Another expensive annual this year

"Michael" wrote in message
ps.com...
Mike Rapoport wrote:
How many wet vacuume pumps have you had installed? The pump alone is
$1850
with the separator listed at $495 at Aircraft Spruce. Add fittings
and
hoses to that.. He said that the tips and stab tip were $1000 for
the
parts. It is pretty clear that you have never had any of this stuff
done.

No, what's clear is that you have no real idea of how maintenance works
in the real world of light piston airplanes.

Who in the world would buy a new wet pump and separator from Aircraft
Spruce? Certainly nobody I know. Those things last essentially
forever, there were tons of them manufactured decades ago, and they're
everywhere. You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard. Any
mechanic worth his salt knows how to do this. The mechanic who just
orders new from Aircraft Spruce is going to cost you a lot of money.
Michael


I guess the guys that are making the new ones must be a bunch of idiots not
to know this.

Mike
MU-2

G.R. Patterson III wrote:
Michael wrote:

You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard.

And you get the STC to install it on a Cessna 177 where?


George,
As far as I know, only Airwolf wetpump has STC to install it on C177
(and only recently - a fellow Cardinal owner ordered the wetpump late
last year and had to wait few months for the official paperwork). We
contacted M20 about their wetpump but it has not been approved for C177
yet and they can not tell us how long it will take or how much it will
cost.
I honestly don't believe that a new wetpump could cost significantly
more than a rebuilt pump and most likely very little if any
modifications are required for the pump to be used in similar aircraft
type. The first company who has the wetpump STC for certain aircraft
pretty much a monopoly until there are more competitors.
We were also checking into replacing the cowling fasteners to
1/4-turn type (we change oil every 25hrs and fly at least 150hrs/yr),
and were appalled to learn that the STC'ed Skybolt SS conversion kit
cost over $500 for C177!!
Thanks.
--------------------------------------------

To all who had kindly replied/participated in this thread:

We are new to plane ownership (a bit less than 2 years) and have a
lot to learn. I posted our upgrade plan for this annual to get
feedbacks not only on the soundness of the plan but also for
information for better suppliers/prices. Thank you for your advices,
symphaties and information.

Hai Longworth

" wrote:

As far as I know, only Airwolf wetpump has STC to install it on C177

I thought that might be the case.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:38:55 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:


Who in the world would buy a new wet pump and separator from Aircraft
Spruce? Certainly nobody I know. Those things last essentially
forever, there were tons of them manufactured decades ago, and they're
everywhere. You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard. Any
mechanic worth his salt knows how to do this. The mechanic who just
orders new from Aircraft Spruce is going to cost you a lot of money.
Michael


I guess the guys that are making the new ones must be a bunch of idiots not
to know this.

Mike
MU-2

No, they're very smart. They realize there are plenty of Rapoports
out there

The what? The where?

Oh, that was on there when I bought the airplane ten years ago...

Jim



"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Michael wrote:

You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard.

And you get the STC to install it on a Cessna 177 where?

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

wrote:

1. Replace the dry vacuum pump with an Airwolf wet pump + Air/oil
separator(~$2500 not including labor - our AP estimated 1-2 days!).
Our
original plan was to get a new dry pump (the existing one has been
spewing some carbon) + Precise Flight backup pump. Since we intend to
get instrument rating and may attempt IFR traveling (probably mostly
soft IFR), we think that the wet vacuum option would be a wiser
choice
and may even out the initial cost in the long run.


I consider a second electric AI to be a superior backup than a standby
vacuum if you have the panel space for it. The electric AI price has
come down to a more reasonable (still expensive) level.

"Jon A." wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:38:55 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:


Who in the world would buy a new wet pump and separator from Aircraft
Spruce? Certainly nobody I know. Those things last essentially
forever, there were tons of them manufactured decades ago, and they're
everywhere. You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard. Any
mechanic worth his salt knows how to do this. The mechanic who just
orders new from Aircraft Spruce is going to cost you a lot of money.
Michael


I guess the guys that are making the new ones must be a bunch of idiots
not
to know this.

Mike
MU-2

No, they're very smart. They realize there are plenty of Rapoports
out there


A glance at any phonebook contradicts this statement. Personally, I would
install electric instruments with dual alternators and get rid of the vacuum
pump, hoses, filter and instruments.

Mike
MU-2

Mike,
My google search of electric AI showed reliability problem with
'affordable' units such as what stated by Paul Bertorelli below:
===================================
I have on my answering machine here a message from a reader who bought
five
R.C. Allen electric AIs for a fleet of training/charter aircraft.


Four failed within 100 hours of use. Numerous other reports of
premature
failure, too.


That's not to say no one gets good service from these. But they seem
problematical.


No reported problems with the AIM units from BFG. They're twice as
expensive, however.


Paul Bertorelli
Aviation Consumer


http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...b?dmode=source

RST Engineering wrote:

The what? The where?

Oh, that was on there when I bought the airplane ten years ago...

In your case, that might work (though Jay Honeck has a story about strobes that
might make you hesitate), but Hai is going to have to find an A&P willing to
risk his ticket to do this installation without paperwork. Ain't gonna happen in
this neck of the woods.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:19:56 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:


"Jon A." wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:38:55 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:


Who in the world would buy a new wet pump and separator from Aircraft
Spruce? Certainly nobody I know. Those things last essentially
forever, there were tons of them manufactured decades ago, and they're
everywhere. You can have one overhauled for much less than the cost of
a new dry pump, and you get old ones from any salvage yard. Any
mechanic worth his salt knows how to do this. The mechanic who just
orders new from Aircraft Spruce is going to cost you a lot of money.
Michael


I guess the guys that are making the new ones must be a bunch of idiots
not
to know this.

Mike
MU-2

No, they're very smart. They realize there are plenty of Rapoports
out there


A glance at any phonebook contradicts this statement. Personally, I would
install electric instruments with dual alternators and get rid of the vacuum
pump, hoses, filter and instruments.

Mike
MU-2

FINALLY, we agree!