Radio Squeal Brand New -P-2008

[cole505]

Hi Guys,

I have an extremely loud squeal on my radio. The really weird thing is it only does this when I am receiving radio Transmissions from ATC ( They hear me perfect ) and most of my time is spent in Class B @ D airspace.... When I test flew my airplane I was flying only in Class E all good..........When I departed Mankato and contacted ATC and was heading back to Las Vegas. It was my first time in controlled air space I notified ATC of my dilemma, they did several radio checks with other aircraft all reported 5 by 5 And notified me that there was no issue in there transmissions.  GNC 255A / 255b is the radio type.......

I mean I really had to strain to understand what they were saying over the DEAFENING!! SQUEAl! It lasted for my entire trip back to Las Vegas............ spoke with my Avionics guy.
He had me try different head sets, make sure that both radio plugs were seated, and make sure the radio jacks were tight and not spinning. I even emailed a picture and model numbers to him.  
 
‘Completed all the above negative results ? So I have a brand new airplane and have to endure this while flying. To say the least it’s really frustrating! Contacted Tecnam and as usual I must have hit the wrong button or damaged the radio some how? And believe me I was just shaking my head. They want me to install a camera or some type of recording device to record it to prove to them the squeal is real!  Not sure they understand what a warranty is ? All New Tecnam's come with a Two year Warranty, but because Mark had the airplane for a year that my Warranty was only good for One year not two as they advertised. I contacted Walter third guy from the top of Tecnam and asked him did I buy a used airplane or a new airplane. He stated that yes I did buy a new airplane, but the warranty starts once the dealer receives the airplane from them! Words are not enough to describe my frustrations on this matter! I am thinking well Did I really get any warranty? I think you guys get the point!

Any way if you have any ideas please feel free to respond with any answers you my have. I will keep you all apprised of any status changes. If I solve this issue...... Thank you in advance for your help.

Ray & Lucy 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😊😎✈️

[Cluemeister]

Is it a Garmin radio? Even if it's not their issue, I have found their customer service to be very helpful. I have used this email with success: [e-mail]

[Flocker]

Do you have a GTR 200? If so, search "squeal" on this forum. I had the same issue and posted the resolution here.

[slingpilot]

If I were you, I start blowing Tecnam up. The response you were given is TOTALLY unacceptable. Also, you SHOULD have been TOLD your warranty was shortened before you paid for it. You bought a NEW plane, albeit a demonstrator. Buy a car or any other demo item and you normally get a reduced price, but new warranty. With cars, they usually note the mileage and start from there. Your Tecnam should be no different, adjust the hours and or time.

I’d park it back on their ramp and have them call me when it’s fixed. If they take too long , take em to court. Unbelievable!

[cole505]

Hi All,

The problem with that is I am in Las Vegas and there is no way I am flying all the back to Mankato MN for service. It would seem there should be a local Garmin shop that could do the warranty work ? Thanks sling pilot, Flocker, Cluemiester, appreciate your inputs ! Very much appreciated! Yes, I need to speak to Garmin! And If I left the a plane there it would do no good..... it would just sit there unattended ....

Ray & Lucy 😎😊🇺🇸✈️

[montanapilot]

cole-

Re the radio, I do think that your comment about contacting Garmin is right on. They are way more responsive than Tecnam.

Concerning your experience with Tecnam, you have now found the huge wart in owning a Tecnam product - after-sales service is non-existent and it's part of the company culture from Italy on down to Shannon, who does a great job of keeping it going. Your experience is the same as so many of us. I had a ton of squawks when my brand new airplane was delivered, and the excuses that Shannon came up with were world class creative. Most of all, as you've experienced, it's always your fault, not theirs.

For me:
1. major air leaks where the canopy meets the windshield, not good for Montana winters - Shannon's reason? I left the airplane sitting outside in the sun with the canopy open (no, I had only taken delivery 3 hours earlier). I've spent a ton of money so far with my shop in trying to seal things up with weatherstripping, and we still don't have it corrected. I haven't used chewing gum yet but maybe I should try that as well.
2. airplane pulls to the left on takeoff, more than what would be expected - reason, I need to get used to the castering nosewheel - real reason, the left brake was dragging on the cheap Matcos that come with the airplane and switching to Beringers dealt with the problem. All on my dime, not Tecnam's.
3. key doesn't work in the canopy lock - reason; "the factory puts a cheap lock in there and if you try to use the key, it will break off inside of the lock". So, I spend a quarter of a million dollars on a new airplane and I can't lock it because the factory saved $5 by installing a crappy lock.
4. I had huge excursions in pitch with the autopilot when I first got the airplane. Shannon - "it's what you need to expect from an airplane with a fixed pitch prop". Real answer - Sebring never set up my autopilot settings prior to delivery. I had to get the settings from one of our forum members and pay my shop to set it up.
5. My windshield cracked in flight. At least 2 other forum members have had windshields crack. Shannon's reason - "somebody must have put a lot of pressure on it, maybe bracing themselves as they were climbing on or off the wing." No, Shannon, nobody's braced themselves on it and it cracked well into a flight after sitting on the ramp with temps in the 80's and then climbing to 10,500' with temps in the 50's. Best guess from the people at Wells Aviation and other knowledgeable folks is that it was caused by thermal stress from the temp change and that the windshield is simply too thin. Since the airplane was just out of warranty, Tecnam popped for the windshield (around $1,500 = "big deal" compared to the other costs that I incurred) but I had to bear the cost of labor to replace it, for fuel and hotels for the flight from Montana to Wells, MN, and a round trip airline ticket because it takes over a week to make the repair. How many windshields cracking in flight on their own (no bird strike) have you heard about? In 58 years of flying and this being my 19th airplane - none. Our little group has had at least 3 that I know of. 

