My FX-3 Build

[Neal]

On July 23rd, 2020 I placed an order for a FX-3 slot with Chip Allen. Through intense discussion and coaching of @turbopilot I've learned a lot and continue to learn and have honed my build to what I call "version 2" I submitted to Chip yesterday. There will be more changes as I continue to learn. I'll detail my build below as of today. I've had the great opportunity to learn from several sales folks and Chip has been great to communicate with to date. Several current and prospective owners I've also had the luxury of speaking with including Trent T. who I hope will join us here soon as he picked up his FX3 this past June of which I've learned a ton from and will be shaping my build to follow. I've also posted on the CubCrafters forum as well as the SuperCub.org forum which is far more active than the CubCrafters forum but still hovered by the sales folks, which is fine.

My Build:

• FX-3
• Paint: All urethane (no polytone) Signature Plus with Orange over smoke with black accent
• Executive Glass Touch
• Dual Axis Autopilot
• GTX 345 TXPR/ADSB IN/OUT
• Acme BlackOps mains
• Acme Stinger tailwheel
• HD brakes
• Stainless Steel Braided brake lines
• Oregon Aero Front/Back seats (fabric)
• 83 in constant speed prop
• Two additional snapvents
• Rosen sunvisor
• SBS J16 battery
• Rear seat 12V outlet
• Halon fire extinguisher
• Headset hooks
• 3 inch N-Numbers below logo on tail
• Carpeted baggage compartment
• May order a dash cover
• 5 point shoulder harness (not sure of cost yet)
• BRS
• 29 inch Alaskan Bush tires with heavy tread option
• USB ports front/rear (pending)
• IFR Lite: Garmin 355, Garmin G5, and Pitot Heat. Not sure of setup yet as there are space concerns, very tight panel config

Trent T mentioned a battery starter kit I'm still needing to find out about. I think there is a problem with starters in the field and this is a workaround? Waiting for him to join in and explain.

I'm planning on getting the Carbon Concepts cargo pod either sent to Hood River, OR where I'll be taking delivery or get it later. I'll have the rear mounts installed per Randy from Carbon Concepts as he says: Add welded tab 5/8 x 5/8 x 1/8” thick with a 3/16” hole in the center 40 1/2” behind the back of the rear gear leg fitting, both sides

The carbon concepts cargo pod from what I've learned has a higher carry capacity, larger access door and a rear fold down door for carrying long items. CubCrafters sells a pod I believe by LewAero which is $3K more. Has a better fit and finish, the pilots in the field I've talked to recommend Randy's pod.

I'm researching helmets from both Sky Cowboy and Flighthelmet.com. I contacted FlightHelmet.com as they sell helmets like the one I have from A-10's and they said they can modify it to support the Bose A20 I'll be using. Probably going to cost 500-700 to mod it but this is a custom fit helmet to my head so comfort is key and of course some nostalgia getting to use my Air Force helmet from back in the day.

Trent sent me a picture of his panel which I'll include below. The autopilot setup would not support the control head with knobs he tells me. I thought of putting the G5 on the right but looking at his picture there's no room for it. There is an option for a "blue button" which puts the AP in level flight mode if you want to cleanup the panel more but I'd rather have the redundancy if the G3X becomes unresponsive but as we all know everything can be driven by the G3X and will be the primary. Trent tells me due to panel space issues the intercom has to go above the rear seat, hope he can attach pictures to show what that looks like.

 

[Neal]

Trent sent me a few more pics this morning, one is of the 5 point harness and this shows the anchor @turbopilot. The other picture is the intercom location above the rear seat as with the IFR Lite setup there is no room for it where it normally goes. I may request for this to go further aft into or aft of the baggage compartment if I proceed with IFR Lite. I think we need tail weight anyways, why not put this aft of the aft wall of the baggage area?

 

[turbopilot]

Still can't see where that between the leg strap attaches. No hard points under the seat.

Bad location for that remote intercom. Got to be a better solution. ? Roof or side of extended baggage compartment.

 

[Neal]

Ahh crap, that's the stick I bit off on, not the bottom harness mount. Hopefully Trent will join us soon.

 

[turbopilot]

Ahh crap, that's the stick I bit off on, not the bottom harness mount. Hopefully Trent will join us soon.

Just needs to rotate seat forward and look under. Strap may continue down to the belly where there is steel tubing.

 

[turbopilot]

That remote intercom, GMA 24, is just above the head of rear passenger. Sharp edges and turbulence.

