By John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal
I have come to the realization that we accumulate far too much stuff in our lifetime. This has been made clear by a recent move that is still in progress while I write this — therefore, what better time than to address the topic of accumulating spare parts and their role in maintaining your airplane and keeping you from continually ordering from Aircraft Spruce! Thankfully, their catalog is the ONE item I have in a specific place (on a shelf, above the desk) for those instances when other used parts just won’t do and I have to order new. It is a valuable tool for pricing out what anything used “should” cost, if you have the opportunity to get said part, on the fly. While we are on that subject of price, if it is in good shape, bank on that price to be 50% of new. If it’s much more than that, seriously consider going the “new” route as you never know what its real condition may be unless you can physically inspect said part before buying it.
If you are such a scrounger, you’ll already know that the Fly Markets at Oshkosh and SUN ‘n FUN are places where you’ll likely get the deal of deals for that one specific used item that normally costs you an arm or leg. Our Cessna 140 is still sporting the same pair of Cessna 150 mufflers that I purchased in Florida for $300 some 20-plus years ago, passed down from a Cessna 120 to a Cessna 140 (essentially the same engine and frame layout), when the former frame suffered a mishap. I have checked them every annual for cracks, but based on my initial assessment that they were either rebuilt or new off the shelf when I bought them, they have provided about 1,000-plus hours of trouble-free service — and compared to straight pipes they lower the decibel level a notch or two. They even came with the STC paperwork for the change. The paperwork behind such items is something that you’ll want to be aware of, but generally, if it isn’t there and is active with someone, then it’s likely feasible you can track down who owns it and get a copy for your records. Remember, that just because some paperwork is there, this doesn’t guarantee that it conforms to airworthiness standards. I most recently did this with a McCauley C66 propeller that I found on Kijiji for $1,000. It’s important to note that before laying down the money, I first measured all the stations along each individual blade for depth and thickness along its cord to ensure that it was within limits prior to being considered for overhaul — something to closely look at before you buy, otherwise you might have the misfortune of learning that you’ve just bought worthless junk. One blade today is worth the cost of the overhaul. If you’re at a fly market, go to the web for the specs or call up someone who knows what the specs are (like a propeller overhaul shop) before taking the plunge. A little bit of research will go a long way, preventing your prize from heading to the metal recycling depot — been there, done that!
The First Real Haul…
I might have led to it in an earlier article, but my first real bring-me-home project was a snowmobile that was being tossed in the trash a few houses down the street when I was 12 years young. If memory serves me, it was a 1972 Polaris, still relatively new considering it was just 1979. It had a 2 stroke, single-cylinder Kohler air-cooled engine (about 17 hp max revs) which Dad and I thought could be modified into a Go-Kart. I had found it one day walking back from my school, where I gleefully told Dad that we had to pick it up just for the parts, because, “it was all there!” It was probably my third or fourth salvaged treasure, the others being bicycles and lawnmowers up to that point in my still, very young life. Dad agreed it was a manageable project and maybe it could be turned into something. Six months later he had welded up a frame, installed a drive axle, transmission (direct drive), tires, engine, gas tank, steering column (salvaged from the snowmobile), and hood (also from the snowmobile) with wired lights. It was my first “car” and it taught me a whole lot about energy management as it didn’t have brakes as such, using the belt driven clutch instead to brake, where when stopped with a puck mechanically pushed against its side, it disengaged the belt drive…after a fashion. Unfortunately, I am unable to find any pictures of the cart when Dad and I first brought it to the local parking lot for trials. We mucked about with it for a couple of years. It could really scoot along! A few years later he sold it to a close mechanic friend. He made several improvements to make it more driver friendly, complete with roll bars, a sturdier stainless steel gas tank, some frame mods, and cosmetic improvements. However, its core design remained essentially unchanged and as far as I know it’s still operational today.
Parts…for “Spare Parts”
It’s sometimes worthwhile to plan for the eventual repair and overhaul of an item, down the road, if you know that the sum of the spare parts lying around can build something to at least a better standard than what you have. A tailwheel is a good example of that. At today’s prices, this is something that if you come across one at a flymart you might just want to buy it for its stash of internal parts that wear fairly quickly. I am specifically referring to the Scott 3200 that’s found on many small aircraft that now sells for a small fortune. If you come across one now for $500 (or less) you might consider just having it around in the shop for its internal components that can easily add up to many times that price. I was fortunate to buy several of these many years ago in a couple of other projects where the previous owner had done the same, with the intent, I suppose, of using those spare parts to rebuild at least one serviceable tailwheel. Again, check them out if you can, and make sure they are not already shot and in need of overhaul before you lay out the money.
