Gold Plated Mixture Cable wanted!

[Glen Davis]

My mixture cable needs replacement and the McFarland replacement cost about $800 according to my mechanic. It’s a 1989 M20J. Could that be correct?  Seems expensive.  

[KSMooniac]

that is 2-3x what it was 8-10 years ago when I purchased, so that is probably right between inflation and new private equity ownership of McFarlane.

[EricJ]

I replaced mine a few years ago and it was half that.   Capitalist owners doing capitalism at McFarlane.   I'm told this is optimal for us.

Unfortunately, they were also the OPP option, so maybe there's another cable fabricator somewhere?

 

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, Glen Davis said:

My mixture cable needs replacement and the McFarland replacement cost about $800 according to my mechanic. It’s a 1989 M20J. Could that be correct?  Seems expensive.  

Interesting that they are different, but here’s the one for an F on their website.  Honestly, I think I paid close to that for my throttle cable 5 years ago.

[MikeOH]

Wow! Free shipping...such a deal

[Gee Bee Aeroproducts]

Cablecraft was the best mfg 

 

Iam not sure who they sold the aviation division to .

To prolong service life , cover with 3/8 as1072 firesleeve , same as I do to reduce heat on my custom 304 tubing for fuel psi .

 

[Schllc]

These prices are not only here to stay, they will be going up and will never go down again.   All of these manufacturers know they have us by the short and curlys, and they are going to pound us relentlessly.  I don't know what the threshold is before our niche pushes back but they are intent on finding the limit.

[PT20J]

My A&P tried to buy a throttle cable from Beechcraft for a Sundowner and was quoted just shy of $10,000.

[EricJ]

This is just going to drive more and more OPP home-brew replacements out of necessity.   If people are going to keep older airplanes flying, there won't be any other choice.

[1980Mooney]

18 hours ago, KSMooniac said:

that is 2-3x what it was 8-10 years ago when I purchased, so that is probably right between inflation and new private equity ownership of McFarlane.

 

18 hours ago, EricJ said:

I replaced mine a few years ago and it was half that.   Capitalist owners doing capitalism at McFarlane.   I'm told this is optimal for us.

Unfortunately, they were also the OPP option, so maybe there's another cable fabricator somewhere?

 

11 hours ago, Gee Bee Aeroproducts said:

Cablecraft was the best mfg 

I am not sure who they sold the aviation division to .

Torque Capital acquired Cablecraft and a couple other companies in 2021 and combined them.  Torque's "investment criteria" is clear - "Typically control equity investments where we can actively partner with management to maximize returns".   Partner with?...post Private Equity acquisition, the former company management is just a dog on a leash.

http://torquecap.com/investment-criteria   

Vance Street Capital acquired McFarlane and a number of other aircraft part suppliers.   When they acquired McFarlane they also announced that they were "partnering with" their target  - complete BS - more like slavemaster and slave "partnership".

https://vancestreetcapital.com/news/2021/10/vance-street-capital-partners-with-leading-general-aviation-pma-manufacturer-mcfarlane-aviation/

They formed Victor Sierra Aviation Holdings LLC (“VS Aviation”) to market them.  They have 14 companies so far.

https://victor-sierra.com/news-insights/

[Schllc]

Yep  Equity firms see us as a cash machine, and they know they can put nearly any price on their goods and we have to accept it because there isn't anywhere else to go.

They will wring these providers out for every cent, until GA collapses or morphs into jets and uber rich hobbyists are all thats left.

[MikeOH]

2 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

...where we can actively partner with management to maximize returns".   Partner with?...post Private Equity acquisition, the former company management is just a dog on a leash....

Typically, they just euthanize the present 'dog', and put their already trained dog on a new leash!

[Shadrach]

On 11/6/2024 at 4:26 PM, EricJ said:

I replaced mine a few years ago and it was half that.   Capitalist owners doing capitalism at McFarlane.   I'm told this is optimal for us.

Unfortunately, they were also the OPP option, so maybe there's another cable fabricator somewhere?

 

Indeed, GA suffers from a surplus of capitalism…what we need is greater regulation. That should do it.

[A64Pilot]

All the throttle, prop and fuel cables on a Thrush we got from a boat cable manufacturer in FL. I thought it funny that the box they came in proclaimed that they were NOT to be used on aircraft. 

Unfortunately as we had power levers and not vernier controls that won’t work on our recip aircraft.

Jacking up prices to increase profits often doesn’t work, often it just means your sales go to almost nothing as people and shops find alternate sources of supply.

[231MJ]

My throttle is a little stiff.  I asked McFarlane if they could recondition/lube mine.  No was the answer - you need to buy a new one. (But I'm not really sure if the cable is lubed or just the vernier mechanism).  Crazy.

[Shadrach]

On 11/7/2024 at 11:52 AM, Schllc said:

Yep  Equity firms see us as a cash machine, and they know they can put nearly any price on their goods and we have to accept it because there isn't anywhere else to go.

They will wring these providers out for every cent, until GA collapses or morphs into jets and uber rich hobbyists are all thats left.

