Narco

I think that the market in general has come to the same conclusion as you about the Narco product, which is why they went out of business a few years ago!

The good news is that used, serviceable replacements are available very widely and inexpensively. Check Ebay, Barnstormers etc. When the display on my Narco 825 Nav lost a segment I bought a good replacement radio for the price of 75 liters of fuel in Europe, and the seller delivered it within 12 hours. That was admittedly a stroke of luck. Then I bought a spare Narco 810 comm, just to have one on hand.

For now, my solution is to have spares to ‘stick in the hole’ if/when necessary in the future. Works for me.

A lot of people do that (Ebay etc) but I think the OP in this case is a flying school, so his options are limited to “legit” avionics repairs or some such.

I came across Narco when reading some stuff about the tech background to the Apollo project (as indeed one comes across many of the names we are familiar with in GA) but everything Narco made after that seems to have been a pile of crap.

I came across Narco when reading some stuff about the tech background to the Apollo project (as indeed one comes across many of the names we are familiar with in GA) but everything Narco made after that seems to have been a pile of crap.

I’m led to believe Narco stuff varied in quality from model to model… from crap to OK, although never outstanding. The digital displays introduced in the 80s were apparently problematic, as confirmed by Bathman’s experience but (just for the record) my existing Narco 810 comm is actually fine after about 25 years in sole owner service. I’ve found it fun to buy and/or maintain the radios on both my planes for peanuts. An iPad running Foreflight is what actually gets me around, and quite nicely too

Whats the process / cost if buying eg. a Narco 810 from the US to use in an EASA aircraft?

Whats the process / cost if buying eg. a Narco 810 from the US to use in an EASA aircraft?

Assuming the intent is to replace an existing comm radio of the same type, I might ask if there’s any probability of the radio serial number being queried at annual inspection, or at any other time? Obviously, physically exchanging radios in that circumstance takes 30 seconds, can be performed by a pilot, and satisfactory comm radio operation is easy to check.

I understand aircraft radio licenses are still required in Europe – is that license referenced to a radio serial number? Other than demonstrating a ‘highly developed’ respect for authority (in accordance with the EU model ) is there any reason to do anything except install the radio?

If any of that is concern, and the display is the issue, just swap displays.

I’m assuming there is duty to be paid unless shipped by a private party as a gift.

Whats the process / cost if buying eg. a Narco 810 from the US to use in an EASA aircraft?

I think the “full” answer is that you have two options:

• Buy a new (unused) unit, in which case an FAA 8130-3 form is good for an EASA installation, or

• Buy a used unit, in which case you need either an EASA-1 form (good luck with getting that from a US company) or you need a dual release FAA 8130-3 form (needs to come from an EASA approved FAA 145 company, and there are a few of them out there e.g. South East Aerospace).

But why buy a Narco? Unless you want a plug replacement, there is no point. I wouldn’t know anything about this of course but if you pick one up on US Ebay and plug it in, nobody will notice.

Peter, the reason is that it would be a straight forward replacement of existing gear. The alternative is a new audio panel, new nav/com, CDI etc. costs are £9k+ fitting.

It should be possible to find these in Europe as well, as lots of radios are getting replaced to meet the 8,33 kHz requirements.

Note starting November 17th 2013 it is no longer allowed to upgrade avionics (change in P/N) to non 8,33 kHz radio equipment within EU.
In the example above this means it can only be replaced by the same P/N non 8,33 kHz radio which is currently installed