Spare Materials
I do a fair bit of welding and have found it absolutely necessary to have spare, new, and used stock metal lying about to save time and money. Going to the hardware store for every little piece can be expensive. Prices have skyrocketed for metal and hardware. If I can, I’ll go to great lengths not to use an AN part on something other than an aircraft considering that the new AN part is about three times the cost of stocked local hardware. It’s especially useful to have round and square 1-inch pipe in your metal till. This is good for engine stands, jigs, hangar equipment, etc. The same goes for scraps of aluminum skin. Sometimes it’s just easier to cut, drill, and rivet something together vs. going to the trouble of getting the welder out — albeit, if you don’t ever plan on taking it apart, it just might be easier to make it permanent with a good weld. I also think twice about throwing out any metal that can be compartmentalized and stored for the job that you know is down the road. My recent visits to the junkyard have emboldened my opinions that it ain’t really worth recycling your “scrap” metal. Prices are just too low unless you’ve accumulated tons of it and even then, the cost of the gas getting it to the yard kind of outweighs the effort of getting it there. Old engines should be recycled. Leave them around and they’ll be in your way and impossible to move about unless you have a dolly made for every engine. Best be done with them (especially, automotive ones) unless you know that they are hard to come by and are no longer available in the local yards. The old Ford F350 6.9L that I tossed the other day netted a whole $80 (it weighed in at an incredible 994 pounds!). But I can’t tell you how many times I cursed in a year side stepping it, especially on ice! In that regard, it was high time we moved to clean up and toss some useless stuff that wasn’t necessary and always in the way.
Sentimental Value
Sometimes you just can’t part with an item that you like, which works well, and that you’ve put a bit of elbow grease into. That’s the case with my 1952 Wayne air compressor that I bought for the grand sum of $75. It was my intro to air compressors and how they operate. I bought it with the understanding that its crankshaft was bent. At some point, it had fallen on its side where the cast flywheel (which doubles as a cooling fan) hit the ground with some force of the weight of the compressor cylinder behind it, bending the shaft. I took it all apart, straightened the shaft on a 20 ton press, reassembled it, and voila, I had a dependable compressor with a powerful electric motor and great CFM output that was perfect for the shop. They really knew how to make these things in ‘52. I was pleasantly surprised by the low noise it produced for the capacity it has. I had it tucked behind a stone wall in the basement where I had planned to build a wine cellar, so because it was behind a wall and door, its noise was hardly perceptible in the shop. I just couldn’t see it go with the house, so I decided to move it yet again to a hangar at the airport where I can get some work done blasting, prepping, and riveting parts. The convenience of air tools is really hard to beat when working on just about anything, especially airplanes.
Rare Parts
I am not sure how rare it is, but my best guess is that there aren’t many canopies for Tiger Moths out there. So one day, I had the opportunity to get a canopy for the Canadian version of the Tiger Moth, a DH.82C, from the estate of Watt Martin, in Alliston, Ontario. I had met Watt on two occasions prior to getting the canopy, but as Watt was also a scrounger, he was reluctant to sell his extra canopy and more open to bartering with me for a couple of frame sections that I had to restore my own project. Unfortunately, Watt passed on and when these parts did come to market, I was able to buy these before they were scrapped. I’ll have to redo all of the canopy parts, mainly using them as templates to make new ones, but at least it’s something to work with vs. just drawings. Whether or not it’s even practical putting a canopy on a Moth (they are kind of rickety-rackety things) remains to be seen, but at least I have the option of returning the airplane to its original factory configuration when it left Downsview, Ontario, which, in itself, may make the project “whole.” Time will tell whether or not the original parts will work, but I feel it was worth the time and effort.
Scrounging is fine for what you need in the moment for the job at hand. If you’re sure you’ll need it down the road then it’s probably worth keeping, at least for a while. When faced with what to keep and what to toss, it’s probably a good idea to get rid of the bulkier items that eat up shop space. I did get rid of a collection of cracked cylinders, which took up a lot of room, so I guess I am making some progress at letting things go? As it is, there are enough boxes to move!
John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal, is a passionate aviator. When he isn’t in the saddle at the airline, he can be found out at the airfield doing any number of things. He likes to fly gliders, practice aerobatics, work on airplanes, and fix stuff.