MD Helicopters - Wot no spares?!

[Trolleys]

Rumour has it that an MD902 in the UK fleet will be out of service for up to two months due to lack of spares.
During routine maintenance the main rotor drive shaft was found to be u/s. The operator has since been told that no spares are held either in UK or at MD. Short of pinching one from the production line, delivery date for a replacement is put at 'sometime in April'.
To make matters worse, at the last inspection the shaft was found to be nearing it's limits so MD (or their UK representative) have known a replacement was going to be required since last September.
Comments Ms. Tilton?

[Hover Bovver]

Nearly as good as Agusta 109, 26 weeks for a fire bottle:rolleyes: and no TR Driveshafts in stock.

[moosp]

And five months for a set of EC120 skids, until one of the Eurocopter directors ordered that one be taken from the production line.

So it is not individual companies that are at fault here. It is endemic to the current production and spares system in the industry. An expensive spares holding leaps out at the accountant's eye as a waste of money. Despite strong protests from the engineering/service section, they win the day.

To ensure the profits of the manufacturer, the small operators go bust with an AOG machine waiting for spares. Good long term strategy, no?

Nick Lappos made a point on a previous thread that in some American companies they will rob the flight test/training/company VIP aircraft to ensure that spares go out to an AOG. This does not seem to happen in Europe.

To paraphrase the Bard, "Let's kill all the accountants..."

Oh, apart from Whirlybird of course... :O



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[dr atkins]

Trolleys, your rumour is a load of rubbish. New shaft is in stock and I'll be fitting it tomorrow!!!

Ms Tilton your doing a great job at getting spares in unlike Eurocopter who seem to be getting worse from what moosp has said.

I guess the LUH contract will really squeeze EC spares as the millitary will always get first shout.

Any other rubbish you want to spread Trolley? :ugh:


Dr A

[Russell Sprout]

What an utterly pointless thread!!!!! I've been flying 902's for years and happen to find it one of the most reliable and user friendly machines i've ever flown.

[lavalump]

Mr Sprout, they're reliable if the spare parts are available to fit.
Statements that MD no longer have a spares problem now ring hollow.

I look forward to a post on here tomorrow confirming Dr A's attendance. (more chance of Newcastle winning the FA Cup)

[Helinut]

If they are sooo good, why has a police unit bought an EC135 to replace it, because of appalling availability?

[dr atkins]

If they are sooo bad then why has Manchester police decided to buy a new 902 and at least two air ambulance operations aquire 902's?:rolleyes:

[Bertie Thruster]

That police 135 decision might have initially been made pre Tilton.

Our 902 IIDS (integrated instrument display system) went t*ts up (first time in 6 years) on 21 Dec. Great timing! AOG the Thursday before the Christmas Holiday weekend!

New IIDS flown in from the States the next day, 22 Dec pm.

Great service and a welcome Christmas 'present' for all those casualties we helped over the Holiday weekend. :)

[ShyTorque]

[To paraphrase the Bard, "Let's kill all the accountants..."
Oh, apart from Whirlybird of course...]

WhirlyGIG will not be amused by that... she's the accountant. :oh:

[PANews]

Thank you, just what the Dr Ordered!

I have been waiting weeks for that to go public - two months in fact! It seems that after a fair competition Manchester has decided to acquire a new Explorer [but that is all I know].

Whilst I think its a fair point for those posting to raise the past poor AOG record of the MD nowadays its more about checking the product is on-line for the claimed 'AOG recovery' - keep an eye on the ball is not necessarily being cruel to the product!

The evidence I have now [and we all know I have been a severe critic of MD902 AOG in the past] is that MD are far better. You will always find a glitch like all he Mets ancient AS355s being grounded because they all shed gearboxes within days - situations like that just cannot be overcome without pain. I guess EC were wrong footed by not building 151 skid sets to go with the 150 120s they were building.

S*** happens, its deciding whether its a one off or a malaise that has led to all the vitriol on Pprune and elsewhere. For a long time it was a malaise for MD. But it was denied - even though it was patently true.

So, faced with all the lies, at what point were people to decide what became the truth? In many ways that aspect has been little more than self inflicted and - I now believe - recent history.

Long may it last.

[Whirlygig]

To also quote the Bard


If you prick us, do we not bleed
If you tickle us, do we not laugh
And if you wrong us, do we not seek revenge?


Don't worry Moosp, you're not the first and you won't be the last to get us Whirlys confused ;)

Cheers

Whirls

[Sulley]

Don't read too much into aircraft selection then re-selection when it envolves the police.:ok:

There are usually all manner of behind the scenes politics and what is often reported as a 'reason' may well suffice as an excuse.

On the whole all the fleets of all the uk police suppliers suffer to a degree at some point.Just when it's you sat on the ground it doesn't seem like it !!:{

[Trolleys]

Dear Mr A,
To my great relief I stand corrected!
Any idea where the spare came from? The last information I saw, an email direct from MD yesterday, stated that there were none available.
Perhaps my original posting and an email direct to Ms. Tilton has kicked the beast into action.
Still doesn't explain why there has been no notification from MD the part has been dispatched! If the spare was available, why not just say so and save all the pain?
p.s. To all UK MD902 users - do a thorough Check A today and make sure your a/c still has all the bits you put it to bed with last night. Someone, somewhere is missing a drive shaft!

[FREDDYLAPBACK]

It looks like Mr Trolleys has jumped the gun or jumped the Prune as the case may be! Is this not a communications issue as what ever has happened the part has arrived quickly and the aircraft will no longer by AOG.
If you listen to any of the UK 902 users at the moment, there have been great advances since the Patriarch takeover of MDHI with a vastly improved customer service and supply of spares. It may be more beneficial if Mr Trolleys investigated current UK 902 availabilities instead of initiating premature threads??

[Trolleys]

Not sure how I can be accused of jumping the gun when:


a. Email from Head of Customer Services at MDH stated that part wouldn't be available until April.
b. Email/phonecalls from UK maintenance organisation stating no spare was available.
c. The first we knew about the availability was reading about it on Pprune this morning.
d. Phone call to maintenance organisation today revealed they weren't expecting spare and didn't know where it had come from.

Very grateful that the item has arrived, but slightly worried that MDH don't know their own spares inventory, and Pprune is the most reliable source of information!

[helimutt]

That out of nowhere shaft? I hope it wasn't the one made in a filipino back street machine shop and fedexed overnight?. Too many horror stories of dodgy parts in the past!

ps, just meant to be a tongue in cheek statement, not serious. :hmm:

Glad to hear another a/c can get back in the air though.:ok:

[jayteeto]

The power of PPrune!! Seems strange to be told OFFICIALLY FROM THE COMPANY that there will be a 2 month AOG, put it on PPrune and discover that a part has been made available by reading it on this site, BEFORE the company tells you that things have changed!!
Eurocopter better read this thread, because every time we are delayed for a spare, it will appear on this site....:ok: