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any news or updates on the tubing kit issue ?
Thanks Tim
Thanks Tim
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Is it an "issue" or are they just not in stock and will be put together upon request? Keeping unsold inventory on hand gets expensive. Just-in-time manufacturing is much more affordable for the business. But I'm sure a call to Mark directly will answer your questions without community armchair guesswork.
Christopher Owens
Bearhawk 4-Place Scratch Built, Plans 991
Bearhawk Patrol Scratch Built, Plans P313
Germantown, Wisconsin, USA -
The web page said something like "due to tubing supply shortages----"Comment
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Good luck finding tubing! There is literally a waiting list for delivery. As far I know the mills are focused on delivery of large bore coil tubing for Oil & Gas industry.
It is hard to impossible to import cheap small bore Chinese tubing ever since Trump slapped the industry with tariffs.
It took me 8 months to have my tubing order filled in 2021& I deal direct.
I can only imagine how short the 4130 supplies are now.Comment
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I suspect that kit orders are taking priority over tubing packages.Comment
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I've been assembling the tubing kit for my Patrol in dribs and drabs, and it is painful. Wing elements, most of the tail feathers, and a few pieces of the rarer stuff for fuse on hand. I expect prices of 4130 to more than double over the next 5 years, so worth just sucking it up now and treating the materials purchase as investment. Piecemealing the job is a pain, and requires the same sort of diligence that we saw in other supply chain affected parts of the economy in 2019-present (if you are a pistol or rifle ammo handloader, you know exactly how bad things can get).
Disturbing Big Picture view follows:
Edited: I suspect the mods will find a deep dive on the why's to be beyond the scope of a site focused closer to ground level.Last edited by SpruceForest; 12-30-2022, 09:53 AM.Comment
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Gadzooks! Sir Newton's stated yet another law!
'Twice what is needed is just enough, whilst just enough is never actually sufficient.'
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That’s humorous...coming from Canada. No, no everything is Putin’s fault now that Trump left office two years ago and the “President” hasn’t repealed those tariffs. Ha, ha!Originally posted by Sir Newton View PostComment
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Thank you Jared.Comment
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I think you need to look at where things are made to understand why retailers generally cite 'supply chain issues' as a reason for supply deficits and price escalation:
- Steel, aluminum, and copper are all materials that are severely impacted by current global events, so will see some significant price escalation and demand-related shortages
- This is happening as all us Boomers are retiring and taking our investment capital with us
- This makes capital more expensive, so our suppliers will be paying 4x, 5x, even 6x more for money for at least another decade, so expect cost to increase and supply to decrease (driven both by cost of the material and cost to operate the enterprise, e.g., warehousing hundreds of thousands of feet of 4130 for months or even years, along with the base cost for warehousing, inventory control, shipping/receiving, etc.)
Time and money fix this problem, but we seldom have enough of either resource.
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I have been casually watching tube prices increase over the years. As near as I can tell, over the last 5 years it's increased about 40%. I will be ordering my Christmas present, fuselage tubing, this week. I'll be ordering from Aircraft Spruce. Prices vary significantly between vendors. Overall Spruce was cheapest with shipping free over $350.00 (sounds too good to be true). I will only be ordering the heavy hitters, T10, T11 and T14, the rest will have to wait. I'll find out about shortages when I call in my order. I may be in for a rude awakening. A few years back a rumor went around that there was going to be long term shortages of 4130 sheet. I went out and ordered a bunch. Turns out there was never was any shortage.
Gerry
Patrol #30Comment
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Gerald---- I just looked at tubing prices last night------ for t-10-------spruce 7.50 per foot--------airparts 5.40 per foot --------stock car steel 5.52 per foot.
online metals was like 8$ per foot--------- the place that sells the dope and fabric (cant think of their name) was more than spruce----
Do you think it would be worth trying to order the 4 longeron tubes full length and have them shipped by motor freight ? (to not have a splice)
(though splices on clean new tubing is not too hard---)
Im going to wait till everybody is back in their offices after the hollidays to decide on tube kit vs. scratch. Have not heard yet from Mark or VR in Canada.
Im sure they are out for new years leave.
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The Patrol lwr longerons are different sizes, T11 and T14 so splices are necessary. The uppers are shown as one piece T10 174" long. I plan to call Bob about 1, 2 or 3 piece upper longerons and where the splices should go. All the biplanes I've worked on over the years have spliced upr and lwr longerons. They get the crap beat out of them so splicing BH longerons is not a concern for me. Price wise T10 Spruce $7.50/Airparts $5.40, T11 Spruce $4.99/Airparts $5.40, T14 Spruce $5.45/Airparts $6.77. It's a push but if Spruce gives me free shipping, I'm in. Would prefer 1 piece upr longerons. Will have to research that
Gerry
Patrol #30
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I think I will call airparts and spruce next week and see if they can give me an idea of how bad shipping 20 footers is by motor freight......
interesting that one is cheaper on the t10 and another on the t11 and so forth----
350 threshold for free shipping is pretty low for a batch of tubing ! Im prepaired for a "catch" on that-----
Tim
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In my experience, they kick out the free shipping even if I order a 1-foot piece of cut tubing. It's really frustrating.Originally posted by fairchild1934 View PostComment
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