STC holder permissions, and "only dealer installations allowed"

One element at the basis of permitting the use of the STC you hold, is the general expectation that the STC holder is responsible for service difficulty reporting, notifying and resolution. The STC holder cannot notify the owner of the aircraft with their mod incorporated, unless they know who they are. It is expected that if you have given someone permission to install, you know who they are, and retain that record. As an STC holder, I have been audited for this.

Yes, it could be AD'd but....

As the Technical Director for a company I used to "direct", I was made aware of an eligibility list error for one of our STC'd products (which could be traced right back to the same error on the TCDS for a Lycoming engine, which I had not noticed, when I copied it!). I was told by Transport Canada: "Prove you can contact every purchaser, or we'll put out an AD on your product". It looks really bed to have an AD on your product at all, so avoid at all costs!

I have the list. I personally contacted over 200 clients, and did confirm directly that the only possible misinstallation (by engine model) was the client who had contacted me. All was well... Well, nearly.

Fully ten percent, both in Canada and the US of the clients had misrepresented the aircraft upon which our product was installed. Our Lycoming oil pump body was apparently installed on several Cessna 180s (which are not equipped with Lycoming engines, except perhaps one rare STC), a Schweizer sailplane, and a Bell 212 helicopter.

Both TC and a the FAA agreed that if the owner misrepresented the installation, they were on their own.

The STC's I hold are paperwork only. Were I not to enforce the letter of authorization, a photocopier would put me out of that business! I know that some have been pirated, because I have received the calls back from new owners. :"I'm sorry sir, I have no record of a sale to that aircraft - the price for the replacement document you seek is $$."

It is a disincentive for small companies to invest in STC approvals, if a photocopier puts them out of business later, so the FAA protects them a little. It's a system with lots of leaks, but it sort of works. That said, I think Garmin could afford to remove any barriers to installation of their products...

Regardless of where the data comes from, the equipment manufacturer is responsible.

Most manufacturer choose to go for dealer install only. Bad installations can ruine their name.

Just simple crimping can be difficult for one time installers as crimpers are expensive, some solder these instead which often results in pins or sockets which can no longer be extracted. Have had this a couple of times on installation, only solution is to completly renew the connector.

Soldering is the same on other connections, not anyone who can solder has sufficient practical experiance to solder such that a reliable joint is made. The suggested margin is no way near the actual value. And a dealership doesn’t come free.

I think no good shop is going to do the sign-off for work they didn’t performed. This would be stupid for liability and warranty issues.

which would prevent me installing it because there is no UK avionics shop who I would let go anywhere near my plane,

Luckily there is intelligent life outside the island, too Go to Straubing, they’re good. They make mistakes but they always admit them and go to great lengths to fix them.

Yes, I know. I do both soldering / crimping depending on the kind of job.

Just a while ago I was working on a factory build light aircraft. It was fitted with Garmin equipment from the manufacturer. At the factory somewhen decided not to use the metal backshell and strain relief, and to solder the SUB-D crimp contacts. A wire was broken (logically, no strain relief). The extraction tool won’t fit around the pin body as these are coated lightly with tin. Make this one broken wire an expensive repair. And a repair that wasn’t needed at all if it was correctly installed.

Every company make mistakes. For example with the GTN installation for PMH
Had done a runup after installation, and a compass swing. When he wanted to leave the RPM stopped (caused by a poor crimp joint from the factory combined with some mechnicall stress during installation). I think it is good the made it a fair review, and also described that problem.

Yet I am fully behind all work I have done and will do the best to help my customers. Now one of the customers is flying a GNC-255A loaner as the installed GNC-255A had issues. I exchanged the unit at my customers airport for a free loaner, however the loaner doesn’t come free to a dealer / me.

As Achimha says surely their are good shops around Europe, and I am sure their are in the UK as well. There are bad shops all around as well.

Yes, I am really interested in a shop which makes mistakes, admits them, and fixes them – NOT

Every shop/installer makes mistakes, you’ll never have a larger avionics job that is squawk free. What I learned the hard way is how cheap it can be to use the most expensive shop that actually knows every device and has all testers/manuals and experienced every possible problem in the past. Usually new avionics get connected to existing avionics and strange problems show up. Then you need experts for each device and the option to bench test it on site. That’s why I would never again go to a smaller shop.