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Sticker shock!

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Cabover

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2010
Messages
46
Location
Minnesota
I thought I might start a project, a PA-18 with my own preferences. Wider, long gear, the way I want it all around.

My first effort was to plot out the airfoil and look into 2024T3 and 4130CrMo. Wow! Sticker shock!

I just spent the best part of that last three years in China working with an old friend from South Africa. Former head of the Metallurgy Department the University of Pretoria now a PhD and a former university class mate of mine. I had an opportunity to do a little welding there. Their C30 was almost as good as 4130CrMo but not as easy to weld. It requires a different rod, a bit softer.

I did some calculations on the cost of the Steel and the Aluminum for a Cub type aircraft. About $160 for the steel and $200 for the Aluminum. The prices here are at least 10 times, closer to 30 times the price in China. Their alloys for 4130CrMo are available and only slightly more costly than C-30. The 2024T3 is common there.

So here is the question. Why are materials here so expensive? My former classmate assures me that he has tested many samples and finds few discrepancies and those usually minor. The old mode of doing business there was not conducive to repeat business. The new push is to quality and fully embracing recognized standards so as to join the rest of the world and gain repeat customers.

So again the question. Why 20X or so the difference in materials price? A loaded container ships for about $2000. Where does the rest of the money go?

Cabover
 
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