Harmonic_Vibe
11th Aug 2013, 05:21
Ladies and Gentlemen of Industry, I have the need to share a tale of woe, and of gross incompetence, that has caused (and continues to cause) major pain to some of our brethren on this site.
Some good friends of mine owned an aircraft that they were putting to good use in the airborne geophysical realm. They sent their engine to a somewhat reputable firm (I have heard countless stories of incompetence since this happened to my friends, hence the "somewhat reputable" reference), which I shall call "Heli Zero" for an AD compliance check. They received their engine back in seemingly good order and went to work.
Their very first SOAP sample after receiving the engine back showed high (and increasing) levels of iron in the oil. Being very smart and prudent fellows (if incredibly ugly), they sent it back to Heli Zero to see what was going on.
Heli Zero reported back that the issue was a nut, spinning internally, that was losing metal into the oil (or something to do with a loose nut... I'm a pilot after all!). The area that the nut had loosened was in the same area that Heli Zero had done some work, but they ("they" being Heli Zero) didn't think that was a factor. My (and yours) good friends didn't want to quibble over something that would never be known for sure (it is, after all, possible that an engine can run 1400 hrs without an issue, go for a minor check, and then make metal due to a loose nut within 70 hrs of the check, with this just being a "coincidence")!!
The story after this gets very complicated... the engine was sent to Heli Zero and they charged our friends over $70K for a repair that most observers felt was a result of an error on Heli Zero's part to begin with...Our friends' agreed to pay it as they really needed to get to work since a HUGE percentage of their fleet was grounded...
Then things went South... literally.... The engine could only be test run in Colorado at Heli Zero's facility there... But they were trying to dial in the test cell for the Arriel engine that was in the new US trainer... it turned the opposite way... Oh these FRENCH!!!! Anyway, our friends were told it would be next week... then next week... then next week... then next week...
Guess how long it took to get their engine back? You won't be able to... no way...
The engine was dropped off in December of 2010...
It was promised back in February of 2011...
Then when things started to be delayed it was March... then April... then May...
The owners of the helicopter had begged for a rental engine... they were told by the Zeros (apparently the personnel at the firm call themselves "Zeros") that there were none available.... our friends looked and looked.... but there were none to be had.....
The owner of the operating company (in writing) said " it's obvious we won't have it for May so we need to figure out something as we're going to be broke without that aircraft for the summer"... Heli Zero said, in response, "I (the fellow our friends were dealing with) give you my word you will have it by May 25th"....
Guess when the engine that Heli Zero likely broke to begin with was finally available to our friends??
In December of 2011, fully one year after it had been dropped off for repair (with NO RENTAL available) it was ready to pick up.... And Heli Zero stated they wouldn't release it without payment in full.....
PAYMENT IN FULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After waiting a year with a parked aircraft.... No wonder this subsidiary of the world's largest "pretend-an-operator" is so successful.... Go eff yourself Heli Zero and your parent See Her Seam...
The lawyer that Heli Zero has assigned has an interesting perspective on things... she says our friends should have "mitigated their loss by finding another engine".... our friends response was "we tried Turbomeca and they said Heli Zero has the largest supply of those engines in the world so how could we find one if you couldn't?"... Heli Zero responded that it wasn't their problem... more or less anyway...
Moral of the story?
DO NOT SEND PARTS> COMPONENTS OR ROTABLES TO HELI FREAKING ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The lawyer for Heli Zero is a girl who we shall call Blow Fan Gleeson.... That's close enough for me... Go eff yourself Blow Fan...
HV
Some good friends of mine owned an aircraft that they were putting to good use in the airborne geophysical realm. They sent their engine to a somewhat reputable firm (I have heard countless stories of incompetence since this happened to my friends, hence the "somewhat reputable" reference), which I shall call "Heli Zero" for an AD compliance check. They received their engine back in seemingly good order and went to work.
Their very first SOAP sample after receiving the engine back showed high (and increasing) levels of iron in the oil. Being very smart and prudent fellows (if incredibly ugly), they sent it back to Heli Zero to see what was going on.
Heli Zero reported back that the issue was a nut, spinning internally, that was losing metal into the oil (or something to do with a loose nut... I'm a pilot after all!). The area that the nut had loosened was in the same area that Heli Zero had done some work, but they ("they" being Heli Zero) didn't think that was a factor. My (and yours) good friends didn't want to quibble over something that would never be known for sure (it is, after all, possible that an engine can run 1400 hrs without an issue, go for a minor check, and then make metal due to a loose nut within 70 hrs of the check, with this just being a "coincidence")!!
The story after this gets very complicated... the engine was sent to Heli Zero and they charged our friends over $70K for a repair that most observers felt was a result of an error on Heli Zero's part to begin with...Our friends' agreed to pay it as they really needed to get to work since a HUGE percentage of their fleet was grounded...
Then things went South... literally.... The engine could only be test run in Colorado at Heli Zero's facility there... But they were trying to dial in the test cell for the Arriel engine that was in the new US trainer... it turned the opposite way... Oh these FRENCH!!!! Anyway, our friends were told it would be next week... then next week... then next week... then next week...
Guess how long it took to get their engine back? You won't be able to... no way...
The engine was dropped off in December of 2010...
It was promised back in February of 2011...
Then when things started to be delayed it was March... then April... then May...
The owners of the helicopter had begged for a rental engine... they were told by the Zeros (apparently the personnel at the firm call themselves "Zeros") that there were none available.... our friends looked and looked.... but there were none to be had.....
The owner of the operating company (in writing) said " it's obvious we won't have it for May so we need to figure out something as we're going to be broke without that aircraft for the summer"... Heli Zero said, in response, "I (the fellow our friends were dealing with) give you my word you will have it by May 25th"....
Guess when the engine that Heli Zero likely broke to begin with was finally available to our friends??
In December of 2011, fully one year after it had been dropped off for repair (with NO RENTAL available) it was ready to pick up.... And Heli Zero stated they wouldn't release it without payment in full.....
PAYMENT IN FULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After waiting a year with a parked aircraft.... No wonder this subsidiary of the world's largest "pretend-an-operator" is so successful.... Go eff yourself Heli Zero and your parent See Her Seam...
The lawyer that Heli Zero has assigned has an interesting perspective on things... she says our friends should have "mitigated their loss by finding another engine".... our friends response was "we tried Turbomeca and they said Heli Zero has the largest supply of those engines in the world so how could we find one if you couldn't?"... Heli Zero responded that it wasn't their problem... more or less anyway...
Moral of the story?
DO NOT SEND PARTS> COMPONENTS OR ROTABLES TO HELI FREAKING ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The lawyer for Heli Zero is a girl who we shall call Blow Fan Gleeson.... That's close enough for me... Go eff yourself Blow Fan...
HV