I asked my guru IA and he said that it would not require a 337 in a Part 23 plane either. Then he said he would need to recheck some issues with non-tso'd radios. He had argued with the FED's many times that adding a radio or replacing a radio with a different model does not meet the requirements for a major repair or alteration. The FED's finally conceeded. The non-TSO'd radio does raise the question. Clear as mud??

Whee : I have four I-Comm A-200's installed in my planes, the oldest was installed in 1994 and they have worked flawlessly. The radio has flip-flop tunning and plenty of volume to hear the speaker without ear phones and the speaker in one of my planes is behind the back seat on the back seat cross bar. I have used the radio many times going into Oshkosh at airventure without ear-phones . They are a great radio and a 1000% better than a Val-comm in my opinion. Last year i bought a I-Comm A-210 at Oshkosh that I have not installed yet. The radio technicians at Aircraft Spruce told me that the differance between the TSO'ed and non- TSO'ed is, TSO'ed may be installed in your aircraft with JUST a log book entry. If you use the NON- TSO'ed in your plane you will have to fill out a 337 form and submit it to your local FSDO. Grab one , they are a very good radio !!! You won't go wrong !!! John

I just installed an A200 (TSO version) in my airplane. While talking to my "supervising A&P" about the sign-off, both he & his IA buddy agreed that a radio installation requires a 337- in this FSDO's area anyway. The TSO'd radio could be done as an alteration 337, meaning the IA could sign it off, while the non-TSO radio required a field approval 337 with an FAA approval. I know a guy who has had a local A&P install radio's in several of his airplanes over the years, those have been documented with logbook entries only- no 337's. And this is the same locale: same FSDO, different inspector's area.So it all seems to depend on who you're dealing with. I would suggest that you talk to the guy who does your annuals, then follow his advice. He's the one who's gonna have to sign everything off when annual time comes every year.

Eric

hotrod150 wrote:I just installed an A200 (TSO version) in my airplane. While talking to my "supervising A&P" about the sign-off, both he & his IA buddy agreed that a radio installation requires a 337- in this FSDO's area anyway. The TSO'd radio could be done as an alteration 337, meaning the IA could sign it off, while the non-TSO radio required a field approval 337 with an FAA approval. I know any guy who has had a local A&P install radio's in several of his airplanes over the years, those have been documented with logbook entries only- no 337's. And this is the same locale: same FSDO, different inspector's area.So it all seems to depend on who you're dealing with. I would suggest that you talk to the guy who does your annuals, then follow his advice. He's the one who's gonna have to sign everything off when annual time comes every year.

Eric

If you have to file a 337 it is by definition a major alteration. You either have an STC, which means the data is already approved(Is that what you meant by alteration 337?) or you get a field approval. Either way you file a 337. If it's a logbook entry that means it is not a major alteration and no 337 is required.

Here we go again.....I had quite a discussion about this with my A&P and IA friends. That was my take on it also. However, I was told that the radio install needed a 337 in addition to a logbook entry. It was not an STC'd kit or item, and as long as it carried a TSO approval I did not need an FAA sign-off (aka field approval)-- but it did need a 337 filed. But like I said, another A&P in this area who has installed a lot of radio's over the years just does it with a logbook entry. He is not an IA, so he can't sign off the bottom of a 337 himself, so that may have something to do with it.
If you want to split hairs, the top of the form 227 sez "major repair and alteration". So does the word "major" apply to alteration or just to repair? All I know is, the guys doing my paperwork said they needed to do a 337, so we did one...the radio's in, it's documented, and it works great- end of story.
BTW Whee, just cuz Icom isn't making them anymore doesn't mean that A200's aren't still available. If you still want one, just call all the avionics shops and maybe you'll get lucky. Neither Spruce nor Chief had one when I was shopping, but Pacific Coast did.

Eric

Bear_Builder wrote:The Citabria I learned to fly in had an ICOM A200 radio. Nevery had any problems with it except that the buttons are pretty small so it was hard to use in turbulance or with gloves on. I really like the big clunky dials on my 170B, but my radio shop tells me there arn't any new parts available for them, so next time something breaks, it's done.

Phil

You ever heard of this guy? I've never dealt with him but it would appear that he's got plenty of 170B parts - something to keep in mind anyway if you don't want to cough up the dough for a new alternative...

http://www.kx170b.com/

Whee : I should have qualified my statement on radio installations. If the radio is a TSO'ed unit it may be installed with a log book only entry -- only if it is a comm. radio only !!! If it is a comm. and navigation unit you will need to file approved paperwork to the FEDS, I have had this done 4 times in our FSDO . They apparently want the NAV. portion of the radio to be correctly installed and verified !!! John

jcrowles wrote:...If the radio is a TSO'ed unit it may be installed with a log book only entry -- only if it is a comm. radio only !!! If it is a comm. and navigation unit you will need to file approved paperwork to the FEDS, I have had this done 4 times in our FSDO . They apparently want the NAV. portion of the radio to be correctly installed and verified !!! John

That makes sense.

I was looking at the Garmin website and had a panel version of the 696 GDU 375 that seems to make a big deal that it is non-TSO'd. I was thinking wouldn't that be a bad thing? It brings up that it is for LSA and experiment do they play by different rules? and maybe it's i'm off and GPS units are a different ball game?