An Update . . . and a pat in the back

[Ernie Martin]

Bought a 1977 337G to replace the 1973 I had to ditch in Bahamian waters a year ago. Flew it from the Kansas City area to Miami -- 8 hours in flight -- without any squawks. Now in the shop to correct some minor issues known at purchase.

In that regard, I want to suggest you all consider El Cajon Aircraft Supply for Cessna parts (800-888-3227, ask for Rob). We were overhauling the brakes and the shimmy damper and their people were invaluable.

Aircraft Spruce, Chief Aircraft and Preferred Airparts had ALMOST everything, which meant I would have to order from two sources, and pay two 2nd-day freight charges. Yingling (a Cessna dealer in Wichita, next to Cessna) had everything BUT on some small items (seals, O-rings) there was a minimum purchase of 10 or 25. And most of these suppliers will only use UPS or Fedex for 2nd-day freight, at 3 to 4 times the cost of USPS Priority Mail.

El Cajon had everything and shipped the same day (in one case I put the order in at 4 PM their time). And because they are in California, you can save a day in shipping in those instances where you're not ready to order until, say, 6 PM Eastern time, since it's only 3 PM there. Plus they are happy to ship USPS Priority Mail.

Win-win all around.

I've covered some of this in the "Purchasing Parts" page of my secondary Skymaster website at www.SkymasterUS.com, but I felt that their recent performance was worthy of mention.

Ernie Martin