Airplane parts

Google FAA PMA and FAA 8130 tags. All aircraft parts require lots of paperwork from cradle, to install to grave. Long day at work. Can type more later. In the biz jet biz. R&D.

 

Also see 14CFRPart 21 and Part 43

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgFAR.nsf/MainFrame?OpenFrameset
Click on Current CFR/By Part

The regulations are myriad. Just remember that every part on an airplane, EVERY part, must be approved by the FAA (the Administrator). The effort involved in approving a part varies greatly, from basically nothing to complex testing and analysis. The FAA delegates the responsibility for approving parts to many people/organizations, including individual owner/operators/mechanics.

You've stepped in a very deep pile of *****.

 

"a company in the airplane manufacturing space".
When a part is made by the manufacturer (IE Boeing or Honeywell) it will come with its own set of documents. Major components like Wing Assemblies are generally made by the manufacturer of the aircraft, while bolt on items like pumps, gear boxes, valves are made by third party vendors. But anything that is attached to an aircraft must go through a certification process to be deemed airworthy.

This is how the system works on my plane (GulfstreamIV). I had a cockpit window start to develop cracks. I 'squawk' (industry term for write up and inform maintenance, MX for short) the windshield. The MX department looks for a replacement. Turns out that Gulfstream is the only source for the windshield since windshields are destroyed by the removal process, thus nothing on the used market. Caveat, There might be another operator who has a stock of windshields left over from an aircraft that they sold just sitting on a shelf in the MX hangar. Long shot in this scenario, but it happens.

MX works up a quote and presents it to the owner for approval, he approves. Windshield is installed and they give the owner a bill for $74,000. In the MX log books (that go with the aircraft in the event of a sale), an entry is made to include, original squawk made by pilot, corrective action by MX, manufacturer MX procedure number that was used to correct the squawk and both old and new part numbers of the windshield.

Another scenario. Same as above but with Hydraulic Pump 'X'. Pump is available both new from Gulfstream, new from another supplier or used from various breakers. Prices will reflect the source. All will come with supporting paperwork/serial numbers.

Yes there is a secondary market dealing with used/refurbished parts. They undergo a reconditioning process before being placed back into service. There are many parts no longer being made. If you have a display unit on a certain aircraft go down, the replacement will be a reconditioned unit that will come with some sort of warranty. Reconditioned/used parts also have tracking numbers and a pile of paperwork that go with them.

I have never dealt with counterfeit/stolen parts.....but im sure it happens. We only deal with reputable vendors.

How does my mechanic know he is getting a genuine part? He doesnt. He is relying on the vendors reputation and records. Im sure a data plate can be swapped or changed. I dont know if there are red flags in place (Alert...we have two serial number 123456K in service, not possible.) I also dont know if a manufacturer keeps record of a part being taken out of service due to damage. That would be up to the operator to inform the manufacturer. Kinda hard if the plane is a total loss.

Quick final note. MX records on a Ferrari are nice when it comes time to sell. MX records on an aircraft are mandatory. Sometimes an operator will withhold the MX logs until final payment is secured from the owner. Nobody wants to buy a plane without MX logs as they contain the history and serial number of every installed component as well as damage/repair history.

My advice, call around to the closest jet service center. Ask for a MX supervisor and offer to buy him lunch plus $100 bill. You will get all the info you need.

 

To add slightly to Christian's comments, if he could get a used windshield (and maybe even a new one?) it will also come with a "yellow tag" which details where it came from, the serial number, etc. This yellow tag will either be stapled into the logbook or at least kept with the logbooks. This is true for just about every part which is changed out, over the years.

The airplane I'm flying now was built in 1980, but only has about 3800 hours. The logbooks and assorted yellow tags, engine logs, prop logs, etc. take up a large filing bin.

There certainly have been issues with counterfeit parts in the past. I think the people who run into those are usually low-ball type operators looking for the cheapest deal, and dealing with unscrupulous vendors. If you stick to the well known names in the industry, it's not really an issue, but of course that can cost you a bit more.

Aviation tends to attract bottom feeders who want to cheap out. However, those guys probably won't be interested in a system like you're describing, because if they were were interested in getting a guaranteed "good" part, they would pay up and get one!

