OK- I rarely provide public feedback on services or products I have ascertained, good, bad or otherwise that is just the way it is. However, I feel compelled to provide feed back on a recent experience that I had w/ an engine overhaul facility located in Winchester, Virginia.

I purchased my C-182B in mid-2011 and for the most part it has been wonderful. When I purchased it there was 26 hours on a PPonk that had been installed by the previous owner in 2008 by Aero-Engines of Winchester, VA (I believe the only PPonk approved facility on the east coast).

The engine had been flawless until my annual inspection in April which revealed a 5 inch crack in the case along a previously repaired spot that had been welded. At this point the engine only had 160 hours on it and I was shocked and in disbelief. I was facing a very uncomfortable expense on an engine that only had 160 hours! In large part I initially purchased this 182 because of the low-time PPonk.

I will not bore you with the details but my mechanic contacted the company that did the overhaul w/ the previous owner six years previous and they agreed to honor the repair less freight. Tom and the good folks at Aero-Engines received my PPonk tore it completely down installed two new cases, inspected everything, installed all new bearings re-assembled it and shipped it back to me in about two weeks - NO CHARGE!

We fired up the engine last night and it runs perfect! My plan is to install the cowling tonight and test fly

My question remains..... What kind of company stands behind there work and honors everything (except freight) in 2014?? Remember, this engine was overhauled 6 years ago and his customer was not me, it was the previous owner.

I appreciate this effort so much it has compelled me to write this recommendation. My hope is that this response and story of incredible business ethics will compel others to consider doing business with Aero-Engines of Winchester, VA.


PPonk - Cracked Case

Thanks for the feedback. I always wondered about that place. I'm partial to VA since I was raised there and my sister just retired back there. I haven't had the best luck with truck shipping so like to deliver things in myself and that place is close to home.

Excellent review. Good to read about successful customer service stories.

They definitely are good people. I live right down the road from there hangar. I had never met them and stopped in one day with some questions about my franklin. They spent so much time with me and sent me out the door with some oil lines I was in need of free of charge. When the time comes for engine work they will be one of my first stops.

Well, 5 years on it seems that things may have changed significantly for the worse with these guys. My PPonk engine supplied by them in 2014, now with 5 years and 575 hours on it, has already killed two cylinders (the other 4 look like they aren't far behind) but more concerning is the fact that the camshaft is disintegrating, including one large block that seems to have fractured from one of the lobes. It's been operated properly the whole time with regular oil changes, and a 6-cylinder engine analyser.

I called AeroEngines and to summarise their attitude is "Sucks to be you, we're not responsible if the parts we use come apart prematurely".

It is not just them, even the Continental factory does not stand behind the parts they install in factory remans. My bud just spent $20K to replace the prematurely worn cylinders and pitting camshaft. Aviation and medicine, two fields that will not tell you what something will cost ahead of time and not really stand behind the workmanship or products. Also two of the highest priced services and product lines. Always puzzled me why we had to pay for AD's.

Example, on the higher end of things. Pratt & Whitney, they will honor the warranty if one of your CT blades fails and cores out your hot & power section. The warranty; they mail you a blade. Lets see, you get a replacement $265 blade to help offset the now $180K repair bill. As far as warranties are concerned, in aviation its: "Flier Beware."

Were they recently acquired by another company? I called their shop up last February and spoke to this younger guy who I think was the "new boss" and he explained they had recently merged or been acquired by some larger company. IIRC, he said they had two (or maybe three) shops now under whatever new corporate veil they had going on within the DC metro area.

Were they recently acquired by another company?

The PPONK engine STC is now owned by NorthPoint Aviation in MN, and is now referred to as the XP470:

http://northpointaviation.net/northpoint-xp470/

Oregon180 wrote:

Were they recently acquired by another company?

The PPONK engine STC is now owned by NorthPoint Aviation in MN, and is now referred to as the XP470:

http://northpointaviation.net/northpoint-xp470/

Interesting.....I was talking about AeroEngines being sold although that's good to know about the PPonk STC.

Nobody is going to call their Pponk and XP470 both new and old. I am surprised they wouldn't want to keep the branding that Steve Knopp built all of these years. Pponk is an iconic name.


Josh

I agree about the branding. XP470 sounds like it belongs in the Titan experimental engine line (X360, etc.) to me.

Sorry also for answering the wrong question in the first place!

I agree - Love my pponk and love the name PPonk

nickelb wrote:I agree - Love my pponk and love the name PPonk

Actually, Pponk is the name of the business--
owner Steve Knopp's last name spelt backwards.
Their engine conversion was called the "Super Eagle 470-50".
Personally I never cared for the "Super Eagle" part,
and "470-50" looked like 470 minus 50, instead of 470+50.
If I was Northpoint, I woulda just called it the 470+50.

Or like Dog said, just kept the well-recognized existing branding.