Price discrepancy in generator to alternator conversions.

[Jim Logajan]

These all appear to my layman eyes to be the same generator to alternator upgrades but the price differential between Aircraft Supply and the other two retailers is simply too large for me to believe they are selling the same thing:

ER14-50 Plane Power Generator to Alternator Conversion Kit – Aircraft Supply & Repair, Inc.

aircraftsupply.com

McFarlane Aviation ALTERNATOR, NEW 12V/50A - Part Number: ER14-50

FAA-PMA parts for Cessna, Piper, Grumman, and Beechcraft aircraft. Products include cables, engine controls, steering rods, seat rails, engine controls, rudder pedals and many more airframe parts.

www.mcfarlaneaviation.com

ER14-50 Hartzell Plane Power Alternator | Aircraft Spruce

ER14-50 Hartzell Plane Power Alternator Included in these STC'D kits is a new Plane Power alternator, Plane Power voltage regulator, hardware, and mounting brackets needed for replacing that old, heavy, low-output generator with a new Plane

www.aircraftspruce.com

Anyone care to clue me in what I'm missing?

 

[Jim Logajan]

Belated note: Aircraft Supply now shows double the price, making it comparable to other suppliers. But I got the print copy of Aircraft Spruce's catalog (printed sometime last year) and it shows the price for that alternator conversion at half the amount it is now. That is one hell of an inflation jump!

 

[rotorwrench]

Anyone care to clue me in what I'm missing?

That is one hell of an inflation jump!

One possibilty is the list of approved aircraft is very small vs the list for the more expensive ones? Or it could have been a simple typo in the print catalog?

Have seen similar price differences before when researching parts that fell under the above and other reasons over the years.

 

[Bob Noel]

or Aircraft Supply so Jim's post and figured they could jack the price...

 

[Rowat]

This is actually a direct result of the purchase of Hartzell (parent company of Plane Power) by private equity (Arcline Investment Management). There was pretty much an across the board massive price increase once they fully took over. I can look back at my historical purchases of PP alternators and regulators (as well as Sky-Tec starters... also owned by Hartzell) from Spruce from a few years ago to now and basically everything doubled. R1224S-14 VR went from $207 in 2021, to $256 in 2022 to $280 in 2023 to $383 in 2024. AL12-C60 kit went from $600 in 2021 with small increases in between to $1150 now, AL24-70 from $775 to $1380, etc. They bought up all the exhaust & engine mount manufacturers as well too... Dawley, AWI, Acorn, Knisley, Kosala, and others, and raised all those prices too. Another private equity group bought McFarlane (who has been on a buying spree of their own with AirForms, CJ Pumps, and others). It's frustrating.

 

[Jim Logajan]

This is actually a direct result of the purchase of Hartzell (parent company of Plane Power) by private equity (Arcline Investment Management). There was pretty much an across the board massive price increase once they fully took over. I can look back at my historical purchases of PP alternators and regulators (as well as Sky-Tec starters... also owned by Hartzell) from Spruce from a few years ago to now and basically everything doubled. R1224S-14 VR went from $207 in 2021, to $256 in 2022 to $280 in 2023 to $383 in 2024. AL12-C60 kit went from $600 in 2021 with small increases in between to $1150 now, AL24-70 from $775 to $1380, etc. They bought up all the exhaust & engine mount manufacturers as well too... Dawley, AWI, Acorn, Knisley, Kosala, and others, and raised all those prices too. Another private equity group bought McFarlane (who has been on a buying spree of their own with AirForms, CJ Pumps, and others). It's frustrating.

Thanks for that background info - very helpful in explaining the price changes. In my case an alternator would be nice to have, not an essential purchase (such a replacing a dead alternator.)