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Cirrus sr22 interior parts4/8/2024 ![]() ![]() The problem with all plastic parts-interior and exterior-is they eventually become brittle due to UV light. Jim Bede used fiberglass for wing root and tips to compensate for passenger weight, and because he saw Cessna and Piper wingtips getting trashed by hitting airport fences and other ground obstacles. Fiberglass gained popularity as some parts are intended to handle structural/aerodynamic loads. Plastic has been used by OEMs for interior and exterior components for decades because of its cost, weight and ease of fabrication. Yes, aircraft plastic lives a hard life and a quick look around your own aircraft-inside and out-will reveal problem components. Moreover, all of the companies we researched focus on building the parts that are most prone to breakage and unusual wear and those that get replaced most often. Thanks to the handful of companies doing this, there are plenty of available replacement parts. And since these airplanes are still active, that’s good news for the aftermarket suppliers and for competition. One exception is Piper, which has made an effort to get tooling to aftermarket shops for proprietary parts manufacturing. The common thread in the aftermarket plastic business is the dwindling OEM support for replacement plastic parts for legacy aircraft. Here’s what to expect and how you might choose a supplier. ![]() But shopping for replacement plastic-especially for an aging interior-can be a complicated task. The reason for the shift is partly because suppliers are earning more FAA PMAs (parts manufacturer approval), while pricing is based more on actual cost rather than inflated OEM pricing. But recent research (including visits to several suppliers) proved that prices are falling and it’s easier than ever to get high-quality replacements for worn and broken plastic parts. ![]() When we looked at the market for replacement interior plastic components nearly five years ago, prices were inordinately expensive. ![]()
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