The GA supply chain is in desperate need of some regulatory relief and has been for quite some time. It may be too late to make a difference. I’m nervously watching Univair and Wag Aero. 

[Schllc]

On 11/8/2024 at 11:34 AM, A64Pilot said:

Jacking up prices to increase profits often doesn’t work, often it just means your sales go to almost nothing as people and shops find alternate sources of supply.

That is the challenge with GA, there aren’t alternatives. The barrier to entry is enormous, and the market is small.   You are right that it likely won’t be sustainable, but the equity firms dont care about longevity. They only look at cash flow per quarter and after their nut is made they don’t care about the company. 
the only solution is as @Shadrachsays, regulatory relief. It needs to be huge and fast if it has a chance of working. 

[A64Pilot]

22 hours ago, Shadrach said:

The GA supply chain is in desperate need of some regulatory relief and has been for quite some time. It may be too late to make a difference. I’m nervously watching Univair and Wag Aero. 

It just might could trickle down IF a certain Billionaire gets the job that he says he’s prepared to do.

For what it’s worth it wouldn’t be the first time, Ronald Reagan commissioned a waste fraud and abuse study in 84 by a private businessman, and saved a whole bunch of money.

This is NOT meant to be a political post in any manner, but just perhaps the FAA in particular might just get a mandate to back off and concentrate on Airliners and airliner manufacturers etc. This isn’t some nut job blogger, it the Wall Street Journal.

Edited November 10, 2024 by A64Pilot

[A64Pilot]

The FAA changed in 1996 from the Valujet crash, up until that time their mandate from Congress was to PROMOTE and regulate aviation, after that crash they convinced Congress that promoting aviation got in the way of them regulating it, Congress removed promote and the whole culture began to change, so since then it’s OK to strangle businesses.

[cliffy]

23 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

wThe FAA changed in 1996 from the Valujet crash, up until that time their mandate from Congress was to PROMOTE and regulate aviation, after that crash they convinced Congress that promoting aviation got in the way of them regulating it, Congress removed promote and the whole culture began to change, so since then it’s OK to strangle businesses.

Just as an aside note-

The Capt of that Valuet was a very close friend of mine. I gave her eulogy. She was a good pilot an a great person to know.

Just one of several friends that are no longer here because of various accidents in this game we call "flying"

It is the main reason why I sometimes become pedantic in my postings trying to stress safety and following the rules in aviation. 

It saves lives!

Sorry for the drift

[Shadrach]

19 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

The FAA changed in 1996 from the Valujet crash, up until that time their mandate from Congress was to PROMOTE and regulate aviation, after that crash they convinced Congress that promoting aviation got in the way of them regulating it, Congress removed promote and the whole culture began to change, so since then it’s OK to strangle businesses.

Something as simple as simplifying the mfg certification for parts that are non critical to flight. 
The FDA classifies medical devices according to risk. The level of regulatory oversight is determined by classification. Then there is FDA approval vs clearance which is a process to determine safety by comparison to an existing approved product. 
I’m not saying it’s a perfect fit, but we should not be regulating light bulbs and fuel servos under the same set of regs and level of scrutiny. It’s bad for everyone, including the FAA.

[Shadrach]

6 minutes ago, cliffy said:

Just as an aside note-

The Capt of that Valuet was a very close friend of mine. I gave her eulogy. She was a good pilot an a great person to know.

Just one of several friends that are no longer here because of various accidents in this game we call "flying"

It is the main reason why I sometimes become pedantic in my postings trying to stress safety and following the rules in aviation. 

It saves lives!

Sorry for the drift

I’m very sorry for your loss Cliff. That was one of the most horrific commercial aviation accidents of my lifetime. There was no way out of it. My sincere condolences.

[cliffy]

Thank you

[DCarlton]

On 11/6/2024 at 12:57 PM, Glen Davis said:

My mixture cable needs replacement and the McFarland replacement cost about $800 according to my mechanic. It’s a 1989 M20J. Could that be correct?  Seems expensive.  

For my F, I paid $723 for the mixture cable last Dec with 3.7 hours labor to install.  Although expensive, for a specialized part made in the US in limited quantities, it seemed reasonable to me.  Guessing they sell if for twice the cost it takes to make it.  

[cliffy]

To add to the GA Cash Cow mantra one only has to look at the proliferation of RAMP FEES.

When one or two operators take over an entire airport (at the sponsors approval) we have no 

choice but to "pay up" at the point of a virtual gun.

Until regulations change it will remain so BUT -

there is a reason why GA certified Standard category aircraft have a better safety record than Experimental 

Regulation change (or loosening) is a two edged sword, do you accept the inevitable increase in accident rate or don't you?

The two are concomitant with each other

By being locked into a "Type Design" where every part down to the smallest screw is called out for in that APPROVED Type Certificate

and that design is a protected product for life (maybe a sunset law on how long a type design is protected -much like the life of a patent)

we are stuck with what we have. 

Question=

Why is  Type Design protected more than a patent?