ShawnM

Looks great Bob just remember to remove the duct tape and vise-grips before your next flight. My Odyssey fit very similar but the cork on the strap that holds it to the firewall was thick enough to really clamp the battery in place and it doesn't move at all. Even if it could move up and down it would only be less than 1/8" at the most. The Odyssey also comes with threaded receptacles on top for bolts and brackets. The Odyssey came with the bolts and some right angle brackets to be able to attach all the terminals on the plane. When I bought my plane the previous owner added a short piece of rubber tubing around the positive lead and it's been working great ever since. Since the wires come off straight up this was the best solution I guess. I've seen all kinds of boots that come off battery terminals at a 90° angle from the bolt but never looked for or seen a straight one. Anxiously awaiting those "updates". Here's how my Odyssey is mounted and you can see the boot on the positive lead.

That's the way I read it also besides you wouldn't get a LOA......... for ANYTHING so why bother? The Czechs can't even spell LOA let alone understand what it's for.

I think they offer the EarthX battery as an option here in the US. Those batteries are very expensive, about 4 times the cost of a standard AGM battery.

I know many who barely make it two years. Some even install new batteries annually as they are buying the $45 AGM battery from Amazon. 3-4 years is very good. Swapping it now is a good idea if you are only getting 11.7 on the charger. And yes, looking back at the battery from the prop the positive terminal is on the right side or the pilot side. Please give us an update when you get it installed. Sounds like it's going to have some serious juice for starting. When I first installed the Odyssey battery I was amazed at the power it has. I see Battery Pete is here in Florida and $117 with free shipping is a great price.

You got 3-4 years out of a battery? That's an amazing feat in itself. Great find on the Full Throttle battery Bob, let us know what you decide. I have the PC-680 as you know and your find looks to also have a higher HCA as well which is what we here in sunny Florida look for. And it's a little less money than the Odyssey battery. The proverbial icing on the cake. The HCA on my Odyssey PC-680 is 350 and the HCA on the Full Throttle FT230 is 410 amps. When my PC-680 is laid to rest I'll try the Full Throttle FT230 for sure for a head to head comparison. The only difference I see is that Full Throttle wants you to charge the battery after every use whereas Odyssey told me not to use a charger on my battery. The only time I have it on my Battery Tender now is when I'm working on the avionics for a longer period of time and need to keep the voltage up. I dont put my PC-680 on my charger any other time. I'll check for more info on this.

Hi Marshall and welcome to the forum. Hopefully you've been reading some of the many topics available here as there is a wealth of information on this forum covering all things SportCruiser, good and bad. As Velocity26 pointed out the SportCruiser is very roomy and will accomodate all sizes of pilots. Some here even need a booster seat. This shouldn't be an issue with you or your kids. The adjustable pedals are great, booster seat not included. Where are you located? There may be another member close to you that could give you a demo flight. If you are close to the greater Tampa area there are several owners in this area and I'd be glad to take you flying if you are close. I'm sure any forum member would extent this courtesy. Any reason to go flying is a good one. The SportCruiser is a great airplane to fly but as a trainer it has its shortcomings, well really just one, the nose gear. It's the most fragile part of the plane and needs to be protected at all costs. Flown properly there shouldn't be any issues. There are upgraded nose gear legs available for a pretty penny, actually a very pretty and shiny penny. If you purchase an older legacy SportCruiser (pre 2010) this may need to be upgraded. A thorough pre-purchase inspection would be needed to uncover what the aircraft may need. The plane and the log books will tell you just about everything you need to know. If you need help with this let me know, I'd be glad to assist with what I know. I've owned my 2007 for almost 7 years and know every inch of the airplane, inside and out. As far as the Rotax engine being life limited, this is a non issue as long as it's for non-commercial, private use. Once you reach 2000 hours or 15 years you can simply go "on condition". Any DPE should know this. As for DPE's, no two are the same. You could search for a light sport DPE and hope he can also do private pilot. Many can. This would alleviate the "Rotax issue" from those older and scared DPE's who dont realize that the Rotax engine is far superior and safer than those old and outdated Lycoming or Continental engines. Here's the FAA list of Sport Pilot Examiners as of April of last year: https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/sport_pilot/media/airplane_examiner.pdf Florida seems to have the most sport pilot examiners. That being said I was lucky enough to train in my own SportCruiser at an airport here in Florida with a sport pilot examiner on the field. Great guy and he's on the list posted above. Again, welcome and let us know how we can help.

Glad you like it, there's nothing simpler in my opinion.

It appears whatever you did worked. Where's Sally's raincoat?

The quickest and easiest way to just resize pictures (not edit pictures) is to use "Image Resizer for Windows". This is a free program that integrates into the windows shell. Once installed you simply right click on ANY image and select "resize pictures" from the pop up shell menu and you are presented with a few size options. There's nothing to learn or programs to worry about. It is by far the simplest way to resize any image, bar none. It works with all windows versions. https://www.intowindows.com/resize-images-from-context-menu-in-windows-10/

What size are the images you are trying to post? I dont think there is a setting for you other than the server limits the max size you can upload. I always resize my images for faster uploads and not to take up a ton of space on the server.

C'mon Tony, that's a silly question, the short answer is "it doesn't", the Lightning can't hold a candle to the SportCruiser. Have you yourself taken a demo flight in either airplane yet Tony? You've been "stalking" both for a while now. I'd love to hear what you think as to how the Lightning measures up to the SportCruiser. Good luck in your search.

Even with a brush Richard the Corrosion X gets on some of the hotter items and burns off after a few minutes. Don’t forget to spray a little in all the camloc fasteners for the cowling. The worst part is after I brush it all over the prop flange and spacer it goes all over the windscreen after the first start for the test run after the plugs and oil are changed. But I don’t worry about that too much because my mechanic gives Ginger a sponge bath AND waxes her when he’s finished. Does anybody else have a mechanic this good?

I second the Corrosion X, the stuff is amazing and really works. Our humidity can wreak havoc on anything metal. I just bathed by engine in it last month for my annual condition inspection. I spray it on a brush and coat anything I can under the cowling. As for the voltage regulator, take care of this as well. The Ducati is known to fail and fail often when it gets hot or has a loose connection. Make sure the spade connectors are crimped close tightly and use dielectric grease on the connections. Like this: I squeeze dielectric grease in every connector and slip it on and make sure it's snug. I do the same for my spark plug boots. Take care of your plane and it'll take care of you. I also agree that opening the oil access door immediately after you land is a great idea. I unbuckle my seat belt, sit up on the canopy frame and reach around and open the oil door before I even get out of the plane. Helps release that heat that is bad for everything. The exhaust wrap can help with heat but it is not legal on a S-LSA SportCruiser. Call down to Cruiser Aircraft for the required LOA for that mod. Damn, I was laughing just typing that.

Hey Bruce you made it on, welcome. Can’t wait to do some local breakfast runs in a flight of 3 SportCruisers.

Yes congrats and welcome aboard uropilot.

Happy holidays to all and I hope everyone has a "compliant" and happy 2020.

You hit the nail on the head with this statement Gary. Maybe one day CSA will support existing customers and improve those relations. This is me "dreaming BIG". Just glad to help and hear that you and Chris have cleared the last hurdle to LSA freedom. Hope you can make it to the LSA show in Deland next week. Would love to see your new E-LSA SportCruiser in person. You are very welcome for any support and advice I may have provided and once again welcome to the E-LSA SportCruiser family.

So glad everything went very smooth Gary, congratulations. The sky's the limit now, dream BIG !!!

Glad you finally got it home Bryan. Not all DAR's are created equal as we've all experienced. There's a lot of documentation as you now know on the props that are "standard equipment" on the SportCruiser, 4 of them in fact. One of which is a constant speed and is not allowed on LSA in the US. Keep us posted on what you have in store for the "new to you" SportCruiser. Again, congrats.

