bob Chilcoat" > wrote:
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring on
> the side of caution.
>
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting a
> shop named after an international crime syndicate,

The nearby class c airport is Piedmont-Triad International, if that
gives you an idea of what they are really named after :)

[Dave Butler]

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring on
> the side of caution.
>
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting a
> shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck, that's
> over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH. I would
> appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have any direct
> experience with these guys, in Burlington, N?

I just remembered another factor in choosing Triad. Triad was
specifically mentioned by Kas Thomas, author of the book The Major
Overhaul. Don't remember whether the mention was actually in that book,
or maybe in his now-defunct periodical The TBO Advisor.

Dave

[Marco Leon]

Air Power is advertising the 0-360-A4M at around $16.4K for a factory OH. Am
I missing something in this price calculation? That said, geographic
proximity is not an insignificant factor in deciding an engine OH. Being in
NY, Mattituck and Penn Yan would probably get the nod when I need one.
Hopefully not too soon *knock on wood*.

Marco

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
news:REkJh.10544$mh7.1159@trnddc04...
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring
> on the side of caution.
>
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting
> a shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck,
> that's over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH.
> I would appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have
> any direct experience with these guys, in Burlington, N?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
> N44511
>

[Steve S]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
news:REkJh.10544$mh7.1159@trnddc04...
> It looks like the Archer needs a new engine. We're just short of 2,000
> hours, the pressures are all 70 or above, and it's not making metal, but
> there is a lot of loud piston slap going on. We get mixed opinions about
> whether or not this can cause a sudden stoppage, so we're probably erring
> on the side of caution.
>
> At any rate, the best price we can find is for a rebuild with new Lycoming
> cylinders for $15,000 from Triad Engines. I'm not too sure about trusting
> a shop named after an international crime syndicate, but what the heck,
> that's over 3,000 less than a Penn Yan, Mattituck or Lycoming factory OH.
> I would appreciate any direct knowledge about this company. Anyone have
> any direct experience with these guys, in Burlington, N?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
> N44511
>

I also heartily endorse Triad. Had my O-540 rebuilt last February and 1
year later it's humming along. They were very responsive to a defective
alternator, switched out at no charge, labor or parts, and to my
conversations with them regarding what I thought were high CHT's. On
climbout it would hit 420-430 but settle down to 350-380 in cruise. They
suggested several things to check, magneto timing (one mag was off on its
internal timing), carb heat (only closed 95 %) and letting the engine fully
break in. Now I climb out at 390-400 at full power and cruise at 330-360.

I burn about 1 quart every 15-20 hours.

Good luck.