Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By BoeingBoy
#1875225
Hi All,

As some of you who frequent FB will know I was informed this week that my 77 Archer has significant corrosion in the main spar of the right wing. It's a write off and will need replacing. I should point out that this has nothing to do with the spar bolt hole AD that's been much discussed already.

Waiting for a new spar from Piper and then rebuilding will be cheaper but will take the best part of six to eight months. The plan now is to import a ready made refurbished wing from the States, probably by air freight. It should be ready to roll in the next few days. Once painted up and installed it should see me back in the air before the years end, but around £40k poorer!

My maintenance company are being great but in essence they've left the importation and exportation of the old wing (it's a part-ex deal) down to me. As this is a whole new subject for me to deal with I could really use some personal help from someone with previous experience of dealing with such matters. I've contacted AOPA for help so maybe they will offer some assistance.

Essentially my questions are:

1. Can you recommend a shipping/freight agent in the UK with previous experience of this kind of work?
2. Does the imported wing qualify for import duty as the Archer is less than 2000kg?
3. Did Brexit alter anything about tariffs?
4. If exporting the old wing back, how do I claim relief on the VAT/Duty paid for the inbound wing?
5. Is the commodity code for the wing 8803 30 0010?
6. Whilst the wing will come with an FAA 8130. Do I also need EASA Part 145 Dual Release Paperwork (Additional £1900).

As you can see, just a few questions to keep one awake at night.

Any help deeply appreciated and probably best done by PM.

Thanks.
Last edited by BoeingBoy on Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#1875254
BoeingBoy wrote:No. Not VAT registered sadly.


Don't think you can recover any of the inbound VAT after the event, as that is on the value of the inbound item. If you were VAT registered it would all balance out in the next VAT return.

It needs to be done at the point of invoicing by the supplier. Can/will you send them the old wing first? Declare that as "Item for Repair" so free of duty and tax. The replacement wing would then come back as "Service Exchange" at the reduced price.
Lockhaven liked this
#1875282
fiftyonenorth wrote:I'm not sure how relevant, but re: shipping agents it reminded me of this useful video:
(How to import a classic car yourself from the USA to UK).

Good luck with it.


That video is quite informative, 51N :thumleft: , and may be useful for someone wishing to import small parts to the UK (like RV kits, Pa-28 wings etc).

[As an aside, a retired US ex-military and retired airline pilot friend of mine likes Volvo cars, and has always personally imported them directly from Sweden to the US, via Ferry and transatlantic ship. So it works the other direction too!]
By BoeingBoy
#1875874
Thanks Trent. I spoke to Paul and he has three suitable wings :D ........ all left hand! :(

As I can't use Warrior wings due to the part numbers being different ( despite the similarity they were made to different specifications) it looks like I'll have to go with the refurbished wing from the States.