 

[Neal]

I would prefer it be aft of the baggage area, no need to see it and if there is an inspection/access plate below that could help OTHER than if it needed to be removed. A larger access panel below would be needed more than likely. With BRS on one side and this on the other of the baggage that would not be ideal. Aft wall maybe.

 

[Schwbo]

I checked my emails and I’ve placed the order and the deposit on March 9, 2020. I’ve not received yet a production week and I’m getting a bit worried although Brad Damm had assured me that I’ll get the plane by May 15, 2021.
Regarding three items on your order Brad advised me they are not necessary
- he said that there in no reason to replace the tail wheel unless I do crazy stuff.
- he said that for novice TW drivers HD brakes are a bad idea. May lead to nose over accident.
- said that unless I place on not covering the landing gear or landing often near salty water I should not get the stainless brake lines.

 

[turbopilot]

I checked my emails and I’ve placed the order and the deposit on March 9, 2020. I’ve not received yet a production week and I’m getting a bit worried although Brad Damm had assured me that I’ll get the plane by May 15, 2021.
Regarding three items on your order Brad advised me they are not necessary
- he said that there in no reason to replace the tail wheel unless I do crazy stuff.
- he said that for novice TW drivers HD brakes are a bad idea. May lead to nose over accident.
- said that unless I place on not covering the landing gear or landing often near salty water I should not get the stainless brake lines.

Not Neal but my comments:
1. 3200-TYPE STEERABLE TAILWHEEL is all you need unless you are doing heavy gross weight (at 2000 lb GW limit) all the time. With a lot of weight on the tail (ie aft CG) with soft surfaces a bigger tail wheel will help. C/G is almost as important as total weight, but with CC almost all additional cargo goes aft of CG.

2. If you are going to do (or expect to do) the Beringer conversion forget about HD brakes and stainless brake plumbing. Beringer only uses stainless and all brake plumbing has to be redone for Beringer system. Brad is right for a first time tail wheel pilot do not get HD brakes, they are too strong and you may flip on your learning curve.

 

[turbopilot]

I checked my emails and I’ve placed the order and the deposit on March 9, 2020. I’ve not received yet a production week and I’m getting a bit worried although Brad Damm had assured me that I’ll get the plane by May 15, 2021.

Call Brad. They have a master spreadsheet with all the production dates. Most likely yours has slipped like mine. I placed an order for my slot January 5 and got a September 2 deliver. Now deliver has slipped to September 22 and they have added another 6 weeks to post production testing. COVID has screwed up their planning.

 

[Neal]

Chip also advised me their stock tailwheel is sufficient. The only reason I'm considering the Acme Stinger is because the fact I'm new to TW flying it may be more forgiving to the stresses on the fuselage as it has a shock vs. leaf spring setup. The steerable tailwheel option was NOT recommended by Chip, again, he suggested stock which I may still go with. The Acme Stinger is $1900. This is one of those things that I'd rather just be done with at the factory. Just like @turbopilot mentioned yesterday and I verified today, that SJS-J16 battery (or whatever it is) is $450 via CC and about $190 aftermarket. But I don't want issues on the way home but I'll see what TacAero tells me as I'm waiting for a callback from them after Jeremy (owner) lands in 30 min. I want to get his story on Beringer too and I'll report back.

I don't agree on HD brakes out of common sense, this comes down to pilot skill regardless of the brakes knowing when to use them and how. The SS brake lines are recommended to avoid expansion during braking, i.e. fluid pressure. Granted Beringer all of that is off.

Here is my timeline from Chip:

Order Placed w/ Deposit	2020-07-24
Customization Lock Date	2021-01-06
Final Lock Date & Progress Payment	2021-02-03
B/A First Week Arrival	2021-02-08
Final Payment Due Date	2021-05-10
B/A Second Visit Arrival Date	2021-05-17
Expected Certification	2021-05-18

 

[Neal]

I checked my emails and I’ve placed the order and the deposit on March 9, 2020. I’ve not received yet a production week and I’m getting a bit worried although Brad Damm had assured me that I’ll get the plane by May 15, 2021.

You can see my info above provided the day after I placed my deposit with Chip. I think you need to get this figured out ASAP as they may have dropped the ball or you're not getting info from them.

 

[turbopilot]

I don't agree on HD brakes out of common sense, this comes down to pilot skill regardless of the brakes knowing when to use them and how.

Don't rely on common sense for these things. With a cub it is not always right. The standard brakes are undersized for the CC on purpose. The CC will land in under 100', so you really don't need brakes to stop a landing roll. You need brakes during taxi to help steer with differential braking. The standard brakes are weak enough that you have to be trying really hard to tip the CC on it's nose. I mean full force on the top of brake pedal to get it tipsy depending on CG.

