By Tim Whitmire

This is not a tale of woe, so please don’t take it as such. Think of it as more of a Caveat emptor (buyer
beware) or awareness story.

I’ve been flying my RV-14A for just shy of two years now. I’ve replaced or repaired the following parts:

• Electronics International FT-60 fuel flow sensor
• Garmin GTN-650
• Dynon SV-COM-25
• AeroLED Suntail LN-210
• ACK-E04 ELT
• Odyssey PC680 battery

I get that stuff wears out, but most of these items came in kits from Vans or in the panel built by SteinAir. The
warranty clock starts running from the date on the invoice. It matters little that the parts sat for 2-3 years before
installation or first flight. I have been lucky on some of the parts and the manufactures have fudged the warranty dates a month or two in my favor. Thank you, Garmin, Dynon, Electronics International.

Odyssey and AeroLED stuck hard to their dates. AeroLED did sell me a replacement at a 30% discount. The general point I’m trying to make is to order your electronic items just in time. The battery comes embedded in a Vans kit. Have it deleted and order it separately just before first power up. The panel items are tougher. Panel build time can stretch out months. Just know when the warranty expires on a given item and give it a hard evaluation before then to see if there are any issues that need repair.

Fly safe.