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Messages - SHB716

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1
Airframe Systems and Components / Annoying Gear Waring Horn on T.O. Garmin G3X
« on: January 10, 2026, 11:01:27 am »
The Stream POH calls to establish a 70IAS climb to retract the gear, then transition to 78IAS and retract flaps above 150'.

In doing so you get the annoying gear warning horn during the approximate 20 second gear retraction on T.O. and until the flaps are up since the gear warning is based on flap position. Any flap position will trigger the gear warning if the gear is not down.

I find this very annoying especially during a critical phase of flight. My solution is to use the Garmin G3X to provide this warning based on 70 KIAS.

I programmed the G3X per the manual to provide the warning but no success.  After consulting with Garmin I learned there has to be a low power setting sensed (RPM below 3800) in order to trigger the warning.  With the Rotax (or Edge Performance) engines having high RPM's even at low MP during approach, it isn't triggering the warning. This is based on the configuration and engine data I supplied to Garmin and after Garmin engineering looked into it.  Hopefully Garmin will facilitate the Rotax series engines on retractable airframes and provide an update.

In the interim it is the airframe supplied gear warning.

Steve B.

2
Airframe Systems and Components / Gear retract safety speed
« on: January 10, 2026, 09:49:00 am »
This was not initially clear to me and this is my understanding of the system, so I thought I might share for Sparker and Stream operators.

The gear system is set up to inhibit gear retraction until a certain pressure (airspeed) is sensed (this is set by the factory and rumor has it set around 60-65KIAS range). Obviously the gear would retract on the ground if the battery is turned on with the gear switch inadvertently in the down position. First item on my before start flow is gear switch down.....

The situation I ran into was a failure of the gear to retract. This occurred while practicing short field take-offs.  I apparently raised the gear before meeting the airspeed threshold and the gear failed to retract. Subsequently lowered the gear without incident and landed. We  jacked up the aircraft for inspection and ops check and everything checked good. Shout out to Trey and Zach for the quick drop in to help investigate the matter!  No more issues after a better understanding of the system.

I tested this safety system on my conditional inspections and it worked as advertised, not retracting with 0 airspeed. In the mx mode the gear operated normally.


Hope this helps!
Steve B

3
Operating and Flying / Gear Rertract Safety Speed
« on: January 10, 2026, 09:00:40 am »
This was not initially clear to me and this is my understanding of the system, so I thought I might share for Sparker and Stream operators.

The gear system is set up to inhibit gear retraction until a certain pressure (airspeed) is sensed (this is set by the factory and rumor has it set around 65KIAS +/-). Obviously the gear would retract on the ground if the battery is turned on with the gear switch inadvertently in the down position. First item on my before start flow is gear switch down.....

The situation I ran into was a failure of the gear to retract.  This occurred while practicing short field take-offs.  I apparently raised the gear before meeting the airspeed threshold and the gear failed to retract. Subsequently lowered the gear without incident and landed. We  jacked up the aircraft for inspection and ops check and everything checked good. Shout out to Trey and Zach for the quick drop in to help investigate the matter!  No more issues after a better understanding of the system.

I tested this safety system on my conditional inspections and it worked as advertised, not retracting with 0 airspeed. In the mx mode the gear operated normally.


Hope this helps!
Steve B


4
Airframe Systems and Components / Center Tank Fuel Drain Mod - Stream Airframe
« on: January 07, 2026, 07:59:34 am »
Removing the center fuel tank cover to sump the tank was a bit cumbersome and inefficient for me. 

I ordered an additional cover from TL, drilled the same attachment holes using the original as a template, then installed it and took my best guess and marked a spot directly below the sump and drilled a 1/4" hole (with the cover off the plane obviously).

I can now drain the sump without removing the cover.  It works pretty well, but if the pushrod contacts the cover while draining, fuel will leach onto the outside of the cover and might drip so I carry a rag with me just in case.  May or may not be applicable to the Sparker. My aircraft is in the experimental category.

