Aero N-40 Status

[mike_langlois]

We want to update the pylon community and clear up some misunderstandings that racers seem to be having when they contact us. Many of you seem to think we no longer support the N-40 and do not have parts. We want to confirm we have parts; we are just not selling certain parts outside of top end assemblies.

To reiterate my post from last summer, we will no longer sell the items individually listed below:
1. Cases
2. Pistons
3. Sleeves
4 Needle valve assemblies. (out of stock)

Since there seems to be confusion about this, there is a limited number of cases in our inventory, and we want those to be sold as complete
engines. We do not want to sell pistons without fitting them, if we ship you a random sized piston it will not likely perform at a level you will be happy with. The same logic can be applied to sleeves and heads as well. Unfortunately for the racing community we are not taking in used engines for repair and fitting of parts. The only viable option is to sell new top ends that are fitted correctly. If you have an older case or case that cracks, your only option is to buy a new engine at this time.

Also, we had a long backlog of N-40 orders going back to August of 2024, up until this month. I apologize for the delays over that time period. At the moment we are working on orders for parts or engines for the list of pilots below:
1. John McDermott
2. Martin Jop
3. Geoffrey White
4. Julian Downham
5. Dan Coe

We have a couple orders in addition to this list that have been paid for and are in process of being shipped. We also have some orders that are ready, but we are waiting for payment. If you have an outstanding order and you have not paid for and are not on the list above, please email us at ml@aeroprecisionmachine.com.

Over the last four months we have invest time to machine more parts and catch-up filling N-40 orders. We have a good amount of inventory to support the pylon community with mufflers, spinners, plugs, crankshafts, bearings, top ends, and hardware. Everyone should feel confident they can get parts for the remainder of this year.

As for the future we are evaluating this market and trying to decide if we will be able to profitably continue the N40 production or if we close the door on this product line. With rising cost and falling demand, it is hard to justify doing this for 100 or so engines per year. We are working on a plan for the future and evaluating if it will be viable. I am sorry for the poor service since my father's passing. I want to reassure the pylon community if we decide to continue N-40 production there will be some major changes and commitment from us to fill orders in 1-2 weeks and maintain inventory.
As well as bring back more of the services we offered in the past and selling cases once again.
Over the next 3-4 months we will be working on the plans and will give the community a final decision between the NATS and the champ race.

Thanks,
Steven Langlois
Aero Precision Machine

[rocket]

Here's a thought. You say you won't sell individual pistons because they won't fit properly. This is true. Why not let folks send their cylinders and you fit the pistons for them. It's simple, push the piston firmly into the cylinder then measure the distance from top dead center. .300 to .325 should work fine. No need to regenerate the surface (hone the liner). You will be helping a lot of folks.