lights and transponder

I fly a Luscombe 8A with no electrical system, thus of course without lights
or transponder. I must land before sundown, but other than that I have no
problem.

Without an engine driven electrical system, I'm legal to fly within the mode
C veil, though I cannot enter B or C airspace without prior notice (1 hour).
Having said that, I'd also say that being legal isn't necessarily being
wise. There are reasons that transponders are ordinarily required in some
areas. I stay out of the veil, avoid B airspace altogether and only enter C
airspace rarely when there are no other suitable airports.

Most controllers are fine with you entering C airspace, though some are real
jerks. I was flying my daughter up to Savannah for a college visit last
November. There were no other small GA airports in the area where I could
pick up a rental car, and Hilton Head was a 45 minute drive. So, SAV it was.
I called the tower a day or two in advance to let them know I was coming and
asked if there were a particular time that I should avoid. The tower
supervisor said that an arrival between 15:00 and 16:00 local was best.
After stopping for fuel in Jacksonville, I called again (that's a least an
hour out in a Luscombe!). Again, I received friendly and professional
service. But, when I got closer to SAV and contacted approach, this guy was
the rudest, most obnoxious SOB I'd ever dealt with. I literally had to quote
him FAR chapter and verse, and even then he made it clear he wished I'd just
go away.

On the other hand, my wife and I flew into Columbus a couple of weeks ago,
controllers couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful.

On the whole, I enjoy flying the Luscombe. It's a real low-tech, low-stress,
low-cost, fun-flying machine that draws an admiring and reminiscing crowd
wherever it goes, and I rarely find the lack of transponder to be a serious
drawback.

Regards,
Lee



"Robert Loer" wrote in message
...
Can someone simplify this answer for me me, please as it is nearing
decision time on my project?

With no lights and or transponder, where will I not be able to fly?

Thanks guys.

"R. Lee Jarvis" wrote

I fly a Luscombe 8A with no electrical system, thus of course without
lights or transponder. I must land before sundown, but other than that I
have no problem.

On the whole, I enjoy flying the Luscombe. It's a real low-tech,
low-stress, low-cost, fun-flying machine that draws an admiring and
reminiscing crowd wherever it goes, and I rarely find the lack of
transponder to be a serious drawback.

Have you ever considered a small jell-cell lead-acid battery, and second
hand transponder, along with you handheld radio, to make life easier when
you want to go to the class C airports, or traverse their airspace?

You would not have to use it all the time, but for those times you needed
it, it could be worth the cost and weight, I would think.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"R. Lee Jarvis" wrote

I fly a Luscombe 8A with no electrical system, thus of course without
lights or transponder. I must land before sundown, but other than that I
have no problem.

On the whole, I enjoy flying the Luscombe. It's a real low-tech,
low-stress, low-cost, fun-flying machine that draws an admiring and
reminiscing crowd wherever it goes, and I rarely find the lack of
transponder to be a serious drawback.

Have you ever considered a small jell-cell lead-acid battery, and second
hand transponder, along with you handheld radio, to make life easier when
you want to go to the class C airports, or traverse their airspace?

You would not have to use it all the time, but for those times you needed
it, it could be worth the cost and weight, I would think.

I've never seen a hand held transponder since Terra went out of
business. They used to make a balloon pack (essentially the TRT250
and a battery) as you suggest.

I was never sure of the legality of this especially once you get
to the point of needing mode C (which the Terra didn't address,
mind you back in the day, unless you were very high or near one
of the busier TCA's you didn't need mode C).

"Ron Natalie" wrote

I've never seen a hand held transponder since Terra went out of business.
They used to make a balloon pack (essentially the TRT250
and a battery) as you suggest.

I was never sure of the legality of this especially once you get
to the point of needing mode C (which the Terra didn't address,
mind you back in the day, unless you were very high or near one
of the busier TCA's you didn't need mode C).

I doubt that it would be legal as mode C, unless it was a hard installation,
and properly set up, blessed, pontified, and so forth. You could still go
to the effort to get it approved; but nobody has to know that you are not
going run it all of the time.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
news

"Ron Natalie" wrote

I've never seen a hand held transponder since Terra went out of business.
They used to make a balloon pack (essentially the TRT250
and a battery) as you suggest.

I was never sure of the legality of this especially once you get
to the point of needing mode C (which the Terra didn't address,
mind you back in the day, unless you were very high or near one
of the busier TCA's you didn't need mode C).

I doubt that it would be legal as mode C, unless it was a hard
installation, and properly set up, blessed, pontified, and so forth. You
could still go to the effort to get it approved; but nobody has to know
that you are not going run it all of the time.
--
Yes, Terra did set up a transponder w/Mode C for a hot air balloon. It was
done while I worked there in '95 or '96. It was done for the Abruzzo family
who were attempting an altitude record. They needed a transponder (in
addition to the recording altimeter) since they were going into Class A
airspace. IIRC, they made it somewhere around 31K ft.

The "system" was a ruggedized instrument case with the TRT250, a gel cell
and the altitude encoder mounted inside. The case "mounted" on the edge of
the basket just like the balloon's instruments. The only tricky part was
the antenna. It was mounted on an aluminum ground plane that had stabilizing
lines run about 3 feet back along the coax. Once the balloon was airborne,
it was slung over the side of the basket and hung about 5 feet below the
basket. The lines kept the ground plane approximately level. (There's no
real problem with wind in a free balloon.)

Gerry

R. Lee Jarvis wrote:

I fly a Luscombe 8A with no electrical system, thus of course without
lights or transponder. I must land before sundown, but other than that
I have no problem.

You may built from scratch a flywheel and drive a Kubota alternator.
We have similar stuff with French and Brtish STC for A65 and latters
engines: http://mdlaurent.free.fr/
I'm not sure Mr Sully understand english.

It is'nt easy to copy the starter fittings but if you want only drive
an alternator, it's realy easy to machine one pulley and built two
alternator fittings.


By
--
Philippe Vessaire Ò¿Ó¬