Not so with the HD brakes. If your foot slips up to the brake pedal while you are dancing on the rudders during a bumpy cross wind landing it is very easy to get enough pressure on the HD brake pedal to flip the airplane. Been close several times before Beringer with ALIR.

I had standard brakes on my first SS that I flew for 4 years. On my second SS I added HD brakes that I flew for 3 years before the Beringer conversion.

A new tail wheel pilot should have as little brake as possible available until you get the "touch". The touch is a subtle relationship between elevator back pressure and light braking during landing. Even with the "touch" there where several times I got close to flipping with the HD brakes. The time it will get you is when you are light in the back (ie no cargo aft of the pilot). The CG under those conditions will be very far forward and even the lightest braking at the right point in landing will start the nose going down toward the runway.

Get the standard brakes for now. Even if you don't go Beringer it is easy to convert to HD brakes in the future as you build skill. I have an old set I can sell you that I took off my 2014 for the Beringer conversion.

 

[turbopilot]

You need to check with Grove. I am pretty sure the wheel and brake rotors are the same for the 6" brake sets. All that changes is the size of the caliper. Not more than an hour job to swap the calipers and bleed the brake lines.

 

[Neal]

I spoke with Jeremy, President of TacAero which was invaluable and thanks to Trent T for passing that info on to me. I'm going to use TacAero to do an initial acceptance from CubCrafters as well as first flight to ensure everything is perfect before I begin to fly.

I asked Jeremy about the options and Chip is not going to like this!

• Get the basic landing gear, do not do the Acme BlackOps Gen3. They are not the top of the line ones that Acme offers. TacAero acquired Acme and will install what they recommend in the Acme lineup and the tailwheel
• Do not get the HD brakes - they will install the Beringer wheels and brakes and they will use a black wheel instead of the red. They highly recommend Beringer and they are the supply depot for Beringer USA so they'll have the inventory on hand to do my bird
• Do NOT get Beringer landing gear, it is not ideal for the FX3, it's more for the SuperCub, and based on the way it responds such as lowering a wing it can lead to ground loops. I know @turbopilot you're going to have an aneurysm on this, I don't recall all of the details but I trust his experience with 15 FX3's and their flight testing.
• Do not get IFR Lite - it's a personal choice but the moral is the cubs ice fast and going into IMC is not recommended and my concern is IFR anything leads people to fly places they shouldn't. There are other downsides to it but we also discussed that the WAAS technology is evolving so fast that in a few years you may be able to add something simple and more cost effective to do the same. He promoted that ForeFlight is a great backup but you won't need anything but the G3X.
• He did NOT poopoo BRS, he said it's a personal choice and talked good about the same reasons I'm choosing it.
• He said do NOT get an 80in prop. He would never buy a FX3 with an 80in prop. While cruise may be better with a 80/26 the uses of a FX3 in backcountry would be severely degraded and you'll wish you had it.
• He said YES to the USB ports front and left wing root

That's the gist of it but he's super nice and has hookups for me on the airport for my motorhome and will also hangar my plane for me while I drive the RV back home which is super nice. Really looking forward to working with TacAero after taking delivery. I don't know pricing yet, TacAero is very expensive so I'm bracing for that, but it sounds like a job done right is going to be worth it.

 

[turbopilot]

Oh my goodness. Just not true about Beringer gear. He can't be current in his knowledge as there is no "wing droop" issue with current version 3 struts. That opinion calls into question his credibility in my book. He is winging it for reasons I don't understand (except to sell something else) and clearly not current. Remember I make no money with my opinions, they are the best I can do with 10 years of experience with the airplane.

As I told you version 1 of the Beringer strut had a problem with "wind droop" but it was a taxi issue, not a landing issue. It was never apparent on landing. With a cross wind taxiing the up wind wing would allow the upwind strut to extent while the down wind strut compressed. The strut valving in version 1 was not sensitive enough to equalize when you applied up wind aileron correction for the wing lift. The downwind strut valving would not recompress with the low forces of opposite aileron during taxi. The Beringer strut is now on version 3. The valving was all fixed in version 2 during the STC in the SuperCub. It is STC'd for the Part 23 SuperCub and that was the test platform. As to FX's I have been watching as many sources as I can. I have never seen nor heard of an FX with Beringer gear. There may be one somewhere but I have not seen one. But it does not make any difference. The FX is an SS that weighs more. That is it. The FX is not some kind of mythical machine onto itself with special qualities. The FX is an SS with more stuff (constant speed prop, fuel injection and different ailerons). Same wing, same fuselage just a little heavier.

