Plane Plastics Prices Drop Significantly

[Oldguy]

I was talking with a Commander 114 friend of mine yesterday who is in the midst of redoing his interior. He told me he spoke with the Plane Plastics folks at SNF and was told they were reworking their prices. They gave him a number of >20% drop. He said the manager the new owners brought in to re-energize the company told them their prices were way out of line. Told them he would not take the job without authority to lower prices to be able to compete.

So today I went on their site and priced out what I was considering replacing in my J when I purchased it in 2013. I had printed out the shopping cart on April 8, 2013. I priced out the exact same items a few minutes ago and came up with a 33% reduction! I can get essentially all of the plastic parts in my interior for a hair over $2200, including shipping of the larger parts.

Making this CB consider moving up the interior redo of my J while I am sitting here in the humidity, thunderstorms and heat of the summer.

[tony]

If you do decide to go this route, I'd love to stop buy a few times during the process and see exactly what you got and how hard it is to get it to fit during your install.

[SkepticalJohn]

Looks like they only have pieces for C through J models.
Does anyone know if J pieces fit a K-231?


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[Oldguy]

Just now, tony said:

If you do decide to go this route, I'd love to stop buy a few times during the process and see exactly what you got and how hard it is to get it to fit during your install.

I will let you know. I have been pricing out carpet and sidewalls as well, so I have to get the CFO to sign off before I start. But I think the biggest point of contention will be color.

[Oldguy]

Just now, SkepticalJohn said:

Looks like they only have pieces for C through J models.
Does anyone know if J pieces fit a K-231?


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I see some of the parts for the J show to be K parts as well (usually J w/ oxygen). You might give them a call Monday to see if they are interchangeable.

[milotron]

Wow.  I just looked at a list I created in Nov 2016 and the prices are 30% lower now!  This will certainly be changing some of my plans from repair to replace.

There are lots of K parts there. I can replace everything in my K from the parts they have listed. J and K are similar. You do need to look at the parts to ensure they are the same style as what you have, especially the parts that have the built in O2.

[Bob_Belville]

My biggest problem with the plastic in my E is the part(s) that fit to the windshield. The plane got a J style windshield 20 years ago but that owner and the 3 since, including me, did not replace the plastic which fit the original E. 

Does anyone have experience with getting a PP trim piece for a J for a vintage bird with a 201 windshield? I certainly would not mind trimming but the stuff is hard to stretch.

[tony]

1 hour ago, Oldguy said:

I will let you know. I have been pricing out carpet and sidewalls as well, so I have to get the CFO to sign off before I start. But I think the biggest point of contention will be color.

To make your life easier and avoid hassles, try and find something that's compliant with 23.853.  If you really fall in love with something that does not have the burn data, I probably can find you a DER and we can get it tested.  But it will cost a few bucks.

[milotron]

26 minutes ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

This is excellent news!  Thanks for sharing.  To those debating repair versus replace keep in mind that repairing, if the damage isn't too bad, is often much less time consuming than is replacing.  Trimming and hole locating is a very tedious process. If you elect, as I did, to do a mixture and restore some of your old panels while replacing others, Rustoleum Satin Almond is a dead ringer for the color the Plane Plastics parts come molded in, or at least it was when I went through this 10 years ago.  It is a real time saver not having to paint the new stuff and it also makes for a more durable finish.  10 years later and it all still looks like new.

Jim

I like this advice.  I will certainly be replacing a couple of panels due to huge cracks or ashtray removal, but the larger ones will be repaired. I like what aerocomfort does to the back of the armrests, adding some fiberglass gussets and bridging to stiffen it up.

I am mortified abut taking the headliner out of my K. It is already sagging somewhat, presumably from the duct/hoses above. Any body with pictures or advise for this section?  Do the hoses need to be supported better?

I like the idea of using velcro fastening to re-install the window/wall panels versus zillions of #4 screws. Anybody go this route with OEM type panels? I know that the Jaeger system uses this approach. I am already going to do this for the leather inserts on the wall panels after I SEM paint them.  Less screws and screw holes.

[Bartman]

I wanted to order a new cover for the manual trim chain a few months ago and it was something crazy like $50 for it.  I just checked and it was $14 got that and couple other items.  

Thanks to @Oldguy for the heads up !

[CaptRJM]

Yes,  the J pieces will fit K model.  I bought all new interior from them 7 years ago for my K model. You will have to do some additional cutting for oxygen but, no big deal.  Just take your time and have a supply of new utility knife blades on hand.  Once the blade gets just a little dull it makes it a lot harder and easier to make a mistake.

I'm pretty happy the way it came out.  I like it better than when the old plastic is covered with fabric or ultra leather.

When I bought my pieces they offered 20% off and free shipping if you bought more than $1500.  May be a little less expensive now.

[dcastor]

That's good news, but I would like to see them improve the accuracy of the parts...I read about a guy who ended up returning at least the headliner because it wasn't an accurate reproduction of the parts in his plane.  I'm all for updating, but as an example they eliminated the recessed areas where stall/gear warning horns are supposed to go.

