sj
Staff member
Northwest Arkansas
I have been to Denver many, many times. Every time I go I say to myself, or to Jim Dyer, “Next time I am here I am going to tour Univair”. When the word came out a month or so ago that the RAF would have our face to face board meeting in Denver this past weekend, I planned an extra day with nothing else scheduled to finally visit Univair.
At my day job, I work for a ninety year old family owned business. You can feel the history of Univair – started by Jim Dyer’s grandfather in 1946 – the minute you walk in the door. The manufacturing and warehousing operation, the mix of history and modern technology has that multi-generational feel. From wartime surplus metal forming presses, to the latest in computer controlled laser and plasma cutting, it is a truly amazing mix of young and old technologies getting the job done.
Univair builds to inventory, when I was there they were making wing ribs, gear legs, strut forks, and a whole host of other parts to replenish the 35,000 items they have ready to ship to you. Walking through the rows and rows of new products and old new stock is like time travel. Stinson and Piper fuselages hang from the ceiling; huge stocks of raw materials for making struts, gear legs, cowlings, cables are everywhere. From the outside the building does not look that big, but inside it grows exponentially.
I don’t remember the statistics on how many PMA’s and type certificates Univair holds, but I know one of the PMA’s was like PMA-3. They have been in the business of supporting aircraft with new approved products for a long time.
With 35,000 stocked parts it is a daunting task for a company to get the information to the customers about what they have. Univair has recently done a major website update making it much easier to search those items. Mike Sellers, Univair’s Marketing and Sales Manger has been overseeing the project and has these things to say about the new website:
In July, Univair launched a new website. This particular product software has improved search engine capabilities, plus it provides for the addition of more information that in-turn further enhances search engine function. This can help mitigate issues of not being able to find some products because of variances in term usage such as “boot cowl” vs. “fuselage cowl.” The use of model numbers i.e. PA-18 and PA-22 are still preferred and are likely to yield better results than using terms like “Super Cub” and “Tri-Pacer.” Whenever possible, having the original manufacturer’s part number yields the best results as many parts have multiple applications. Significant effort has been made to also include supersedure information. Additionally, many current products reference part numbers they have replaced.
The task of managing 35,000 items with limited staff has necessitated incremental improvement to the data base. The website will continue to be a work in progress. However, over the next several months product descriptions will be embellished, more detail on model applicability will be added as well as several thousand additional pictures on the most commonly sold items.
Last year saw the addition and categorization of all known, and still applicable, Piper Service Bulletins, Letters, Memos and Aids for all of the older Piper models including the Super Cub. This service information may be accessed by clicking on “RESOURCES” on the gray toolbar on Univair’s home page, www.univair.com. Also in the RESOURCE section are several Airworthiness Directives which may be accessed and downloaded. Type Certificate Data Sheets may be found there as well as approval data on the thousands of FAA-PMA approved parts manufactured by Univair. This information will be updated and added to as necessary and can be a valuable source of information for both the owner/operator and mechanic.
After walking around with Jim for several hours and getting a great history lesson, I got to see the “secret” project room where Jim is restoring a spectacular J4 Cub Coupe. When he finishes it, this will be an award winner for sure.
Thanks to the folks at Univair, for your hospitality – and your long time service to the general aviation community.
sj
At my day job, I work for a ninety year old family owned business. You can feel the history of Univair – started by Jim Dyer’s grandfather in 1946 – the minute you walk in the door. The manufacturing and warehousing operation, the mix of history and modern technology has that multi-generational feel. From wartime surplus metal forming presses, to the latest in computer controlled laser and plasma cutting, it is a truly amazing mix of young and old technologies getting the job done.
Univair builds to inventory, when I was there they were making wing ribs, gear legs, strut forks, and a whole host of other parts to replenish the 35,000 items they have ready to ship to you. Walking through the rows and rows of new products and old new stock is like time travel. Stinson and Piper fuselages hang from the ceiling; huge stocks of raw materials for making struts, gear legs, cowlings, cables are everywhere. From the outside the building does not look that big, but inside it grows exponentially.
I don’t remember the statistics on how many PMA’s and type certificates Univair holds, but I know one of the PMA’s was like PMA-3. They have been in the business of supporting aircraft with new approved products for a long time.
With 35,000 stocked parts it is a daunting task for a company to get the information to the customers about what they have. Univair has recently done a major website update making it much easier to search those items. Mike Sellers, Univair’s Marketing and Sales Manger has been overseeing the project and has these things to say about the new website:
In July, Univair launched a new website. This particular product software has improved search engine capabilities, plus it provides for the addition of more information that in-turn further enhances search engine function. This can help mitigate issues of not being able to find some products because of variances in term usage such as “boot cowl” vs. “fuselage cowl.” The use of model numbers i.e. PA-18 and PA-22 are still preferred and are likely to yield better results than using terms like “Super Cub” and “Tri-Pacer.” Whenever possible, having the original manufacturer’s part number yields the best results as many parts have multiple applications. Significant effort has been made to also include supersedure information. Additionally, many current products reference part numbers they have replaced.
The task of managing 35,000 items with limited staff has necessitated incremental improvement to the data base. The website will continue to be a work in progress. However, over the next several months product descriptions will be embellished, more detail on model applicability will be added as well as several thousand additional pictures on the most commonly sold items.
Last year saw the addition and categorization of all known, and still applicable, Piper Service Bulletins, Letters, Memos and Aids for all of the older Piper models including the Super Cub. This service information may be accessed by clicking on “RESOURCES” on the gray toolbar on Univair’s home page, www.univair.com. Also in the RESOURCE section are several Airworthiness Directives which may be accessed and downloaded. Type Certificate Data Sheets may be found there as well as approval data on the thousands of FAA-PMA approved parts manufactured by Univair. This information will be updated and added to as necessary and can be a valuable source of information for both the owner/operator and mechanic.
After walking around with Jim for several hours and getting a great history lesson, I got to see the “secret” project room where Jim is restoring a spectacular J4 Cub Coupe. When he finishes it, this will be an award winner for sure.
Thanks to the folks at Univair, for your hospitality – and your long time service to the general aviation community.
sj
