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whiskeypapa

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Everything posted by whiskeypapa

  1. Btw, you have a beautiful plane Bill, and very happy for you to flying and be an aircraft owner again, especially a Sportcruiser. I was also a rusty pilot that was out of flying for 12 years due to family obligations, but got back into it about 2 years ago, and purchased my Sportcruiser about 18 months ago. It is a special privilege we have to be able to own and fly our own personal aircraft. We would be interested in seeing any additional pictures you have of the plane, including the interior, and with the wings and stab installed šŸ˜
  2. That is a valid point. In my particular case, I didn't consider that could be an issue, so I did both at the same time and ultimately it all went through just fine. I mailed in my registration the day after purchase. 3 weeks later, I met with my DAR, and he was able to complete and submit all of the paperwork using my temporary registration. About 90 days after I mailed in my registration, it came back from the FAA with the Special Light Sport classification, and about 4 weeks after that, my registration was updated to the Experimental classification. I didn't receive any additional correspondence from the FAA about the change in classification, but was able to confirm it was completed by using the online FAA Registry. I can't say for certain, but it seemed to me that the inspection that my DAR performed went a little smoother than it otherwise would have, because the annual condition inspection had occurred so recently. My thoughts on S-LSA vs E-LSA are below, there could be other reasons I omitted. Reasons for not converting to E-LSA: You will potentially sell to another buyer soon or potentially do a sale or leaseback to a flight school that will use it in their training fleet. You are a CFI and want to do flight instruction with the Sportcruiser. You are satisfied with how the plane is currently equipped and do not want to make any upgrades or modifications. You are not mechanically inclined and will always seek out an LSRM or an A&P to perform maintenance and annual condition inspections. Reasons for converting to E-LSA: You understand that factory support, especially for the early models, is non-existent and want to be unconstrained from them issuing an LOA for modifications, which they won't. You want to be able to perform equipment upgrades and add advanced safety features, like AOA, SmartGlide, ADSB In, XM Weather, etc. while staying within defined operating limitations for light sport aircraft. You want to be able to perform maintenance on your own aircraft. You want to be able to perform your own annual condition inspections (after obtaining your LSRI-A certification).
  3. Congratulations Bill! It sounds like everything checked out okay with the condition inspection and as long as there were no big surprises, I think you got a great deal. As I am sure you have read in many posts on the forum, most of us here are in the camp of going E-LSA if it isn't already and there is a lot of great info on here on how to do that. The sooner you can do that after the condition inspection the better, and it opens up a whole new world of upgrades and learning that you can do with your new plane. Please post pictures and any additional info!
  4. Welcome Newberry, a lot depends on how the annual/pre-buy goes. It sounds like most of the major items are being addressed before the sale, so that is good. At 600 hours, I believe it is due for a gearbox overhaul if Avgas was used more than 30% of the time, so make sure that is included prior to purchase. Also make sure all of the avionics are squawk free. Assuming everything checks out, that is a pretty good deal in today's still hyper inflated market. I have seen Cessna 150's listed for that, and the Sportcruiser is by far a more comfortable and fun plane to fly. The BRS repack is every 6 years and the rocket is every 12 years, so if the plane has a BRS and it was kept current, you should be good for a couple more years on your repack and a few more years on your rocket. If you take the plane Experimental LSA (if not already), you can do whatever panel upgrades you want later on. The Sportcruiser's mission is mostly Day VFR and with the amazing views out the canopy you're not going to be spending much time looking at that 6 pack anyways! Good luck in your purchase, and let us know if you have any questions. I would encourage you to spend some time reading the prior forums. Most likely the answer to your questions are already here, but this is a great group with plenty of helpful people that have been there and done that, and happy to help however we can.
  5. Welcome Kevin! Congratulations on the purchase, you have a beautiful plane. I agree with Shawn's recommendation, and I am absolutely loving my G3X panel that he helped me build. However, if I had started out with a panel like yours and everything was in working order, I would just keep it as is and fly with it for a while. You hardly ever make your money back on avionics upgrades whenever it comes time to sell, and you want to make sure the Sportcruiser will fit your mission long enough that you are the one getting the benefits from doing the upgrade. But whenever that time comes, definitely call Shawn!
  6. Iā€™m happy to update that I am now the owner of 941JB! A big thank you to my wife for her support and my good friend Dave for helping me to locate this plane. Also thank you to those of you on this forum, and especially ShawnM for the calls, texts and emails to answer my many questions. I discovered a couple of squawks with the avionics during the flight home, but other than that, it flies great! I look forward to being a part of this community and sharing in the journey.
  7. This is the best picture I have, that I believe shows the fuel return line, but Iā€™m not really certain. I also donā€™t know if SA-SC-012 Fuel line arrangement and SB-SC-048 NLG Reinforce bracket are in compliance. If not, is there a supplier that can provide the parts? A&P tried to contact FLT, but no response yet. He had to travel out of town for a few days, and I found out later that itā€™s been a few years since he had worked on Sportscruisers. If anyone is an A&P or LSRM that is familiar with all of these SBā€™s from the last 3 years, please PM me if that is preferable to discuss these questions. Iā€™m really just trying to make sure everything that needs to be completed gets completed before I purchase. Thanks!
  8. Awesome info! Thanks so much for all of the tips and helping me get this Cruiser back to ā€œa condition of safe operationā€. Iā€™m using an A&P w/ Rotax IRMT certification for the pre buy and annual condition inspection. He has the list of everything in the technical publications, but I will make sure to follow up with him on those items specifically you all mentioned. We currently have the ignition switch (SB-73), fuel system arrangement inspection(SA-12), and NLG reinforcement bracket (SB-48) and those other POH, CG, oil filter, CO detector, cooling tube inspection items that need to be complied with and documented in the logbook. I will certainly ask him to verify and document that the fuel return line is present and ask him to triple check main landing gear while heā€™s at it! The ELT did pass inspection this go around, but I will plan on getting that replaced soon. I also forget to mention in the prior post that the 5 year rubber replacement is due next May. If ELSA though, is it still a $5k job?
  9. Hello everyone. Iā€™m new to the group and currently going through pre-buy and annual inspection of (hopefully) my first plane, a 2009 Sportcruiser (SLSA). It is a beautiful plane in great condition, but unfortunately the previous owner recently passed away and due to health issues the plane was last inspected and flown in 2018. All log books are complete and plane has always been hangared. All Service Alerts/Directives/Bulletins were completed as of 5/1/17, but no record of others since then have been complied with. Some of the pros on this plane are 3rd Gen NLG already installed, fuel return line SB is N/A based upon aircraft serial number. Airframe and Engine are 205 hrs with 75+ compressions; New 3 blade Sensenich prop only 10 hrs. The plane passed all other parts of the annual inspection, except for those outstanding SA/SD/SBā€™s. Some of the cons are BRS rocket is passed expiration; BRS chute repack due next October; Rotax 15 year limit in 2024; Transponder not ADSB and needs to be replaced; original TruTrack EFIS still fully operational as far as I can tell, but I will want to upgrade to Dynon Skyview. What options do I have if parts are not available or have a ridiculously long lead time in order to comply and pass inspection? I most likely will be taking it to ELSA sooner rather than later, but I assume I can only do that after it is approved to be airworthy. Seeking advise on other things I need to watch out for and best options moving forward. Thanks!
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