I spoke to them at AERO.
The man said they have not sold a single TB20 system for about 10 years. Could that really be true? I am fairly sure some people have installed it during that time.
I made the point to him (which I hear all the time from TB owners) that the company is difficult to deal with; his explanation appeared to be (paraphrasing) that they are not that interested because they are not selling any.
However the 50k mentioned is not an unusual price and seems to be normal for any SEP. That is a huge cost, which might add €5k-10k to the resale value.
I know it works very well, but…
I asked him about installers. Apparently the best one is an Airbus maintenance facility in Germany somewhere. Turnaround time about 4 weeks.
AirPlus in Friedrichshafen is the certified installer. I got quoted €40k for the Cessna which includes the struts. Unfortunately the TKS tank takes a big part of the baggage compartment. I would probably design my own tank below the rear bench and get that approved.
Still a lot of money for an airplane that can carry quite a bit of ice.
I spoke to the same guy and he quoted me about 40k for a commander. He has seen one been done last year in the US.
With this price it is out of question.
Difficult to deal with is actually an understatement. And it does not extend to TB owners only, I personally know two Mooney owners with TKS-systems installed who had to wait for months on spare parts and their requests for updates on delivery times remained unanswered / were completely ignored.
My personal experiences are similar: I sent several e-mails to various people within CAV and also left them telephone messages (their switch board is very effective directing the same enquiry to different people as “being responsible for your request”, maybe depending on the time of day or the moon phase) asking about the availability and price of a TKS-pump without getting any reply at all. I even phoned their US office who called me back within 30 minutes telling me that they could not answer my question as they did not have that pump in stock and needed to enquire with their UK HQ on price. That was the last I heard of it.
From a customer service perspective CAV is a company best to be avoided.
Definitely not true – I had a TKS system installed on my TB 21 in 2007
Welcome, Paul
May I ask how much you paid and who installed it?
For a C182T, I asked a quotation a few months ago (AirPlus Friedrichshafen).
I was given, excluding VAT
Installation: 11430€
TKS Kit: 29000$
EASA STC: 1500€ (!!)
Small parts: 1500€
As a comparaison, one owner of the same aircraft installed the TKS system, around 2009, for 25000€ tax included (Airplus also)
The price inflation could explain the fact they sell very few system !
Alexandre.
I would prefer boots..
Air Touring installed the TKS system when they were still around. Apparrently they had installed one many years before but it’[s a tough job and I don’t thinkmany people are interested in doing it.
My TKS installation was about £28.5k but i had a bare skin respray done at the same time which probably made the job easier and various avionics jobs so the total bill was much higher.
I’d prefer boots too but not an option unless I change the aircraft!
I’d prefer boots too but not an option unless I change the aircraft!
Why? I’m quite happy with TKS – the only drawback I see is the price of fluid.