Mark Gauvin Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 Hello, Residing in the OKC area, we just bought our 1st airplane over the Labor Day weekend…N565SC, a 2013 SportCruiser to train our 18yo son to fly. Been a hoot so far, maiden voyage was well over 900nm beginning with a sporty T/O from an unfamiliar grass field on Lake Norman, 1 planned stop turned into 2 due to MANY WX diversions along the way home that day…you can say “trial by fire” quickly acquainted us with the modes and functionality of the SkyView and Aera 796 on board! Having flown everything from a Great Lake biplane to the B787, the avionics in this are AMAZING! Plane’s a little slow for me…but hey, it’s going to be our son’s training platform. Love the sense of community here and info! On another note, we’re looking to replace the current landing light (its functioning) just kinda worthless for actual night landings…so any/all input in that respect is appreciated. Cheers, Mark Gauvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 Hi Mark, congrats on the purchase. I responded to your other post about the landing light and your options. Here's a link to my response.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gauvin Posted September 12 Author Report Share Posted September 12 Thank you Shawn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavePilot Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 Mark 1) don’t expect any support from the latest USA Importer of SportCruisers - CruiserAircraft USA at KBTF Bountiful Flight UTAH, nor any response at all from the Czech Aircraft SportCruiser / PS-28 (in Europe) manufacturer CruiserAircraft in Kunovice, Czech Republic. 2) Converting to Experimental E-LSA in the USA is the best route to keeping the awesome SportCruiser flying, IF an owner is willing to take some RISK to gain Rewards. 3) I (the SCFLIER ADMIN) recommend using the SEARCH ICON a LOT - a magnifying glass at the top right of the pages, shaded in blue - to sort thru the vast amount of info here for options and ideas. 4) Also, if an owner is still flying an S-LSA, the USA FAA Restrictions are very severe - reading your aircraft USA FAA Operating Limitations document is IMPORTANT to keeping your S-LSA Airworthiness Certificate valid ! 5) an example of the Search Icon magnifying glass results for the Trail Tech landing light debacle: Take care and enjoy your new to you SportCruiser airplane ! The vast majority of SportCruiser Dynon, Garmin, Matco, Rotax, … , Sensenich, …, parts ARE Readily AVAILABLE, with great support in the USA ! Dave (DavePilot, Admin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskeypapa Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 Congratulations Mark, and welcome! That is a beautiful SportCruiser, and I am sure you and your son will have a lot of fun with it. It can be a great plane for him to learn to fly in, but make sure he goes easy on the landing gear. They tend to not hold up well with student pilots. I have not done the landing light SB yet, but I did buy the SunRay Plus that Shawn linked for you, and I am planning to do it next month during my annual condition inspection. I saw in your other post you were recently at 3DW. I live in Springfield, and my plane is at SGF, but I know the guys at Fulltron Aviation and they are great to work with if you ever need maintenance support. They have a flight school that flies a twin Tecnam, and are pretty knowledgeable on the 912. They also have a good partnership with Certus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 Congratulations Mark. Great looking airplane. I’m sure y’all will enjoy it. The forum here is a huge help. All the folks have been a really big help for me in the short time I’ve been a part of it. Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gauvin Posted September 13 Author Report Share Posted September 13 8 hours ago, whiskeypapa said: Congratulations Mark, and welcome! That is a beautiful SportCruiser, and I am sure you and your son will have a lot of fun with it. It can be a great plane for him to learn to fly in, but make sure he goes easy on the landing gear. They tend to not hold up well with student pilots. I have not done the landing light SB yet, but I did buy the SunRay Plus that Shawn linked for you, and I am planning to do it next month during my annual condition inspection. I saw in your other post you were recently at 3DW. I live in Springfield, and my plane is at SGF, but I know the guys at Fulltron Aviation and they are great to work with if you ever need maintenance support. They have a flight school that flies a twin Tecnam, and are pretty knowledgeable on the 912. They also have a good partnership with Certus. Thanks WP, In searching for the SunRay Plus, I have found most places are out of stock for this light and have replaced it with the SunRay EVO. Have you done any research into this new model? Its looks to be way brighter, but draws 35w vs 10 watts, so don’t know if that is a deal breaker. I you would, let me know how the conversion goes and what the costs were…it may be worth flying back over to get it done… Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 Did you check the link I shared in your other post? McFarlane shows stock. You have to be very mindful of the electrical system in a Rotax