Older Bo's

Stu Gotts wrote
airframe parts are pretty much
available. They're really not much more expensive than Piper or
Cessna

Not my experience. A friend of mine just bought an older Baron.
Elevator trim tab is a bit loose, needs a new Clevis fork. On a
Cessna or Piper, that would be a standard AN part, maybe $10-$20. On
the Baron, it's a Beech-specific part. Sure, it's available. $156.

Beech-specific parts ARE more expensive, often by an order of
magnitude. Whether they last longer or not is debatable.

Michael

Michael wrote:
Stu Gotts wrote
airframe parts are pretty much
available. They're really not much more expensive than Piper or
Cessna

[snip]

Beech-specific parts ARE more expensive, often by an order of
magnitude. Whether they last longer or not is debatable.

I concur with Michael. I'm not a master of what Piper prices are, but my
wallet has felt the hit of Raytheon (Beech) prices are. I personally have
shelled out $400 for a cabin door hinge, $120 for a single landing gear
bushing. And those are just my personal experiances. I think the worst
I've heard about is ~$4,000 for the sheet metal baffleing on an E-powered
plane. The real insult on that bit of slightly stamped sheet metal was
that the owner had to wait 6 months for it.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl" (A '49 A35)
Hood River, OR