PDR
I have no objection to certification of anything, what I object to is the manufacturers being in a position to rip the operator off, with the excuse it needs to be manufactured to a high tolerance and needs to be certified
What you don't seem to see is that when companies like mine give up because we can't make a profit then guess what your jobs start to disappear.
Some of the examples I have given show there is no justification for the sheer expense
1. Steel tube on a 269 in 2009 it was $790 in 2016 it is $ 1390. Now forgive me but that part was designed 60 years ago and has not been changed. The real laugh was it had to go back as the manufacturer had drilled the holes in the wrong place. So much for paperwork !
2. 269 Pitch control now this is a serial numbered part, cost $ 3700. It came with a nice 8130-3 ( yes not an authority to fit ) but guess what, it wouldn't slide on to the output shaft because it had been made wrong
3. 369 main rotor blades have a habit of cracking the FAA answer ( along with EASA ) just check them every 200 Tq events and that will be fine. My quality manager is ex Jag/Landrover quality manager. As he said if this happened in the automotive world there would be an instant recall on all products with a redesign . But aviation oh no we will just look at and hope that catches the problem before the blade comes off.
I could go on for ages but ............
As to the usb I can give you the guy's name at said company but not on a public forum
Have fun I have to go and fly one of these things now