I have to tell you that I love my Astore but I've come very close to selling it several times due to frustration overload with Italy and with Shannon and the concern that something even more serious and expensive could happen and I'll have to eat the cost of repair or replacement, not to mention all of the downtime that I've had because of these issues. I do a lot of due diligence for my business, but shame on me for not doing it when I bought the Astore. I would never buy an LSA without first speaking with owners and leaders of owner groups to determine the level of post-sale factory support. Had I contacted some Tecnam owners and learned about the lack of factory support, I would not have bought this airplane. 

I would never put up with this kind of crap in any of my business activities. So, I've often thought that we should form a formal Tecnam owner's group and work through that group to do what's needed to be done to protect our considerable investments. I haven't floated that idea yet on this forum, and I'm not formally doing it now, but if you add up the investment of everybody on this forum, it's millions of dollars and it's on a product on which you have to not only figure out solutions yourself, since all they do is lie and blame it on you, and then you have to spend the money to fix it since they never will. It's just plain wrong, and as I'm writing this, I'm feeling like a dummy for putting up with it. We're all frustrated, we're spending money we shouldn't be spending, we have problems with our machines for which we have to find the answers because the factory won't, etc. Does that make sense to anybody?

[montanapilot]

i just read slingpilots post. There were a couple of phrases that I liked a bunch - "start blowing Tecnam up" and "take 'em to court". As I noted in my post, I can't believe that we're putting up with this crap. If a supplier to your business sent you a bunch of defective items, would you go ahead and pay them to send you good ones and eat the cost of the defective ones?

[buzz]

Maybe it would be better if we owners got together and went to Sebring as a group to have a discussion with Tecnam.

[Ed Midgley]

Just a wild guess but, make sure your on/off volume knob isn’t pulled out in the squelch position.
Ed

[cole505]

Nov 17, 2019 1:17:06 GMT Ed Midgley said:

Just a wild guess but, make sure your on/off volume knob isn’t pulled out in the squelch position.
Ed

Yes, did that had 13 hours to try everything on my trip from Mankato MN to Las Vegas .... Thanks Ed for your suggestion .... 

[cole505]

Nov 17, 2019 0:53:29 GMT buzz said:

Maybe it would be better if we owners got together and went to Sebring as a group to have a discussion with Tecnam.

Hi Buzz,

Sounds like a great idea! You have to trust me on this Buzz. Even when Tecnam is clearly breaking the rules they Write we as buyers will ALWAYS be wrong...... very sad they sell these beautiful airplanes with absolutely No Support ....... Not only no support ..... they go out of there way to make  basic problem even more complex! Have to tell you how the Sale or my purchase experience went this one will really pop a circuit breaker for you ! I will post it in a different thread and Man you won’t believe what I am about to post! Stay tuned.......

[cole505]

Nov 16, 2019 18:27:58 GMT montanapilot said:

cole-

Re the radio, I do think that your comment about contacting Garmin is right on. They are way more responsive than Tecnam.

Concerning your experience with Tecnam, you have now found the huge wart in owning a Tecnam product - after-sales service is non-existent and it's part of the company culture from Italy on down to Shannon, who does a great job of keeping it going. Your experience is the same as so many of us. I had a ton of squawks when my brand new airplane was delivered, and the excuses that Shannon came up with were world class creative. Most of all, as you've experienced, it's always your fault, not theirs.