 

Be aware that ITAR and EAR laws are becoming more of an issue for shipping and certification of aircraft parts. Google it.

Been with Gulfstream 17 years and regulations changing cause more grey hairs than anything else. Some key terms: See Chapter 5 Aircraft Maintenance Manual Limitations, Date of Hydrostatic check and inspection (DOH), date of manufacture (DOM), scrap life, Revision Level*.

* great for software, hardware and firmware. VERY IMPORTANT FOR FLY BY WIRE.

Hours and landing limitations are fairly straightforward. Aircraft getting sold from one market to another must have placards, markings, life jackets ect replaced and certified to the new specs.
Even the life rafts ELT's and aircraft ELT's have to be re-strapped or replaced for the new area of registry. Done this gazillions of time when I was in the service center. (Been in R&D for awhile.)

Graduated 6 months ago from Embry-Riddle. Still a just a mechanical technician. )
LOL. Job market sucks. Fascinating thread though.

PM if I can help, but have to mind our non disclosure rules. Generalities should be fine though. Had my A&P for about 12 years. Did my thesis on the biz jet maintenance. ) market.

 

Prior to being downsized, I was an accountable manager for an FAA Repair Station.
Dealt with all aspects of the repair process, parts and human processes required for repair. I also did some work getting parts added to our station's capability list.

 

I can see a need for such a marking system provided it works and is tamperproof.

Counterfeit parts are an issue and have been for a while in the aviation business. The fact that there is a ton of paperwork that follows every part doesn't mean that counterfeit parts don't get into the system.

In a past life I worked for a major engine manufacturer and had a good friend in product support. One day at lunch he mentioned that he got a call from a user that wanted to check on a turbine wheel and the customer supplied a part and serial number and wanted to make sure that this was a "good" number for a new part.

My friend responded to this user (who had a large fleet of helo's) that yes, the part was indeed a proper serial number for that turbine wheel, but asked if he wanted to know who originally bought the part (we had that in our records too). The customer responded that "no, I just want to make sure it was a proper part." My friend then said that "well maybe you should want to know that, since you were the one who originally bought that part, and unless you sold it to someone else, it's in one of your aircraft right now!!!"

The moral of the story is that while there is a ton of paperwork that follows aircraft parts around, there are people who will forge paperwork or take parts that are used beyond their life limits and refresh them sufficiently to make the look new and resell them. While dealing with reputable suppliers is very important even some of them can be fooled.

I think the reason for that is that most folks are indeed honest and for that reason many folks tend to assume that if the part has the proper paperwork it is legit, and probably don't look at it that carefully. I don't think that there are tons of counterfeit parts out there, but with the problems in the past with counterfeit aircraft bolts I can see where some type of marking system would not be a bad thing.

If that turbine wheel broke and brought down an aircraft the true story of that particular part would probably have come to light, but the fact that the part was being sold as new and it was either a counterfeit or was used and beyond its life limits would have been small comfort if a loved one lost their life because of an engine failure.

 

^^scary^^

 

Sir, our company specializes in the mfg and sales of aircraft products, STC'd products. question to you is
- are we talking RFID type of tracing system?
- is this a marking system or a product unto itself

 

Counterfeit electronic parts are a big problem for the aerospace industry. Unfortunately, you just missed the last symposium:

Symposium on Counterfeit Parts and Materials

We've partnered with Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE)

Their course overview here:

Counterfeit Electronics: Detection and Avoidance

 

If you're still in learning mode, NASA has a huge program as well.

For example:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/trismac/apr08/day2/hughitt_NASA_HQ.pdf
http://mttc.jpl.nasa.gov/files/COUNTERFEIT%20PARTS%20AWARENESS%20TRAINING_Intermediate.pptx
http://mttc.jpl.nasa.gov/files/NASA%20Counterfeit%20Awareness%20training-full%20day%20flyer.pdf
http://nepp.nasa.gov/workshops/etw2014/talks/Tue/1530%20-%20Lockhart%20-%20Counterfeit%20Electronics.pdf

 

O/T

From another thread:

And they're in growth mode.

 

A good start to see and learn about the finer points would be
- MARPA (FAA/PMA association)
- NBAA
- AMT SOCIETY
- AEA ASSOCIATION

all of these groups have excellent trade shows, were you could see first hand whats out there and how yours could be unique