The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Its time to replace or repair mine. I paid $25 for it 15 yrs ago so I feel I certainly got my $ worth. Any thoughts on whether its better to overhaul mine or do an exchange---or does it make any difference?

Frank, I had most of my instruments overhauled +/- 5 years ago by an instrument shop between Georgetown and Austin. If you want a contact phone number give me a call. They did an excellent job with no failures yet. However, as I recall, it was not much cheaper than buying new instruments. So, next time I will go for new. Just my 2 cents worth.

Jim

Thanks for the suggestion Jim. I am going to ck w/ Ralph Stahl at NW Regional apt tomorrow & see what he gets to OH. I may give you a call if I don't find what I am looking for------maybe we can discuss this weekend if you are going to Dave & Marcia's.

Ralph Stahl does a good job and is a great resource for such matters.

One shop I can recommend (likely the one Jim is talking about) is Aircraft Instument Support Services. Ralph Posey is a truly great guy and an honorable fella, and I recommend him very favorably. http://www.aissinc.net/ 800-593-2096

Here's something worth thinking about when it comes to simple instruments like T&B's: They are not all alike. I recall having one fail and Ralph Posey pointed out that my failed instrument was mfr'd in Puerto Rico. It could be economically rebuilt since it was a U.S. territory. But a cheaper one that looked identical was available, and it was made in Taiwan and carried a price tag that was attractive.... the only problem is.... when it quits.... there's no value for trade-in or core-deposit. It had never occured to me until he pointed such matters out.

I recommend overhauling your instrument if you're not in a hurry. If you're in a hurry, obtain the exact part number on the back of your instrument and purchase an exhange unit that is identical.

Frank, Ralph Posey is the go to guy that I used and the one recommended by George However, I am not a fan of Ralph Stahl. FWIW, He did the overhauls on the DG, and AH many years ago and Posey (with out knowing the prior overhauler's name) said the prior work was very poor. Still recommend you buy new if your instruments have been more than one time. Good luck on your search. Jim

I appreciate all the suggestions---you guys are always a valuable resource. I talked to Ralph Stahl this morning and he offered to take a look at the unit and let me know (without a charge ) if it was repairable or not and of course if it is, what the cost would be. I have this old one I removed multiple yrs ago that is an R C Allen unit (with a Cessna sticker on it---and a Stahl Instrument repair sticker also) which I will let Ralph check out. If it is a total gonner I will have him look at the one in the plane. Although someone told me some time ago that Ralph was trying to retire, he is still up there at NW Regional (52F) working and he lives there also and another good thing is I can fly in and drop the unit off if desired rather than mailing it. That is probably poor economics as mailing a unit is a lot cheaper than flying over there and back a couple of times, but heck isn't flying what we have these planes for One in the plane works OK after the gyro comes on line, but when the master is first turned on the unit is dead as a mackeral, but after a very few minutes, it comes back to life and operates OK, as best I can tell. Obviously it is in need of overhaul. Century Instruments in KS has done previous instrument work for me---they say R C Allen instruments are good ones and they have all the parts to do OH's. They charge $275 to overhaul, $345 exchange or $385 for an outright purchase. We'll see what develops.

Stahl did each and every one of the instruments in my airplane and they have done very well for about 12 years or so now. I visited with him last year at FtW Regional and he's still in business, but seems to farm out a lot of his work these days.