Windshield Replacement costs (not 170)
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 11:39 am
Thought we needed a new discussion thread today… so thought of the phone call I received last week from an owner who was wanting info on windshield replacement. I referred him to some of the discussions we’ve had in these forums…and he later emailed me on the subject of airplane parts costs. I tried to make him feel better about his windshield with THIS story:
I have the windshield out of a HS-125 jet I used to fly. It is over an inch thick made of 3 layers of glass. Weighs about 30 lbs.
Between two layers is gold foil rolled so thin it is see-thru, and used as a heating element to keep the glass warm for the purpose of keeping ice off the windshield, defrost off the inside during rapid descents from frigid upper atmosphere, and also keep the glass more flexible (yes, glass can flex) to prevent breakage from bird strikes. At a cabin pressure differential of 8 psi…that 3 sq ft of windshield had about 3500 lbs of force trying to blow it out of the airplane.
Yes, it was expensive…when this one showed a slight delamination it was condemned and the replacement part was $28K. (Both pilots WS were replaced… $56K for parts plus labor of course.) It was powered by a 15 KVA alternator driven off the gear-case of one of the engines.
I had a coffee/end-table made of it. The inside of the table contains a slide-out drawer I plan to put some of my Dad’s WW2 momentos inside for viewing.
I have the windshield out of a HS-125 jet I used to fly. It is over an inch thick made of 3 layers of glass. Weighs about 30 lbs.
Between two layers is gold foil rolled so thin it is see-thru, and used as a heating element to keep the glass warm for the purpose of keeping ice off the windshield, defrost off the inside during rapid descents from frigid upper atmosphere, and also keep the glass more flexible (yes, glass can flex) to prevent breakage from bird strikes. At a cabin pressure differential of 8 psi…that 3 sq ft of windshield had about 3500 lbs of force trying to blow it out of the airplane.
Yes, it was expensive…when this one showed a slight delamination it was condemned and the replacement part was $28K. (Both pilots WS were replaced… $56K for parts plus labor of course.) It was powered by a 15 KVA alternator driven off the gear-case of one of the engines.
I had a coffee/end-table made of it. The inside of the table contains a slide-out drawer I plan to put some of my Dad’s WW2 momentos inside for viewing.