THIS is Why GA Will Die...

[takair]

1 hour ago, 1964-M20E said:

I ordered a whole bag of these from McMaster Carr a few years ago.

Never thought to check there….sure enough….https://www.mcmaster.com/products/barrel-nuts/dowel-nuts-2~/

[Hank]

10 hours ago, 1964-M20E said:

I ordered a whole bag of these from McMaster Carr a few years ago.

Lookkee there--a bag of 25 barrel nuts, 1/4-20, for $10 . . . . A fair price of 41 cents each, versus the Inflated Aircraft Part price of $47 each.

[Yetti]

On 4/6/2025 at 9:38 AM, Paul Thomas said:

There is a price to quality and traceability. I was just at Sun N Fun and saw some AN fitting. The price immediately caught my attention and I picked some up and put them back down soon after. They weren't the right color of blue, didn't have the right markings, and didn't feel the right weight... It may work, it may not and that's not something I'm willing to play with. I'll begrudgingly pay 5x in that case for the right fittings.

The traceability card is always played.   The problem is there is very little traceability in airplane parts.    I am currently dealing with the aileron control link AD.  https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-264.pdf  There were two manufactures for these for Mooney.   One of the batches had a bad welder or bad welds.   The AD covers the whole fleet.  From model Bs to Model Rs.   Which means they had no batch control or parts traceability.  

[Yetti]

On 4/10/2025 at 6:19 AM, Hank said:

Lookkee there--a bag of 25 barrel nuts, 1/4-20, for $10 . . . . A fair price of 41 cents each, versus the Inflated Aircraft Part price of $47 each.

Pretty sure McMaster Carr was one of Mooney Factory main suppliers.    For a time you could find the Master Solenoid for our planes there. 

[N201MKTurbo]

3 minutes ago, Yetti said:

Pretty sure McMaster Carr was one of Mooney Factory main suppliers.    For a time you could find the Master Solenoid for our planes there. 

The barrel nuts above are a Lycoming part, not a Mooney part.

[flyboy0681]

Wait until tariffs kick in.

[Twing207]

A $2,500 fiber laser from china can engrave “FAA-PMA” on any surface…..