$30,000 pitch links

Currently on Ebay is an add for a couple of pitch links for a Bell 412
helicopter. The add says that the list price for the pair is $30,000!!!!!
With a buy it now price of $8,000. I just finished making a set for my
Safari that had rod ends both lt and rt hand and I doubt that I have $400 in
them even if I pay myself $100/hr for the labor. Are the Bell parts made
from Unobtanium? Are they fabricated in a zero G environment in the Space
Lab?
Why do I have an experimental helicopter instead of a Bell 47?

Hello Stu !! Sometimes I have the price of spare parts of Boeing777 and I
am horrified by the price. Commercial plane and helicopter can accept this
too heavy price by flying everyday and with great cost. We with our
experimental helicopter cannot. The price is mainly due to the certified
aircraft procedure and to many peoples engaged in the process.
A couple year ago I used to own a robin (single reciprocating engine
plane). The doors were equiped with exactly the same handle you could find
on a popular citroen car. But the price was 40 times the car door handle.
"Stuart Fields" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Currently on Ebay is an add for a couple of pitch links for a Bell 412
helicopter. The add says that the list price for the pair is $30,000!!!!!
With a buy it now price of $8,000. I just finished making a set for my
Safari that had rod ends both lt and rt hand and I doubt that I have $400
in
them even if I pay myself $100/hr for the labor. Are the Bell parts made
from Unobtanium? Are they fabricated in a zero G environment in the Space
Lab?
Why do I have an experimental helicopter instead of a Bell 47?

Stuart Fields opined

Currently on Ebay is an add for a couple of pitch links for a Bell 412
helicopter. The add says that the list price for the pair is $30,000!!!!!
With a buy it now price of $8,000. I just finished making a set for my
Safari that had rod ends both lt and rt hand and I doubt that I have $400 in
them even if I pay myself $100/hr for the labor. Are the Bell parts made
from Unobtanium? Are they fabricated in a zero G environment in the Space
Lab?
Why do I have an experimental helicopter instead of a Bell 47?

It's called PMA, and is one of the greatest gifts the FAA has given to aircraft
makers.



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

What is abreviation of PMA? Or what does it mean in english?
Claude
"Ash Wyllie" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Stuart Fields opined

Currently on Ebay is an add for a couple of pitch links for a Bell 412
helicopter. The add says that the list price for the pair is $30,000!!!!!
With a buy it now price of $8,000. I just finished making a set for my
Safari that had rod ends both lt and rt hand and I doubt that I have $400
in
them even if I pay myself $100/hr for the labor. Are the Bell parts made
from Unobtanium? Are they fabricated in a zero G environment in the Space
Lab?
Why do I have an experimental helicopter instead of a Bell 47?

It's called PMA, and is one of the greatest gifts the FAA has given to
aircraft
makers.



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

claude lescure opined

What is abreviation of PMA? Or what does it mean in english?
Claude

Parts Manufactoring Authority

It makes it almost impossible for anyone to duplicate a part, without the
manufacturer's permission.

Ind guess how often that happens.

"Ash Wyllie" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Stuart Fields opined

Currently on Ebay is an add for a couple of pitch links for a Bell 412
helicopter. The add says that the list price for the pair is $30,000!!!!!
With a buy it now price of $8,000. I just finished making a set for my
Safari that had rod ends both lt and rt hand and I doubt that I have $400
in
them even if I pay myself $100/hr for the labor. Are the Bell parts made
from Unobtanium? Are they fabricated in a zero G environment in the Space
Lab?
Why do I have an experimental helicopter instead of a Bell 47?

It's called PMA, and is one of the greatest gifts the FAA has given to
aircraft
makers.



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?






-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

The cost of parts is mostly in insurance and paperwork. Not the part itself.
Sure theres some profit in them too, why not? If you have a bitch about it
write your govt officials and ask about insurance and tort reform.

The insurance industry is the biggest government sactioned rip off ever.

Bart

Bart: I don't have a real bitch about it, but it will be a cold day in hell
when I lease ( you can't own) a certified helicopter from the joint owners
FAA and Bell, Hiller, Robinson, etc. This price looks like they are trying
to make an exorbitant amount of money on a single item. Hell even if they
set up a process to make them and only made one set, the price is high.
I agree that the government sanctions the insurance industry. Unfortunately
our society is much more interested in security and safety than they are in
freedom..

Stuart Fields


"B4RT" wrote in message
...
The cost of parts is mostly in insurance and paperwork. Not the part
itself.
Sure theres some profit in them too, why not? If you have a bitch about
it
write your govt officials and ask about insurance and tort reform.

The insurance industry is the biggest government sactioned rip off ever.

