Peter I think your case was exceptional. There are for sure alternatives for Airplus. I decided to do this job with Mastenbroek aeroskill in the Netherlands only 20 min flying from my home base. As such I could follow the process from nearby. They did a very good job. I had a very good deal nothing close to what was quoted several years before by Airplus.
It would not surprise me if CAV woke up and decided that their SR22 TKS business (which I imagine dominates their revenue) is not going to carry on for ever. Maybe some patents have expired? Also they definitely know that Airplus have basically killed their “random” European business.
So I am not surprised if they have changed their strategy.
Ive had the oldest install for a 210 Had it done by Marshfield Aviation. Great Shop with a real can do attitude.
tThey had a falling out with the original owner of the Company. And I can certainly understand why. The guy was a REAL businessman if you know what I mean.
My big complaint is that their Windshield pump is a piece of garbage. Never works. So when I met up with the owner the AERO a few years back I told him about it and he said he would be happy to sell me a new pump. Was it modified to correct any deficiency? No. So your going to sell me a pump which every 6 months has to be torn down cleaned up so it will work for maybe 6 months? The newer pumps are of a different design and the fluid doesnt get into the housing. But you get my point. Here they are selling something north of $40,000 and they wont correct a known deficiency.
Otherwise the product works as advertised.
After having the system now for more than a year I can confirm that it improved my dispatch rate on occasions were a go decision was important. Let’s say before I had TKS flying over mountains with less than nice weather always was a gamble and a risk I not often was willing to take. Now it’s a bit different, having TKS as line of defence. The last long leg I flew the OAT @ 9000 FT changed from +12 degrees in Austria to minus 2 around Stuttgart with a mild cold front that needed passing on my way to Belgium. The freezing level looked like a 3 degrees ILS downslope all the way East Westbound.
There were several occasions last year I was happy to have the system available and I used it, otherwise my trip would have delayed with several days. A typical scenario which I encountered a couple of weeks ago I was vectored (unexpected) right into a cloud layer with sub freezing temps along Vienna. It was very busy and the approach controller was doing her stuff getting the traffic into Schwegat. The system was pre primed so it started to work relatively quick (2 minutes) not wanting to stay in IMC with some terrain below me at 9000Ft..the vector included a climb to FL100 for terrain clearance, I requested a climb to FL120 which takes some time at that altitude….I finally got on top in the sun, seeing the fluid coming out and the prop spray, surely helped to reduce my stress levels and put a smile on my face. The Bonanza can hold 7 gallons more than 2 hours of usage….Anyway if you need it that long then something went wrong with your flight planning I think :-). A discussion before we had here on GA was to Turbo or TKS as upgrade. I for sure know that TKS was the right decision. Icing can happen at any altitude. In this typical scenario I would have flown I guess higher but a Turbo does not provide any ice protection when it happens.at any altitude..sometimes unexpected….