I cannot follow the recommendation on "IFR Lite". Anyone who would take a fabric, fat wing airplane into a cloud near the freezing level is not flying light IFR. They are just dumb.

As to the 80" prop issue give me the data. So much folk lore and no hard data. "Severely degraded" give me a break. If that was the case you would see all sorts of documents. graphs and charts demonstrating the difference. And the 83" prop would be a $3,000 option not a $500 option. Instead we hear crickets when we ask for documentation. The only statements I have seen that seem credible is that an 83" prop turning at max RPM will provide more static thrust to get you off the ground around 100' shorter. This makes some sense. Of course that has to measured against the reality the a fixed pitch cruise prop will get you off the ground in around 60' at 1400 lbs gross weight. So I guess the 83" prop will levitate the airplane, right?

The other issue no one talks about is tip speed of an 83" prop at 2,700 RPM. It will be very close to the speed of sound with those parameters and all ready suffering from compressibility issues near the tip with degrading efficiency. See this web site and run the numbers for yourself. This was a big deal for the Cessna 180.

The good news he is right about the Beringer wheels and brakes. As to the Acme stuff I have no idea but it sounds like he has a dog in the fight. Never flown any of the products. But the standard cub gear sucks: Acme or AOSS, the mechanics are the same.

 

[Neal]

I’ll take claim to the severely degraded wording as I’m not sure he said that. I can’t expect he has flown every version of the Beringer landing gear. Maybe it was v1 and he never had interest again after that experience. Sounds like he’s pleased with Acme and that evolution as that does seem to be what everyone is using. No reason in the field to pay for Beringer when Acme is doing the job at far less cost.

 

[turbopilot]

Here is the version history for the Beringer gear system, so that the next time you are talking to one of these "experts" you will have enough information to ask a direct question about experience.

Version 1 Beringer ALG - The system was introduced/announced around 2016. I got a set of version 1 struts in 2017. I quickly discovered the taxi low wing issue in crosswind and discussed with Lukus Stutzer the chief engineer. He acknowledged the problem and said they were working on it. The version 1 gear also demonstrated a wheel camber issue. Fully loaded there was a 2 degree top wheel in chamber problem.

Version 2 Beringer ALG - Also call the anti-roll option. This fixed the taxi low wing issue but the camber issue remained. Lukus acknowledge the problem and said they were working on it.

Version 3 Beringer ALG - My current version. Wing low issue and camber issue fixed. No other outstanding problems.

Through it all Beringer provide free upgrades to the next version and fully acknowledge the issues. All of the issues were either cosmetic or taxi issues. At no time was there ever any adverse take off or landing issues. To the contrary all three versions were far better the basic cub gear system with AOSS.

The only time I have experienced a tendency to start a ground loop it was because I was landing with a quartering tail wind. The Beringer system prevents ground loops with normal normal winds because there is little to no rebound on hard landings.

 

[turbopilot]

No reason in the field to pay for Beringer when Acme is doing the job at far less cost.

How do you know this to be true? I certainly don't since I have never flown any Acme product. I certainly would not reach this decision if the source of the information was from someone making money on the opinion and/or they have not flown both products as currently delivered.

I have only flown only one product. Actually, two products as AOSS competes with Acme.

As to the "far less cost" issue. I don't have all the details. The full Beringer ALG system (a total replacement of the landing gear system, not just two shock absorbers) and costs $10,600. That includes ALIR that is not available from any other source except Beringer. ALIR and the Beringer ALG struts have nothing in common, so there is no reason you could not get Beringer wheels/brakes and ALIR with the old fashion cub gear system and two ACME shock absorbers.

Finally, we have some closure from everyone about the quality of the Beringer wheels and brakes. That is progress. So you have to net that cost from the Beringer ALG system price. I don't have that number. But what ever it is, the remaining cost is attributable to the landing gear system and then is compared to what Acme sells as a couple of shock absorbers. You run the numbers, but I don't think in comes down to "far less cost" when you look at the value equation of both systems.

Hopefully you will get the chance to fly the current version Beringer system at TRM, then you can become an expert, instead of Jeremy. I sure wish I made a commission off my experience with Beringer. This is hard keeping the facts straight with so much misinformation spread around.

 

[Neal]

I doubt I could tell a difference at my experience level. I’ll let you know when I get the numbers from TacAero. As they are crazy expensive on everything I’m not optimistic. For now I’ll enter holding. My research is done. My options have shaped and now it’s wait time.

Trent told me the 5 point harness was $1945. Ouch but like BRS it’s a safety feature. Needed? Don’t know.