This wasn't just a panic thing on Precision's part.
The ECI rep told me last winter that Precision was having problems getting insurance and that the insurance costs doubled the cost of a carb, which was why FI was not that much more expensive. His story was that when a plane went down because of carb ice, the carb was usually destroyed so Precision was unable to demonstrate that there was nothing wrong with the carb or it's design. It was then easy for lawyers to convince juries that the carb was the problem or that it shouldn't have been designed so that carb ice could stop the engine. Furthermore, with thousands of carbs out there, there was a huge potential for lawsuits. A new FI system didn't have that pool of potential lawsuits out there and with FI, ice was not so much of an issue.
If all this is true, I wonder how long the new outfit will stay in the carb business? Did the new guys also take on the liability? That's what usually happens with a business sale.
Richard Scott
RV-9A Fuslelage