Offering a couple of colors would be a nice improvement as well.

 

Dave C

[jetdriven]

10 hours ago, tony said:

To make your life easier and avoid hassles, try and find something that's compliant with 23.853.  If you really fall in love with something that does not have the burn data, I probably can find you a DER and we can get it tested.  But it will cost a few bucks.

Burn data isn't required for car3 aircraft.  It's also glued to cardboard which is definately not flame resistant, while most carpet it. 

Im in the middle of replacing mine with SCS carpet and homemade honeycomb carbon fiber panels 

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by jetdriven

[LeeBurk]

11 hours ago, Oldguy said:

I will let you know. I have been pricing out carpet and sidewalls as well, so I have to get the CFO to sign off before I start. But I think the biggest point of contention will be color.

We used all Plane Plastics pieces in our 172 a couple of years ago and were happy with them. A few minor issues with the fit but that's not their fault; all airplane's are a little different. Just a little trimming and we were good. We ordered all the interior available from Airtex. Seats, carpets and sidewall panels. We went with cloth and vinyl trim and coordinating carpet. We've put almost 400 hours on it in that timeframe and zero wear. We're very pleased.  I looking at doing a M20E/F and I'll probably go with Airtex leather. Just a thought if you haven't considered them. 

[yvesg]

I went to plane plastics web site and looked at the carpet options. Anyone knows why they only offer up to 1964?

Yves

[carusoam]

Nice detailed photos, Lee.

My C got a couple panels from Plane Plastics.  They were too expensive for me to buy the whole set.  Somebody at PP is going the right direction, or going out on a limb...

Without MS, I was too alone to get them installed correctly...

I'm looking forward to what you can do with the Mooney.  

+1 for the guys who lower prices to increase volume to better serve Mooney customers...

Best regards,

-a-

[Dale Logsdon]

14 hours ago, Bob_Belville said:

My biggest problem with the plastic in my E is the part(s) that fit to the windshield. The plane got a J style windshield 20 years ago but that owner and the 3 since, including me, did not replace the plastic which fit the original E. 

Does anyone have experience with getting a PP trim piece for a J for a vintage bird with a 201 windshield? I certainly would not mind trimming but the stuff is hard to stretch.

A Plane Plastics p/n K130097 can be used to trim out the upper windshield on a 201 window conversion.

 

[helitim]

22 hours ago, Bob_Belville said:

My biggest problem with the plastic in my E is the part(s) that fit to the windshield. The plane got a J style windshield 20 years ago but that owner and the 3 since, including me, did not replace the plastic which fit the original E. 

Does anyone have experience with getting a PP trim piece for a J for a vintage bird with a 201 windshield? I certainly would not mind trimming but the stuff is hard to stretch.

Bob,

It is surprisingly not that difficult to stretch or shape using a heat gun and a bit of patience.  A buddy and I replaced my complete interior plastics while it was down for engine overhaul last year. There IS A LOT of trimming and fitting so a second pair of hands for passing the items back and forth in and out of the plane is VERY helpful.  It is also good to have someone hold from the inside while the other views it from the outside to make sure it "looks" correct before attaching some of the pieces.  

Take your time and make small cuts when you get a piece close to being mounted is the best suggestion I can make to anyone attempting this.  It is really not a difficult job but will absolutely require patience and many, many man hours.  I would guess, and this is a guess, that we had at least a hundred hours between the two of us reworking the interior pieces.  This included setting up a paint area and painting the few pieces that I did not replace to match the ones we did. 

Our work is not professional quality but it looks far better than where we started.  The difference in the thickness and stability of the new pieces versus the old pieces is significant.  I am very glad we did this upgrade. 

Tim

 

 

[CaptRJM]

If you have major fitment issues Plane Plastics will make a duplicate of your original piece.  I had that problem with the rear seat tub plastic with the fold down rear seats.  Plane Plastics let me keep the one I bought while they made a new mold and duplicated my original.  I think it took about 6 weeks to get the proper part but, they never abandoned me as a customer and worked to resolve the problem without too much inconvenience or any additional costs.  

[barcus]

Anyone know where I can get the black console for my 1970 M20e?  
Thank you!  Roger

[LANCECASPER]

13 minutes ago, barcus said:

Anyone know where I can get the black console for my 1970 M20e?  
Thank you!  Roger

I would have Aerocomfort repair and cover it. It will look better than new.

[carusoam]

That is an odd one...

Repair as described by Lance is a great idea...

A call to Plane Plastics May result in a good answer...

Contact your MSC for getting a new one... if able....

For used parts, probably in the same condition we have two suppliers... around here.

Best regards,

-a-

[Dale Logsdon]

Plane Plastics can help you with that part.

[carusoam]

Hey Dale,

Go ahead and add your contact info in your avatar area or signature area...

Your technical support would be greatly appreciated by people seeking knowledge regarding plastic panel replacement.

Having you data in a permanent place will help somebody that is looking for you.

Best regards,

-a-