Hope this helps,

Steve B

5
Airframe Systems and Components / Stinger (Tail) Light - Intermittent/Replacement/Difficult to Replace
« on: January 07, 2026, 07:05:53 am »
The intermittent stinger light was traced back to the plug.  (accessible through my rear inspection plate) At first glance I thought the connector was a splice until I pulled on one and it unplugged. I cut the blue insulation back; it was too long and allowed only a shallow connection.  I seated the plugs and put some shrink wrap to hold them in place. Pretty sure it was the reliance on the tie wraps that were used to hold them closed that was causing the issue.
The main issue is the new and brighter bulbs (one with more LED’s) have teeth grips at the 12 and 6 o’clock position which makes the bulb out of round.  I carefully squeezed on those two points to bring it into round.  Bulb now easily inserts into the socket and is no longer difficult to remove.
The initial difficulty in getting a bulb in or out of the socket was a result of the socket hole being too small and ever so slightly out of round. I used a Dremel with a chainsaw sharping file to round out and ever so slightly enlarge the opening and solved this quickly. Inserted the bulb backwards to gauge the progress. 
For those of us with this lighting system, I hope this helps.  Rumor has it Whelen Lighting systems might be on the way.

Steve B

6
General Comments / Re: Deposit for a Sparker
« on: January 07, 2026, 06:40:04 am »
Hey Mark,

Great to have you.  Three in the Carolinas and one over in TN fore the East coasters! Hopefully we can compile the corporate knowledge and lessons learned to benefit everyone.

Steve B

7
Airframe Systems and Components / Re: Loose Canopy Latches
« on: January 07, 2026, 06:25:36 am »
Did not remove the spring, just let the adhesive Velcro do its thing

8
Abnormal Occurrences / Gear Electrical Relay Failure in Flight
« on: December 16, 2025, 08:43:24 am »
Gear Electrical Relay Failure in Flight

This abnormal happened in cruise flight.  There is no abnormal/emergency checklist in the electrical or gear section of the POH for the Stream (and probably not for the Sparker) provided by TL.  The Stream and the Sparker currently share the same landing gear and flap system.
The indication was a continuous draw of 35 amps in the yellow on the amp meter ??? .  I was VMC so I load- shed down to 33 amps back into the green.  Normal load is 11 amps
The gear pump draws around 23 amps and the flaps 20 amps when active.
I did not know at the time what was causing the high draw.  Thinking worst case, if I added 23 more amps to lower the gear, I might totally fry the electrical system, loose the engine and become a glider and have to pump the gear down for a no flap landing.  I positioned myself 5,000’ above a nice long runway and lowered the gear normally.  As soon as the gear switch was in the down position the amp load returned to normal.  Later investigation would confirm that this was a failure of the electrical gear relay. On longer flights the gear pump will cycle on to maintain system pressure to keep the gear fully retracted, apparently this occurred and the switch failed in the on position.
Lesson Learned. 
For a continuous high amp reading I will pull the gear and flap CB’s  to determine if one of the relays has failed.  If it is a failed flap relay, no big deal, do a no flap landing.  If it is a failed gear relay, use your best judgement as to lower the gear switch and pump the gear down or push the CB back in to lower the gear.
My checklist calls for the gear switch to be down to manually pump the gear down.  While the plane was on jack during the trouble shooting phase I raised the gear normally, left the switch in the up position, depowered the system and pumped the gear down successfully (63 pumps for three green).  I think of the manual pump as an independent system hard wired to the down position.
Luckily in the Stream these relays are easily accessible in the front cargo/avionics compartment and can be changed with normal tools. They are mounted side by side and are not labeled as to which is which, so I now carry a pair of spare relays on board (I failed to identify which was which when I was duplicating the problem).  The flap and gear relays are the same.  They are made in China and ship from there, it took about 3 weeks to get here.
Might consider adding this scenario to your Electrical Abnormal/Emergency Checklist. 
Hope this helps,
-Steve B
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