For me:
1. major air leaks where the canopy meets the windshield, not good for Montana winters - Shannon's reason? I left the airplane sitting outside in the sun with the canopy open (no, I had only taken delivery 3 hours earlier). I've spent a ton of money so far with my shop in trying to seal things up with weatherstripping, and we still don't have it corrected. I haven't used chewing gum yet but maybe I should try that as well.
2. airplane pulls to the left on takeoff, more than what would be expected - reason, I need to get used to the castering nosewheel - real reason, the left brake was dragging on the cheap Matcos that come with the airplane and switching to Beringers dealt with the problem. All on my dime, not Tecnam's.
3. key doesn't work in the canopy lock - reason; "the factory puts a cheap lock in there and if you try to use the key, it will break off inside of the lock". So, I spend a quarter of a million dollars on a new airplane and I can't lock it because the factory saved $5 by installing a crappy lock.
4. I had huge excursions in pitch with the autopilot when I first got the airplane. Shannon - "it's what you need to expect from an airplane with a fixed pitch prop". Real answer - Sebring never set up my autopilot settings prior to delivery. I had to get the settings from one of our forum members and pay my shop to set it up.
There's a lot more, but this is enough to give you a snapshot of what we've inherited with these airplanes.
5. My windshield cracked in flight. At least 2 other forum members have had windshields crack. Shannon's reason - "somebody must have put a lot of pressure on it, maybe bracing themselves as they were climbing on or off the wing." No, Shannon, nobody's braced themselves on it and it cracked well into a flight after sitting on the ramp with temps in the 80's and then climbing to 10,500' with temps in the 50's. Best guess from the people at Wells Aviation and other knowledgeable folks is that it was caused by thermal stress from the temp change and that the windshield is simply too thin. Since the airplane was just out of warranty, Tecnam popped for the windshield (around $1,500 = "big deal" compared to the other costs that I incurred) but I had to bear the cost of labor to replace it, for fuel and hotels for the flight from Montana to Wells, MN, and a round trip airline ticket because it takes over a week to make the repair. How many windshields cracking in flight on their own (no bird strike) have you heard about? In 58 years of flying and this being my 19th airplane - none. Our little group has had at least 3 that I know of. 

I have to tell you that I love my Astore but I've come very close to selling it several times due to frustration overload with Italy and with Shannon and the concern that something even more serious and expensive could happen and I'll have to eat the cost of repair or replacement, not to mention all of the downtime that I've had because of these issues. I do a lot of due diligence for my business, but shame on me for not doing it when I bought the Astore. I would never buy an LSA without first speaking with owners and leaders of owner groups to determine the level of post-sale factory support. Had I contacted some Tecnam owners and learned about the lack of factory support, I would have never bought this airplane. 

I would never put up with this kind of crap in any of my business activities. So, I've often thought that we should form a formal Tecnam owner's group and work through that group to do what's needed to be done to protect our considerable investments. I haven't floated that idea yet on this forum, and I'm not formally doing it now, but if you add up the investment of everybody on this forum, it's millions of dollars and it's on a product on which you have to not only figure out solutions yourself, since all they do is lie and blame it on you, and then you have to spend the money to fix it since they never will. It's just plain wrong, and as I'm writing this, I'm feeling like a dummy for putting up with it. We're all frustrated, we're spending money we shouldn't be spending, we have problems with our machines for which we have to find the answers because the factory won't, etc. Does that make sense to anybody?


MAY I ASK what was the corrective action for the auto pilot? I have the same issue I contacted Tecnam they said I was flying in windy conditions causing the airplane to pitch plus or minus 150-300 feet feels like a roller coaster...... I even sent them a video of the aircraft pitching. And again I was flying in to much wind....... WOW! They must think we all just leaned to fly .... sounds like I need my auto pilot set as yours was....which they never did! 

[cole505]

Nov 16, 2019 12:23:25 GMT Cluemeister said:

Is it a Garmin radio? Even if it's not their issue, I have found their customer service to be very helpful. I have used this email with success: [e-mail]

Yes a brand New Garmin radio I am looking up the numbers may I ask what your fix was on your radio issue that you solved ? I have the GNC 255A/255B

[Cluemeister]

Nov 17, 2019 3:29:24 GMT cole505 said:

Nov 16, 2019 12:23:25 GMT Cluemeister said:

Is it a Garmin radio? Even if it's not their issue, I have found their customer service to be very helpful. I have used this email with success: [e-mail]

Yes a brand New Garmin radio I am looking up the numbers may I ask what your fix was on your radio issue that you solved ? 

I did not have a problem similar to yours.  My issue was an ADSB out problem.  At Tecnam's suggestion, I brought it to a Garmin authorized avionics shop, and they determined a cable was too short and had come detached.  The shop ran new wire, and fixed the problem.  I paid the bill, and submitted the paperwork from the avionics shop to Tecnam.  Tecnam wrote me a check for the full amount.

In regards to the bigger picture regarding Tecnam and warranty work, I found that Tecnam does warranty their issues, but it takes more effort than it should.  They have a tendency to point out possible reasons why it's not a warranty item, and probably an owner created issue. This might be an Italian culture thing, I'm not sure.   

But I found they do warranty most work eventually, if you go through the hoops.  I'm not saying it should be that way, but that was my experience.

[Flocker]

Nov 16, 2019 12:48:32 GMT Flocker said:

Do you have a GTR 200? If so, search "squeal" on this forum. I had the same issue and posted the resolution here.

Here's the previous thread on my squeal:  Squeal'n like a pig