powered aircraft. You are limited with the amount of current you can draw without triggering a low voltage warning from the system. Especially at night with EVERYTHING on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gauvin Posted September 14 Author Report Share Posted September 14 37 minutes ago, ShawnM said: Did you check the link I shared in your other post? McFarlane shows stock. You have to be very mindful of the electrical system in a Rotax powered aircraft. You are limited with the amount of current you can draw without triggering a low voltage warning from the system. Especially at night with EVERYTHING on. Shawn, Yes I did see that, and even Aircraft Spruce has it in stock for $295!! The question I really had was if the wattage of the newer version was an issue, which you somewhat addressed. Just figured, for the same price as the old one most places, it would be a better light since it was about 3x as bright, but I am not certain it will work, like you said, due to the higher wattage. Any electrical folks out there care to pipe in…please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskeypapa Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 Mark - Since 565SC is still registered as an S-LSA, you are restricted to following manufacturer Service Bulletins for any modifications or upgrades, which in this case is limited only to the Sunray Plus as Shawn mentioned in response to your other post. If you decide to take the plunge into the E-LSA world like most of here have already done, you are free to put whatever light you want to on your plane. Plenty of info on that topic is also here for your reading pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity26 Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 I will defer to Shawn for the numbers, but I think that you need to consider how you intend to use your landing light. If you are one of the folks that like to use your landing light in daylight, for extra visibility, I think that you should stick with the Sunray Plus. If you only use your landing light when landing at night, I believe the Sunray Evo would work fine for most. My evidence to support the claim above is this, I have the Trail Tech dual mode light shown above. When I purchased the airplane it was installed in the low amp draw mode (~1 amp). After my first night landing I decided that I needed an upgrade. I changed the wiring to the High amp mode (~2.8 amp) and my electrical system is able to carry it without discharge. The light is MUCH brighter and useful. I would not recommend running that configuration long term, but it works fine for the few minutes when on final and looking for potential obstructions on the runway. Disclaimer: My airplane is ELSA, I have an upgraded Silent-Hektik voltage regulator and a 36ah battery to back me up for a few minutes if my alternator should fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 10 hours ago, Mark Gauvin said: Shawn, Yes I did see that, and even Aircraft Spruce has it in stock for $295!! The question I really had was if the wattage of the newer version was an issue, which you somewhat addressed. Just figured, for the same price as the old one most places, it would be a better light since it was about 3x as bright, but I am not certain it will work, like you said, due to the higher wattage. Any electrical folks out there care to pipe in…please? Hi Mark, while what you say about a brighter light makes sense, the FAA doesn’t care that it makes sense. They’re not happy unless you’re not happy. I feel obligated to tell you that ANY light other than the Sunray Plus is not legal to be installed on any S-LSA SportCruiser according the FAA, the ASTM regulations, your operating limitations and will technically void your airworthiness certificate. Keep in mind I’m not a lawyer or giving you legal advice, I’m just stating what the FAA regulations are. That said, you can do what you want with this information. Current draw and voltage issues can be a problem on a stock SLSA SportCruiser, especially with a full glass panel and all its goodies, for the underpowered electrical system. It’s not uncommon to hear “low voltage” in your headset after you pull the power back on downwind. Many of us who are ELSA have upgraded our voltage regulator to the Silent-Hektik and better batteries. There’s about 16 amps available with a peak of about 18 amps. Some say even less. During the day this may not be a big issue but at night with everything on and you key the radio to make a call you will be taxing the electrical system in your SportCruiser in its current state. Adding in a more powerful light is only going to make that worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gauvin Posted September 16 Author Report Share Posted September 16 Thanks for the 411. Guess the lucky winner is the Sunray Plus… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gauvin Posted September 16 Author Report Share Posted September 16 Beating the horse…for those who have the Sunray Plus installed, how’s the light during actual night landings? Is it worth the hassle of performing the SB? My current landing light seemed none existent when we landed into a “black hole”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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