Bart

Hey Bart,

I was thinking about your ferry flight this morning and here you are.
How'd it go and when are you taking the big yellow beast back north?
hint hint hehehe

It was a fun ferry (sarcasm knob on 8). Took off out of Cleveland very very
early in the moning hoping to get ahead of a nasty storm before it dumped
its load on northern Ohio. I didn't leave soon enough. About 45 minutes in
it unloaded on me. I picked up a whole bunch of ice so fast youd bever
believe it. The upper windscreen was totally covered, and the bleed air
defroster was having no effect. I could see out of the chin window and and
side window so it wasn't that scary. I found a nearby airport and got on the
ground A S A P.

I had taken off without snow baffles because I thought I'd never see the
snow and ice, and because I didn't want to have to remove them again later
in the day when I'd be in Georgia. Lazy. I paid for that stupid decision
because I found myself on an unprotected ramp in an icy, windy, snow storm
climing on top of the slippery freezing top of the chopper with frozen
fingers putting them on. Then I sat and waited for three hours for the nasty
weather to stop.

Behind the front the winds were between 30 and 45 knots right in my face at
every altitude above 500agl , I stayed very low. Half an hour after takeoff
the DG on my EFIS freaked out, and since a bunch of junk is slaved to it I
wasn't left with much, and most importantly; no autopilot. During a fuel
stop in the mountains near the Kentucky West Va border I phoned Cav Air
Helicopter in Miami and told them I thought I needed a strap down gyro to
fix the EFIS, and asked them to get it for me.

The weather though the mountains was wonderful and except for the gusts
around the ridges booting me around and the really slow ground speed. I was
really enjoying the ride and the sights. Ususally in December its overcast,
misty, and difficult in those hills. On the North Carolina side after the
hills gave way to flat land I noticed that the winds were shifting and I
climbed to 5500 to take advantage. I actually managed to eek 90 knots GS out
of my 110kt airspeed. I hadn't seen above 80 knots so far, so I felt pretty
lucky. Since I was away from terrain and the air was smoother, I flew with
my knees, while eating my packed lunch. I go a whole lot more practice at
flying ith my knees on this trip than I'd ever gotten before. Loss of the
EFIS meant I was actually _using_ charts, and theres a whole lot of folding
and unfolding you gotta do over 1100 miles.

I did a quick turn at KDNL in Agusta GA. I really wanted to hang longer
because there were some real hotties on ladders decorating a Christmas tree,
but I'm married so I didn't stay any longer than it took to remove the snow
baffles and get the fuel bill.

I had planned on a fuel stop in Gainsville Florida, but since I'd been
delayed because of the ice storm and the headwinds, I figured stopping there
overnight would be smart. Murphy conspired against me because I happend to
stop on the day of the Florida vs Florida State game, and the ramp was
overwhelmed beyond capacity and the nearest room was 12 miles away. I called
Fort Lauderdale to ask about the Gyro, and they said they'd have it in the
morning. Had dinner and a Jack Daniels at the hotel bar and then sacked out.
Got up at 5:00 and headed back to the airport.

Miami Center and Approach was merciless. I swear those SOB's must've known I
was flying with only a whisky compass and wanted to play with me. They gave
me so many damn vectors I wanted to cancel and blow them off. My whisky
compass is off a bit, so I have to do a lot of adding and subtracting. Plus
in my helicopter the compass is located by my right knee and its not so easy
to see. I was just trying to remain professionally on headings while those
basterds played with me like a rat in a maze. (remember accelerate north
decel south? I sure don't and didn't.)

Landed at Cav Air at FXE, and they came out and swapped the gyro out and did
a post/100hr mast retorque in less than 20 minutes. I really appreciate
professional maintenance people who know their stuff and do it on schedule.
I went out to lunch with the new owner of the place (he paid). Then I paid
$3,000 for the parts and labor and headed off to Key West. No such thing as
a free lunch.

I flew directly out over the Everglades and over the Gulf of Mexico towards
Key West. Then I decided to do some sightseeing and headed for Marathon so I
could do some low level surveling of the damage that the three hurricanes
had done to the Keys. It was really bad. Lots of boats aground in the
mangroves. Hundreds of houses with blue tarps where roofs had been damaged.
All the green had been stripped from the vegetation everywhere, and trash
and debris was everywhere. Because of all the focus on Katrina's hit in NO,
most people don't know that South Flordia really took a bad beating this
year. We really got hammered, but I guess if there's not a lot of people
acting like idiots you don't get the media's focus.

Landed at KEYW and went looking for its dolly which had been M.I.A. since
hurricane Wilma put the airport under 5 feet of water. We found it 3/4ths of
a mile away from where it had been parked and on the other side of the
runway. I'll never figure out how it made that trip without hitting anything
or getting stuck in a ditch. The dolly looked fine, but since the wheels
were underwater the bearings were toasted and it wouldnt roll.

All told the trip took 14.2 flight hours over 31 elapsed hours. If it had
been perfect it would have only taken 11, but the extra leg to Miami and the
headwinds really took a bite.

That answer your question? LOL. I'll be going north again at the end of
May / begin of June, so I'll let you know.

Bart