Brudy Posted September 25, 2019 Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 Howdy I'm in the process of purchasing a 2009 sport cruiser. Currently a certified mechanic has replaced both return fuel lines, front landing gear to the gen3, replaced main landing gear rivets, weight and balance, annual, among other things. I have been looking into ADS-B with the Garmin GTX335 which is approved, however I would like the GTX345 due to ADS-B in and out feature. Has anyone sent in a LOA to get the GTX 345 approved? If not I will probably send in the LOA and fee to get it approved. Has anyone tried to get Dynon's approved to upgrade the avionics? Thanks Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necco Posted September 25, 2019 Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 Oh boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrosa Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 143BD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtk Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 6 hours ago, Bryan Roodvoets said: Currently a certified mechanic has replaced both return fuel lines... Hi Bryan! Welcome! Which fuel lines did the mechanic replace? If it is a fuel return line, there should only be one (to the left tank.) 6 hours ago, Bryan Roodvoets said: Has anyone sent in a LOA to get the GTX 345 approved? If not I will probably send in the LOA and fee to get it approved. Good luck with the LOA process. I don't know of anyone that has submitted to the new LOA process, so you may be the first. I hope it is smooth and not too spendy. Alternatively you could go Experimental. I know there may be strong opinions one way or another about converting to E-LSA, but it is an option. Good luck on the purchase of the 2009 Sportcruiser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 15 hours ago, Bryan Roodvoets said: Howdy I'm in the process of purchasing a 2009 sport cruiser. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brudy Posted September 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 Vary encouraging group here. Regarding the fuel lines, both return and fuel lines have been replaced in both wings (wings have to be removed to do this), as well as fire wall forward, for this annual, and bulletins. Landing gear, front landing gear is new gen. 3, main landing gear has been inspected and rivets have been replaced. The prop is a Sensenich. The log books will be checked regarding Carbs and gear box. Toying with going ELSA however I would like to stay in the SLSA envelope depending on LOA response, a number of factors are at play, One large one is the TruTrak avionics that are in the plane, I would like to change to GRT's if necessary. Thanks RTK and Shawn Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtk Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 32 minutes ago, Bryan Roodvoets said: Toying with going ELSA however I would like to stay in the SLSA envelope depending on LOA response, a number of factors are at play, One large one is the TruTrak avionics that are in the plane, I would like to change to GRT's if necessary. Hi Bryan, I too tried to stay S-LSA, but the factory did a great job to convince me otherwise. Especially as a legacy (2007 - 2009) Sportcruiser owner. They really want no part of us since we were manufactured under the older CZAW company, not CSA. So for your 3rd gen nose gear leg install, there should be a firewall bulk-up kit made up of a square aluminum plate that attaches to the vertical stiffeners on the firewall. Unfortunately for legacy aircraft, our vertical stiffeners’ “lips” bend the wrong way to have these attach properly. Good luck getting a solution from the factory to remedy that. Others have tried (including myself) and the only response was to “replace the firewall and vertical stiffeners.” You’ll see in another thread my frustration in trying to get any help from CSA on getting rivet sizes for the wing skin while I replace the wing tank and add a return line (which your 2009 wouldn’t have come with originally. It would require the current kit to fit that return line, or a new fuel tank.). The factory made my decision to go E-LSA very easy. And they prefer it that way as (in my opinion) they want nothing to do with legacy aircraft. Now that I’m E-LSA, I’ve had the freedom to do things to my aircraft that are sensible, such as add the GDL-82 instead of the GTX-335. Even adding the GTX-345 (which is, again in my opinion, a better solution since it’s ADS-B “In” as well as “Out” in one convenient package.) Good luck in the acquisition of the aircraft! And I truly do hope you have success with the LOAs as it would be a good turn for CSA and the owner community if they truly step up and issue LOAs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necco Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 2 hours ago, ShawnM said: 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. Actually we have the peterson footage from the 60’s regarding bigfoot. Wich would make the LOA more elusive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity26 Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 To quote Dave Chappelle, "it would be like seeing Bigfoot riding a unicorn" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brudy Posted September 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 I forgot to answer Shawn's question. The Airport I fly out of is 9D9 Hastings Michigan and I fly to and through KGRR so ADS-B is important to me, as well as weather. RTK quote -"I too tried to stay S-LSA, but the factory did a great job to convince me otherwise." Data is reaching critical mass in the direction of ELSA. I understand SC not wanting any part of liability for planes they didn't manufacture. Y'all thanks for the support and information. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Bryan Roodvoets said: I forgot to answer Shawn's question. The Airport I fly out of is 9D9 Hastings Michigan and I fly to and through KGRR so ADS-B is important to me, as well as weather. RTK quote -"I too tried to stay S-LSA, but the factory did a great job to convince me otherwise." Data is reaching critical mass in the direction of ELSA. I understand SC not wanting any part of liability for planes they didn't manufacture. Y'all thanks for the support and information. Bryan 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin5573 Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 Wow. its a small world as I was just at KGRR yesterday having lunch with a friend. Nice airport and a pretty cool small city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyAgain Posted September 28, 2019 Report Share Posted September 28, 2019 There are portable plug ins for ADS-B in as you’re probably aware. Not ideal but thousands of pilots across the country are using them. Will save you some cash too. Unfortunately the GTX335 is the only approved solution. When you say “replaced the nose gear rivets” I assume you’re referring to adding the firewall stiffener kit? It’s good that was done as few shops anywhere are willing or able to do it. Recommend going to the CSA Technical Publications page and verifying any applicable SBs and SDs have traceability to your logbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brudy Posted October 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 Great Day! We flew the new to me SC to my home airport yesterday. This purchase has been a struggle in which I wish to thank the folks on this forum for the help as well as the former owner. The struggle was not with the former owner, It was with a DAR in regards to the propeller that had been replaced 1.5 hours into the breaking period of this plane. In short Sport Cruiser handles LOA's and or MRA's through the parts and maintenance catalog, if you want something other than what is allocated in the manual, there is an avenue for that, the success rate as I have been told is dismal at best. The illustrated parts catalog and the maintenance manual as I have argued to the DAR are signed documents from the manufacturer giving permission to change to those parts illustrated in the parts catalog, note there are given serial numbers that regulate some of the parts going to some of the planes. I hope with the help of others on this forum to write up what was learned to help others in the pursuit of great flying experiences. What we have learned hopefully will help others to inspect all aspects of a plane and documents before purchase, and to ease the possibility of going ELSA, and more. Note this is for information only. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnM Posted October 29, 2019 Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris & Gary Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 Sounds like you were successful in converting to ELSA. If so, congratulations! I’m in the process myself with expert assistance from this forum. Would love to hear the details of your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtk Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 Congratulations Bryan! sorry to hear of the challenges with the DAR, but glad that it's done and YOUR Sportcruiser is home!! 👍🏻🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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