SuperStol ELT

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Includes: Highlander, Escapade, Summit and SuperSTOL.
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CanadianSheepHunter
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SuperStol ELT

Post by CanadianSheepHunter »

This is a ACK E04 ELT, sounds like many like it for ease of install and fair price. I installed here for ease of access and will make a door at rear of cargo wall. The tie material is Koroseal from Spruce. The Co Ax was upgraded to a better one than what came with it, called RG142 Co Ax. When I upgraded the Co ax I added a 90 for clearance to the Fabric. The long piece below antenna is the static suppressor and must go on that end only. My avionics shop said not to coil up excess co ax, but rather spread it out. The manual says to use min 2 feet of co ax, the avioncs shop that made mine suggested to use 3’ which is what you see here. The sheilded wire leaving the ELT going forward is the GPS tie in, the other is the phone cable that runs to the dash switch and light. The antenna is supposed to with within 30 degrees of wings level. And the main unit must face this way for the impact G force switch. There is an excellent video on homebuilthelp on you tube where he totally takes apart an ELT to show what’s inside and the G force switch.
The instructions say the base tray should be bonded to airframe, my base tray is attached at 3 points with machine screws and Rivnuts attached to the metal tabs on airframe...my avionics shop thinks that will be sufficient for the required bonding to airframe.
If I ever need to remove the entire unit with base and antenna I only need a screwdriver for the 3 baseplate screws and cut the Koroseal ties...this could be handy in a survival situation where if my Inreach failed and I wanted to carry the ELT with me away from the Aircraft like say down a mountain to where I could build a fire...just an extreme example.
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CanadianSheepHunter
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Re: SuperStol ELT

Post by CanadianSheepHunter »

This white wire is a pigtail my avionics shop made for testing the GPS data output to the ELT. They made me a simple test light as well.
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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The test light my avionics shop made to test GPS data out at the GPS and also at the pigtail in previous pic.
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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The Co Ax that originally came with the unit.
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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The dash light and buttons. It comes with two labelled inserts that give you the choice of vertical or horizontal mounting on your dash. The phone cable from the ELT goes into the right side of orange speaker box in this pic.
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CanadianSheepHunter
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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The two inserts
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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More pics
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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More pics
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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More pics
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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Note the red plug not installed yet in this pic, which will go in the round hole to hold the switch down to the armed position for flight.
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Re: SuperStol ELT

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The Orange audio alert box uses a Duracell CR-2 three volt or equivalent.
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CanadianSheepHunter
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Re: SuperStol ELT

Post by CanadianSheepHunter »

Without the ELT wired to your GPS the instructions says “the average time to process, and identify the Aircraft location is 1-2 hours, with a search radius of about 2 miles or less” and then the instructions say if the ELT is wired to the GPS “with GPS information, the time to locate the aircraft position is 10 min or less, with an accuracy of about 300 feet” so for me it was an easy decision to run the optional wire to my GPS...because I know of one Grizzly mauling rescue where the first helicopter arrived just before dark, then when the search and rescue helicopter came in the darkness it was one valley out due to poor signal from a rescue device. My point being an extra hour or two or three could mean a life or death rescue.
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Tralika
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Re: SuperStol ELT

Post by Tralika »

It's a good idea to have a plan for removing your ELT from the aircraft (wreckage) and setting it up by itself. If your plane flips over, apparently a common occurrence with the Super STOL, and the antenna is pointed down, it is unlikely the 406 signal will hit a satellite. The 121.5 signal will still work (no satellite relay), but the range will be reduced and it will be harder for rescuers to track it to your location. If your antenna is mounted on the outside of the fuselage and it breaks off, your basically screwed unless you have a spare antenna. I installed an Artex 345 ELT with the antenna installed inside the fuselage. The antenna cable has female fittings on both ends so it is not possible to attach the antenna directly to the ELT. I bought a double female fitting which solved the problem of attaching the antenna to the ELT but then it occurred to me that I will need a wrench to remove the nut that attaches the antenna to the mount. I made a little wrench from aluminum sheet metal to fit the antenna nut . The wrench is pretty flimsy but it only needs to be strong enough to remove the nut one time. I attached the double female fitting and the wrench to the airframe next to the antenna mount with some zip ties so they will be where needed when needed.

Be sure to register your ELT at- https://beaconregistration.noaa.gov -and keep the information current. Having a current registration could make the difference in the way the Rescue Coordination Center responds when your ELT is activated, in some cases many hours, enough time to bleed out or die of hypothermia.

There is no guarantee an ELT will activate in every circumstance. I know of several planes that flipped over with no ELT activation. Having a SPOT tracker or similar device is good insurance.
John Nealon
Wasilla, Alaska
Highlander Extreme #191
mykitlog.com/jnealon
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CanadianSheepHunter
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Re: SuperStol ELT

Post by CanadianSheepHunter »

Tralika wrote:It's a good idea to have a plan for removing your ELT from the aircraft (wreckage) and setting it up by itself. If your plane flips over, apparently a common occurrence with the Super STOL, and the antenna is pointed down, it is unlikely the 406 signal will hit a satellite. The 121.5 signal will still work (no satellite relay), but the range will be reduced and it will be harder for rescuers to track it to your location. If your antenna is mounted on the outside of the fuselage and it breaks off, your basically screwed unless you have a spare antenna. I installed an Artex 345 ELT with the antenna installed inside the fuselage. The antenna cable has female fittings on both ends so it is not possible to attach the antenna directly to the ELT. I bought a double female fitting which solved the problem of attaching the antenna to the ELT but then it occurred to me that I will need a wrench to remove the nut that attaches the antenna to the mount. I made a little wrench from aluminum sheet metal to fit the antenna nut . The wrench is pretty flimsy but it only needs to be strong enough to remove the nut one time. I attached the double female fitting and the wrench to the airframe next to the antenna mount with some zip ties so they will be where needed when needed.

Be sure to register your ELT at- https://beaconregistration.noaa.gov -and keep the information current. Having a current registration could make the difference in the way the Rescue Coordination Center responds when your ELT is activated, in some cases many hours, enough time to bleed out or die of hypothermia.

There is no guarantee an ELT will activate in every circumstance. I know of several planes that flipped over with no ELT activation. Having a SPOT tracker or similar device is good insurance.
Thanks for the info. When you say flipping over is a common occurrence with the Super STOL...what are you referring to?...i have not hear this before?

thx
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Tralika
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Re: SuperStol ELT

Post by Tralika »

Any conventional gear aircraft can be flipped over on landing. All it takes is a little too much brake. However the long landing gear on the SS makes it easier to flip. Longer gear = longer arm between the surface and the center of gravity = increase moment. The video link will show you what it looks like with an experimental Cub with long gear. The Cub in the video did not go all the way over but others have. Not everybody that has done this talks about it, especially if they didn't mention it to the NTSB/FAA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1r0RsPIRkI
John Nealon
Wasilla, Alaska
Highlander Extreme #191
mykitlog.com/jnealon
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