Mission
Welcome to the Owner Produced Parts Association (OPPA). The mission of OPPA is to ensure the availability of quality, affordable replacement aircraft parts to the owner/operator so general aviation will remain accessible and safe for future generations.
How is this possible?
14 CFR 21.9(5) which became effective in April, 2011, allows for parts "Produced by an owner or operator for maintaining or altering that owner or operator's product..." This new FAA doctrine allows the owner or operator to produce parts for their own airplane that are legal to install, and once installed are legal to remain, even once the airplane is sold. Parts produced this way will be recorded in the aircraft logbooks, so there is no secret about their existence.
Many owners, and most buyers, will be wary of parts produced under 14 CFR 21.9(5) for good reason. How can someone know that a part being installed on an airplane is of satisfactory quality without the standard FAA parts approval process? Thus the purpose of the Owner Produced Parts Association - to provide a standard of quality to parts produced under the Owner Produced Parts doctrine found in 14 CFR 21.9(5).
Of course there are other ways to find replacement parts for production aircraft. There are standard parts and used parts, both of which can be accessed using the tools on this website.
We invite all A&P and IA mechanics along with aircraft owners to join us in gathering and disseminating information on alternate aircraft parts that meet quality and production standards suitable for the proposed application. As already noted, these parts include:
- Owner Produced Parts - These are parts that match the original design but are manufactured by an individual with the aircraft owner participating in the design, manufacture, quality control, or materials acquisition.
- Standard Parts - These are parts that are produced under some government standard (such as electrical and electronic components) and are direct replacements for some particular part on an airplane.
- Used Parts - These parts are removed from salvage airplanes
Standards
If using Owner Produced Parts under the FAA doctrine 14 CFR 21.9(5), assurance is key that parts produced will perform like the original. OPPA has developed standards that address the following questions:
- Engineering - How was the design developed? Reverse engineering? Original drawings?
- Materials identification - How was the material determined?
- Manufacturing process - By what means was the part produced?
- Quality Control - How was the part tested? What means were in place to assure consistent production?