Yes, thanks Bryan and it was great to talk with you as well. Good luck this week and please post when you get your new plane home. Hope everything goes smooth with the DAR as well. Great job Steven, glad to see her flying again. As RTK stated, the pitch won’t be an issue in a few hours, you’ll see.

As RTK stated, there are no "cons" to converting to E-LSA regardless of what the naysayers might tell you. It doesn't devalue the plane and your insurance isn't going to go up either. It's the best thing you can do to your SportCruiser since there is no cooperation with the factory for changes that will make the aircraft better, safer and to make the pilot workload less. Ask me how I know. A word of advice, make sure the aircraft is EXACTLY like it came from the factory back in the day and the previous owner didn't do any changes or upgrades to it that wasn't allowed by the factory. I've seen owners slip in subtle changes and items that are not allowed and try to pass those on to the next owner and hope they are not educated enough to know the difference. The DAR who does the conversion will look for these things. There's a fellow member here who bought a legacy SportCruiser with two fairly major changes to the plane that he has to "un-do" in order to convert to E-LSA and then "re-do" those changes. They were VERY OBVIOUS to me but the new owner didn't catch these during the purchase. Some owners seem to think they can do whatever they like to their S-LSA aircraft and you simply can't. A word of advice, do your homework and a thorough pre buy when purchasing an aircraft. Good luck with everything.

So you dont NEED to have ADS-B by the 1st of 2020 so you have time. I see Grand Rapids class c just north of you but you dont NEED to have it right away. Some owners like myself had no choice because of airspace issues. With the other changes you want to do there's no reason to stay S-LSA, there's no advantage unless you want to lease back your plane for instruction which is a bad idea anyway. Getting one LOA would be near impossible and now you want two? Now we are looking for Bigfoot riding a Unicorn. And it has nothing to do with liability, it's still the same company, they just restructured after a scandal and bankruptcy with one of the original owners. This is a longer story but well documented on the web. Keep us up to date on your purchase.

Welcome Bryan and congrats on your soon to be SportCruiser purchase. Welcome to the forum. As RTK stated, good luck with the LOA process. To date it's never happened for an owner that we know of. LOA's are as elusive as Bigfoot. They finally put the LOA process in place after years of complaints and it's the most complicated and most expensive LOA process in the LSA industry. Why? They simply dont want to help owners with changes. And it may never even happen. Sorry to be a "negative nancy" on your first post but it's the ugly truth with CSA. Maybe you'll be the first. You can certainly try to get this LOA but here's a question. Do you have to have ADS-B by January 1st? Meaning are you based at an airport inside a mode c veil like I am? Can you fly in and around your airspace even if you dont have it? Will you be grounded if you dont have ADS-B by 1/1/2020? Reason I ask is that the mandate is 2 months away, it's gonna take far longer than that to even get CSA to acknowledge your LOA application if they even do. If the answer is yes, you'll be grounded without ADS-B then you might as well go with the 335 and get a portable ADS-B in solution. It'll save you tons of aggravation and headaches not to mention money and time. The other option is also what RTK stated, convert to E-LSA and then you can install any avionics you want and dont have to ask anyone. It's the best thing I ever did for my SportCruiser. To the rest of your post, sound like they are taking care of many things. Also make sure you check the logbooks for the gearbox overhaul and carb overhauls. Do a thorough main landing gear inspection and prop inspection. Does it have the Woodcomp or Sensenich? The Woodcomp has time/overhaul limits where the Sensenich does not. I'm also confused by your "both return lines" comment. Do you mean both fuel lines to the tanks have been replaced? Does it have the fuel return line to the left tank? This is an expensive SB if it's not installed. Here's a link to the safety alert so you can verify. https://www.czechsportaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/SA-SC-006.pdf There's a 25 page service bulletin on the process as well. Good luck with everything.

Steven, follow this link over to ONE OF THE MANY NLG discussions. Click on the shaded arrow in the upper right corner of the pic below. Start at the top if you want and I just added a new post at the bottom with more info and pics for you. Also, a link to the SB that references the NLG inspections. Hope it helps and please let me know what your NLG looks like. Glad to help if I can.

Yup, that was for you Bill.