Alternator For Cruisair

bdon661

bdon661

New member
I agree with the part about everywhere you put the iPad, you end up blocking something you'd rather not block. Frustrating......

Have you done an alternator conversion on your airplane? Once mine gets home, I'm going to enjoy it for the summer and fall - but when winter comes to North Texas (and it always does), I'm going to pull my engine and replace all the hoses and clean up a couple leaks. While it's off the airplane, I'm thinking "Jasco". Anyone done it with a 150hp Franklin? Thoughts?
 
This is leading to a new topic....
You should be able to do 98% of all the work you are contemplating without "pulling the engine."
There are a couple alternator conversions for the Franklin. It's easy in the Stinson, but you must be mindful
of clearance problems with the Bellanca engine mount. The best source of info would be Bruce Kown in
Cartersville, GA.
Dan
 
Dan Torry of M.A.R.S (he advertises in our contact) has done an alternator in a Cruisair, and gotten approval. I think it took rotating the alternator about 45 degrees for clearance, compared to the Stinson installation. I think the owner of the plane is one of our members. _____Grant.
 
Unless you are running radar and an HF radio in a cruisair ( !!! )
I fail to see how you are going to create a demand for more than 25 amps...

sure I know all the advantages of an alternator... but unless you have a steady
draw of more than 10 amps at taxi speeds.. and a long taxi...

It's gonna be a lotta of work and money.. for ??

Of course my radio still uses an oatmeal box and a cats whisker on a crystal.
 
blimpy............I think I built one of those radios in my high school science class. We used tweezers to rub on the crystal. An upgrade from cat whiskers, maybe???
 
All, thanks for the input. I'll reach out to Dan later today and see if he'll share the approved 337.
 
Do let us know what you find out. The cruisair does have a small battery... and in a situation that demanded
lots of starts and stops, night flying, or a real radio stack and gyros... the alternator will allow the battery to recoup quickly, and power said stuff with plenty of reserve.

I hadn't considered the probably very considerable weight savings, increased reliability,
or in flight charging of accessory items.. like Tablets, Phones, ADS B, or really modern lights.

I keep forgetting not everybody wants to live in 1947 ! :oops:
 
The most common (only...?) alternator approved is actually for the Stinson 108. It is STC SA859SO. It was developed by Stan Bedford by modifying the drive end of a Motorola RA12550 alternator. Motorola sold the RA12N line to Nipon Denso. Stan did not want to fight with the FAA to modify the STC. He apparently sold the STC to Aeromotive Engineering Corp in San Antonio.
The STC'd alternator is 5.5 inches in dia, so would require a MAJOR alteration of your motor mount if it didn't have the notch in it. It would also require a field approval in a Bellanca, as it is only approved for the Stinson by the STC. The "good" thing is that the later Denso alternators (not STC'd) are smaller in diameter so good luck on all that.
I have a 25 amp generator, and while it is heavier, and requires a bit more torque to drive it, it seems to supply adequate electricity to fly "light" IFR. (If the MEA is above the freezing level, I don't go IFR) It even has enough electricity to power my pitot heat. I may be a bit of a Luddite, but there are some advantages of a generator. They seem (to me) more reliable than alternators, no transistors to burn out, can supply electricity even if you have to prop the plane to start it .
All that said, I have a Bedford alternator that I was going to install but decided I would rather fight other battles with my FSDO. Anyone interested?
 
I've been fortunate; I have a reputable DER here who has an excellent relationship with the local FSDO. We've received some meaningful approvals on my Fairchild and Curtis, but we have to make sure our paperwork and facts are in order. I'm going to move forward on a 337 or Field Approval for a Jasco alternator.

I agree that an alternator is not always as reliable as a generator, but it's a valid compromise. I'll gladly share my results with the group. In the mean time, I promise not to hook up a radar or HF to my airplane - but I did learn a valuable lesson with the Fairchild a few years ago and here's the short version of it:

The modern Garmin boxes are great for capability, but they have weak (7 watt, I think) transmitters for their VHF comm radios. I'm in the middle of the DFW Class B airspace, so the airline guys and gals (my colleagues) routinely just key over my requests for transit through the Class B with their high wattage comm radios. My old 421 (I used to be rich) had King Gold Crown radios with high wattage transmitters and I was always curious what it would take to transplant a 24 volt high watt comm into a 12 volt antique airplane so I could talk with the big boys. All it takes is a step up transformer and an approved installation, but you really need AC power to make it all work. My Fairchild has a nice Garmin installation, but hiding in the glove box is the control head for a King KTR-900A Comm - all the guts hide in the aft fuselage and it works great and is legal. And I can talk to Fort Worth Center from many miles away and sound like a professional, which almost always gets me approved for transit through the Class B at my preferred altitude.
 
Some pics of me flying my old beater. There's a decent history of it with some hi-res pics at www.aerialvisuals.ca. Go to the Airframe Database and type NC86916 in the search line.
 
Brad,
The Jasco alternators that I have dealt with are far too large, physically to fit in the Franklin/Bellanca.
They might work in your F24 and they work in radials with a circular mounting ring. Interestingly enough,
the cooling shroud on the Jasco takes up about half it's real size.
The Motorola/Denso comes closest to fitting a Franklin in a Bellanca....but there may be others out there
to discover and get approved.
Dan
 
Story of my life. I'll do the homework on the smaller alternator and look at other alternatives. I'm real happy with the Jasco on the Fairchild, too bad it won't work on the Cruisair.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top