Warbird Information Exchange

15 Years ago a friend of mine had a Ryan PT-22. It had a radio , transponder and intercom system that ran off of a portable battery. THe small battery was more like something you would see in a motorcycle. Anyway it worked flawlessly and we are hoping to install something on our Piper Cub.
Can anyone help us with information as to a setup for an airplane with no electrical system?
Thanks

If you haven't already, I would go to a few of the Cub and Aeronca web sites and ask them what they've done for their planes.
http://www.aeroncapilots.com/
http://www.j3-cub.com/forum/
http://www.cubclub.org/
http://www.pipercubforum.com/

Another idea is to go to a few local fly-ins and talk with any non-electrical plane owners and see what they may be using.

I think that the options are pretty wide open. One thing that you probably should stay away from is the Becker radios that are designed to fit instrument holes. They have been used on a number of warbirds that I am associated with and they seem to have problems in most of the installations. Since I don't fly these birds I don't have personal experience with them, but the pilots have been complaining of the weak performance of the units.

One thing to consider as well would be a wind driven generator to keep the battery up. I've seen this type of installation on a couple of non-electrical planes. This is especially important if you are putting in a transponder as they are high power transmitters and though only pulsed they will consume quite a bit of juice.

BTW, most light aircraft batteries are not much bigger that you'd see in a motorcycle so it probably was an aircraft battery that your friend was using. Assuming that your Cub is still certified you'll likely need to use TSO components, including the battery.

Terry

Thanks guys for all the good advice. I am meeting with the mechanic next week. Also am going to email a couple glider pilots in the area. Seems at one time the FAA was wanting all gliders to have a transponder of some kind.

My Auster is going to be non electric but I am thinking about using a Glider setup (no engine there!) but add a solar panel in the roof (since the perspex extends right over the whole cockpit) combined with modern rechargeable batteries. And I'll have a radio and transponder although a lot of my flying will be clear of control zones here in New Zealand.

Had a Luscombe 8A in 1974-75 with a Wind Driven Generator that was attached to a very strong member of the airframe, centered beneath the main landing gear attach points. Concerns would be mounting point security and vibration if its driven prop were not perfectly balanced.

It did a fine job of powering one radio which could be used as a 90 channel transmitter and Com receiver or a VOR receiver, one or the other. Also had Navigation Lights for night flight, Red, Green, White and a Strobe.

Unless you were planning long night flights, a better solution today would be a Solar Panel powered battery charger. LED lighting and solid-state Radios have low current draw and a good, fully charged battery will provide many hours of power.


You would not even need to mount it, just have it close to your hangar or tie-down to keep your battery up and ready for use. Why add unnecessary weight and complexity to your aircraft.
Art

The Spartan NP-1 from WWII had no particularly special electrical setup...it simply had a battery that was put into the aircraft before flight fully charged. After landing, it was removed and put on the charger. Why couldn't you do something similar for a radio?
kevin

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