Valid point IMHO. Unfortnately this is seem to be the case with more and more manufacturers, where for simple maintenance is only possible for dealers. I did have to send out another brands PFD as well when it failed the pitot static test.
Also the LRU point is valid, more and more manufacturers seem to make “unrepairable” products, in which only major assies could be replaced, or nothing can be replaced at all. You also see this at starters and alternators which fail and are unrepairable (and “maintenance free”)
What is PFD?
What is LRU?
Jan, Google is your friend.
Primary Flight Display
Line Replaceable Unit
Yeah… sounds familiar.
Dealer-only access to configuration items.
That is why I would never install any piece of avionics which requires dealer participation for installation or configuration. It’s a recipe for getting bent over a barrel and shafted.
I believe the Aspen EFD1000 is OK, all the “old” King stuff is OK (if you have contacts in low places and get the maintenance manuals – I now have a 15GB collection), the Sandel stuff is OK (one of many reasons I like them), the G500 and the G1000 are definitely not OK and need secret dealer codes. The GTN I am not sure about. The Avidyne IFD540, according to info from the USA based on pre-cert units, is also OK.
I have never found the KFC225 configuration diskette for the TB20, so if the config module got damaged I would be screwed. In the UK there is only one firm which can work on it.
The shipping issues are familiar too. Very difficult to avoid unless you use the same company for outbound and inbound, and even then you can get burnt on import duty on something which was originally yours because American companies are not really familiar with the concept of a universe outside the USA so they happily ship something with an invoice on the box for $10000. Outside the USA everybody is a lot more careful about that sort of thing and would tend to knock up an invoice for some “appropriate market value”. It is virtually impossible to get a US company to do that; they think it is illegal.
And yes this does illustrate the downside of buying your own kit from the USA, too. You get effectively no warranty, and any return will be costly, so you have to balance that up against the big saving you make on the purchase cost.
