Model: Baron
Refrigerant Type: Cheap
Sometimes I wonder how it is General Aviation even exists.
This bunch of dummies
Are the next batch of light aircraft to wind up crashed into someone's home. They are running any cheap "drop-in" junk we will not even put in a car for refrigerant.
They are discussing buying parts for their aircraft at the local auto parts store. Yeah, I know it is the "same" compressor. What do you suppose they do for other parts? Think there are any home depot bolts in those airframes? O'Reilleys oil filters? Super glue? cheap crimp connectors in the electrical?
But the best one is the guy that thinks a death kit should be ok:
"The conversion kit just changes two adapters and adds the R134 and is available for about $25 at my local auto parts store."
Good grief.
B.
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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.
Forgive my ignorance in the private aircraft world, as my experiences have been more with business, military, and commercial aviation.
Are these guys not required to have an FAA mechanics license to work on their own planes?
Isn't there written service procedures from the manufacturer they MUST follow?
Just pick up compressor from the compressor place in Texas; what about FAA cert for that part?
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FAA would not approve. You can do a very few things on your own plane without an FAA certificate, but screwing with the heating and cooling ain't among them. If I recall (its been 30 years since I owned an airplane) changing sparkplugs is allowable, which always surprised me, since its not really a trivial task.
In the event of an accident, feel more for the vendors of these AC parts, even though they didn't know their products were used in an aircraft situation. They will be pulled into a court of law and the burden of proof will be on their shoulders to prove they had no knowledge for the application of their products. And anyone involved with the installation or charging will also be called in. Our FBO was called in for a previous annual inspection that cost his insurance over a hundred grand and took up a lot of time he was never compensated for. This was previous annual inspection and not the current one, its crazy. Gets to the point where nobody wants to do anything with an aircraft.
Nick:
Do you suppose the FAA (I like your explanation of the acronym by the way) is still stuck in the 1940's - or do they know about this here interweb thingy?
Can you see the hearing when they pull up the PowerPoint presentation of pages like the link I posted, with all sorts of references like a phone call recording to the A/C place:
"Yeah, I saw your number on xyz, and they said you could get me a compressor for my Baron. No not a LeBaron, a Beechcraft Baron, you know - an airplane?"
Of course none of this will happen until there is a Baron stuffed through somebody's home. Then the investigation will turn up a chinese copy of a Sanden, filled with 414b or HC's, a drive belt from Tractor Supply, airframe bolts from Lowes, electrical repair done with 99 cent store crimp connectors... and the fecal matter will hit the rotor.
B.
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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.
We sold a guy a few years ago a Sanden for a Small plane a/c. Came in with the Sanden number and I had one in stock. After the sale he said thanks for saving me $800.00. I said I could raise my price. He said that get a lot more for the same compressor through the aviation shop. I told him this was a automotive compressor and could not guarantee the specs are the same. He said he knows and walked out the door.
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