Precision Airmotive LLC

My question is Why oh Why didn't you check the carb screws before to put in
on your plane?

--
Cy Galley - Chair,
AirVenture Emergency Aircraft Repair
A 46 Year Service Project of Chapter 75
EAA Safety Programs Editor - TC
New address -
EAA Sport Pilot

"four-oh-four" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 05:58:50 GMT, Jerry Springer
wrote:

Instead of whining about lawyers, liability and the big problems with
our countries liability issue, I'm more interested in the basics. Such
as, do other manufacturers make STC'd parts for the
Precision/facet/Marvel dribbler carbs? Such as Kelly? Or did they buy
the parts from Precision and then overhaul carbs using those? If stc'd
parts are made elsewhere, then we should be okay keeping the current
crop of carbs flying. Precision didn't mention if they would continue
to sell carbs to the homebuilt/experimental market. But I suspect they
won't. Not sure about their Silverhawk add-on fuel injection system.
Be interesting to see if they continue to maket the non-certified
stuff. I've had mixed results from Precision. I flew to Lakeland a few
years ago in my homebuilt with a Marvel carb on my lyc. 160. My carb
had a problem, and I bought a rebuilt one directly from Precision,
having it shipped overnight to my hotel. I installed it in the
emergency repair area, then flew back home with it. Had mixture
problems all the way home. Once I got there, I found the case half
bolts were loose, never tightened correctly. And the carb was leaking
fuel along the seam. I was pretty angry they'd send me something that
messed up, so I raised hell with them, and they shipped me a brand new
one. I found out later, they farm out the overhaul to a foriegn
country. So goes the crappy job. Plus the first carb they sent me
looked ancient, an old Marvel one, and I suspect the internal threads
were worn out. That being the reason it worked loose. At least I got a
new one out of them before they stopped production. I think they
brought on some of their problems themselves. But I don't know of
anyone that manufactures the carb body, and that can wear out. So if
someone has an old carb body that has worn out threads. or is cracked,
they'll be looking for a used carb somewhere else.
RAM












Peter Nielson
Product Support Mgr.
Precision Airmotive LLC
14800 40th Ave NE
Marysville, WA 98271

360-651-8282

Subject: Letter to Industry

Here is the text of a letter we are sending out to the industry today.

Precision Airmotive LLC has discontinued sales of all float
carburetors and component parts as of November 1, 2007. This
unfortunate situation is a result of our inability to obtain products
liability insurance for the product line. Precision Airmotive LLC and
its 43 employees currently manufacture and support the float
carburetors used in nearly all carbureted general aviation aircraft
flying today. Precision has been the manufacturer of these
carburetors since 1990. These FAA-approved carburetors were designed
as early as the 1930's and continue to fly over a million flight hours
a year. After decades of service, the reliability of these
carburetors speaks for itself.

Nonetheless, Precision has seen its liability insurance premiums rise
dramatically, to the point that the premium now exceeds the total
sales dollars for this entire product line. In the past, we have
absorbed that cost, with the hope that the aviation industry as a
whole would be able to help address this issue faced by Precision
Airmotive, as well as many other small aviation companies. Our
efforts have been unsuccessful.

This year, despite the decades of reliable service and despite the
design approval by the FAA, Precision Airmotive has been unable to
obtain products liability insurance for the carburetor product line.
While we firmly believe that the product is safe, as does the FAA, and
well supported by dedicated people both at Precision and at our
independent product support centers, unfortunately the litigation
costs for defending the carburetor in court are unsustainable for a
small business such as Precision.

Therefore, as of November 1, 2007, Precision Airmotive LLC has been
left with no choice but to cease production and support of its float
carburetor product line.

We are working with the engine manufacturers and others in the
industry in an attempt to minimize the impact on general aviation and
to provide future support for this product line. There is a
substantial quantity of parts and carburetors stocked at our
distributors which should be sufficient to support the industry for a
short time.