@n5902l
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Wow you have been in it for the long haul with 40 years of ownership under your belt! I checked into that battery set up too! Even called the company that manufactures it. Now it was about a year plus ago and they had not been able to get approval from the FAA. If you can put it in they said it needed a heavy metal container, so there goes the utility right down the drain, thanks FAA. If it was experimental no problem! We just flew tonight from KCXO to 60R (Navasota) pretty windy tonight. Plane runs like a champ we baby her and with the electronic ignition and good compression it gives us some confidence. Have to have it to fly at night! My day job is 737 captain for United. Flying that little plane we realize we are down to our last generator, last engine and that adds a little pucker factor to someone used to a Boeing. We run our 320 at 2350 RPM and lean it out with our EGT/CHT and Hoskins fuel flow and by ear. It burns right at 7 GPH or about 42 pounds per hour. That gives you just under three hours till empty not a lot of range. That is with the electronic ignition too, which saves us about a gallon per hour. I have a 1/4 thick canopy for my plane, I bought it because my mechanic said I should since the one we bought was not trimmed quite right. Then my favorite mechanic said baloney the material you have there is enough and it won’t crack. So if you need a perfect 1/4 thick AA-1 canopy I have one for sale. I have it in my house so it’s not been exposed to lots of heat. Still has the protective sticky plastic on it! Less than a year old. OK gotta run I fly tomorrow to MCO then up to EWR and down to RWS. Third day back to IAH and a Cancun turn and done. Take care fly safe!
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Yeah and I spoke to Ken Blackman on the phone and was perplexed that anyone would not be faced with being forced to re-locate the battery. He said the STC allowed for a ballast in the tail. I told him we were severely limited on payload with our Dallas Metroplex long range tanks. He said he didnt know too many AA-1 drivers with the big motor that gave much attention to gross weight numbers! Well I bought it for my son to build hours and to do check rides in, I wanted it to work on CG and fuel with him and a 180 pound DPE. We have done that, but it was a long road. Gutted interior, battery relocation and removal of the vacuum system. Goodbye wheel pants. It was sure nice to throw the 16 pound lead weight in the trash and get the numbers to work. The interior was kind of gross anyway. I found it had two layers of interior walls, someone had put blue panels over the original red. Mind boggling!
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Thanks, you made me look closer at it, I regret spending the money on the STC for the 1560, buyer beware. I did not do my homework. And the STC says “For N5902L only” written on it. So I could really only sell the brackets, not the plates as the plates come with the STC paperwork. It’s a learning experience. Need any brackets? LOL!
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I have in my 1969 AA-1 serial #0202 the sky tec and 60 amp hartzell they help but not much. Getting rid of vacuum lines and pumps almost 11 pounds and from the forward section where you will be heavy. IMHO you will need to relocate the battery unless you want 16 pounds of lead in the tail. Ken did have an STC to relocate the battery. You will be at your limit on nose up trim upon landing. Also, remember the airplane was certified with licensed empty weight which DID NOT include oil. Again that oil sits forward and will add to the forward moment. Seems weird but that is what the manual shows in the weight and balance section and in the Airplane flying Handbook, they discuss the pre- 1974 GAMA non-standardizations that existed. After reading your post, I am not going to be able to install the plates as a condition is to have the Collier STC which Fletch bought installed. I have Ken’s which I think is not as good of an STC in that there are no provisions included in his STC for battery placement or for increased landing weight. Not to bash dearly departed Ken, but having the ability to shed weight, move battery and increase landing weight is important in a little plane with a big motor and propeller!
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Thanks that is very helpful. You are correct. The STC under conditions and limitations says the compatibility of previously installed equipment….it also says SA2477SW must be accomplished prior to installation of SA4106SW.
So I might have bought something I can’t use. Not sure yet. Fletch Air sent the heavier plates and the STC paperwork, that was Juan. Then my mechanic looked at the plates and the gear hardware which was already installed and
correctly surmised the plates would not fit, the bigger plates are ostensibly what gives it the boost to 1560. Yes I will lose about 4 or 5 pounds (difference between already installed plates) and new ones, but to be legal for landing, if taking off at 1579# under Ken’s STC, we can’t land for an hour and a half. We burn 48 # per hour with the O 320 and electronic ignition.
If we had the 1560 weight that would reduce the time to only 19 pounds or about 15 to 20 minutes of burn. Feel like we have a Boeing and have to consider several different weights LOL!!
I can call David and ask, I am glad you responded, because I thought the gear attach points might be at a wet section of the spar. Now I know better, thank you!!
My mechanic before moved the battery for us, since CG was very critical. When I bought this, it had a 16 pound ballast in the tail OMG! With the vacuum system gone, the interior out, several non-essential items removed, wheel pants removed etc we got to a point with a useful load of 494 pounds. That is really amazing. BTW, these aircraft were certified (ours is 1969) with weight and balance that was pre-GAMA for AFM/POH standardized format on W&B. They weighed these early models without oil and that was called licensed empty weight. You will notice in the AFM of the earlier models in the weight and balance section the addition of oil and its arm and moment for calculating W&B along with fuel, occupants and baggage! We had ours re-weighed without oil as it should have been. Many owners and the A&P’s they hire to weigh their aircraft over-look this.
Have a great weekend, thanks again for the information.
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Hi Roscoe,
As we dug into this mess of 48 year old wires we found the wiring schematic showed a 5 amp field circuit breaker for the field. None had been installed in the aircraft! Not sure how that happened but all of the recent head aches with the history on the battery, alternator and regulator would have been avoided with the breaker installed in the first place. Whoever upgraded to the 150 HP engine (NW MODS) and put in the bigger amperage alternator never bothered to even change out the wires. Super light weight wire for the field cracked all over the place. The positive lead headed to buss was only 10 guage and with the bigger alternator should have been 8 gauge. It now has all new charging and power generation wiring and original design (CB for field) installed. I am glad I had a mechanic that took the time to troubleshoot and ask why it did not have a field circuit breaker! From the history including our own, it was bad wiring. Brittle broken insulation and wire. Opens and shorts. Nightmare over I hope for a while! I started to get confused when the mechanic wanted to install a cb where one had not been before. I hope this post helps others trouble shoot their charging system. I also learned if you have working original solenoids to leave them in! I thought it would be good preventative to change them out with Lamar. I called the Lamar factory and talked to their production engineer, he told me the old ones if still sealed and working to leave them in there. So from the source, I was advised to leave my older units in there, the master relay and battery relay on the firewall. Changed out the old electric pump however. Found someone had wired that in with a automotive crimp connector.
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Thanks Kevin,
Having all sorts of problems with my electrical charging system. Mostly 48 year old wires, brittle cracked and otherwise falling apart. New almost everything including CB and battery and masterswithch. Alternator and regulator. Mechanic called today to tell me the alternator is putting out 19 volts. I think he needs to go back to A&P electrical school.
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