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Cylinders. Self Import from US or buy in Europe.

For almost all parts needed for my Cessna 210, I buy in the US and have it shipped to Europe.
So far, I have only needed smaller parts that won’t brake the bank in shipping costs.

However, one day will come where I will need to buy more heavy stuff like replacement cylinders. I believe that the freight costs will quickly eat away the price difference from buying directly in Europe.

So the question is:
+ Where do you buy engine parts cheapest in Europe?
+ Is it cheaper to import?

spirit49
LOIH

I don’t have an answer re a source of engine cylinders (here in the UK people buy that sort of basic Lyco stuff from e.g. Adams at Biggin Hill, or LAS for smaller items) but I find that courier shipping is ridiculously expensive for all international shipments e.g. Germany to UK is not much less than USA to UK.

So you probably need to find a supplier in your own country, or buy from the USA and pick a company which doesn’t do something crazy like shipping a 5kg item in a 1m x 0.5m x 0.5m box on which you get hammered because you get billed by the volume instead of the weight.

And if buying locally you need to hope that the supplier actually stocks the stuff. If they buy it back to back from the USA when somebody places the order (which is what most “distributors” do if they can get away with it ) they will be just passing on the same freight charge you would pay anyway. This is what I found with e.g. Mountain High oxygen cylinders – may as well buy them from the USA.

Finally, when buying from the USA, it is usually a lot cheaper to get the supplier to pay the freight than to have it shipped to your European DHL (etc) account. US courier pricing is a lot lower than the same job ordered from Europe. And the big firms out there should get even better deals. I once had an engine shipped back to me for $1300 by Fedex when my UK DHL office quoted GBP 3000… the Fedex account was a big corporate one.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Cylinders go in large quantities here so I would buy that locally. You probably don’t pay more and most importantly, you have a local company in case of warranty claims. That for me would be worth way more than let’s say a 10% overhead.

I would buy them from a local overhaul shop, they order them by the dozens every week.

Isn’t “replace cylinder” a standard pre-flight checklist item for the large Contis?

Isn’t “replace cylinder” a standard pre-flight checklist item for the large Contis? Quote

It sure is. Even though I have been lucky so far.

So which shop would you recommend in Germany.
Im located in the cross between Germany/Austria/Switzerland, so I can easily pick my country. Have post addresses in all.

And if buying locally you need to hope that the supplier actually stocks the stuff. If they buy it back to back from the USA when somebody places the order (which is what most “distributors” do if they can get away with it ) they will be just passing on the same freight charge you would pay anyway. Quote

The reason I order in the US myself.
I feel somewhat isolated as a aircraft owner in the US. It seems to me that all parts we might need is mostly “on order” in Europe, or so highly priced that it doesn’t make any sense to order locally in Europe.
Problem is when you just need some small hardware. Even that seems hard to get by in Europe

Last Edited by spirit49 at 14 Jul 11:33
spirit49
LOIH

Not true.
While many of the Turbo versions of the 520/550 don’t make it over 1000 hours without one or more new cylinders many of the NA versions fly to TBO and longer without.

I can recommend Rieger in Vilshofen EDMV. They have their own cylinder workshop and their prices are reasonable. A lot of 210 work is being done. More important than cylinder cost is the quality of the work and the warranty. There are quite some quality issues with cylinders and the manufacturers have strict warranty guidelines. I wouldn’t try to save a few Euros.

a bit off topic

i had 3 weeks ago a fuelbladder send from the us to germany ordered on monday 19.00h ZULU arrived on my desk 37hrs later costs 228 USD freight now i find that reasionable

fly2000

achimha wrote:

I can recommend Rieger in Vilshofen EDMV. They have their own cylinder workshop and their prices are reasonable. A lot of 210 work is being done. More important than cylinder cost is the quality of the work and the warranty. There are quite some quality issues with cylinders and the manufacturers have strict warranty guidelines. I wouldn’t try to save a few Euros.

Do you have any idea what they charge for fully reconditioned Conti cylinders ?

The BEST price AND quality that I have found for re-con’d Conti cylinders was from …. Continental !

Paid $950 including rings and gasket kit for a fully re-con’d cylinder. These come from the ex Matituk company that Conto bought out a couple years ago.

FAA A&P/IA
LFPN

Why would I ever install a 2nd hand cylinder? They are not that expensive new and easy to get. Fixing your own cylinder (hone, new valves and seats) is fine but installing a cylinder that somebody else wanted to get rid of — never!

spirit49 wrote:

I believe that the freight costs will quickly eat away the price difference from buying directly in Europe.

I know, but so far having ordered two aircraft kits, 1 1/2 engine and tons of other stash, it is increasingly cheaper to order from the US the larger and more expensive the package is. But, some companies are much more used to handle international shipment than others, and large shipments seems to be more of a wizardry craftsmanship than getting simple quotes (some companies are good at it, Vans for instance, other are not so good, Aircraftspruce varies). Also, if you can pick it up yourself at the arrival shipment port in Europe, you can cut the cost by 1/3-1/2 in many cases.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway
17 Posts
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