tailbeacon - No go without mods

[8359]

My rebate expires this weekend. I waited a little bit too long to jump on board, but I grabbed a tailbeacon today. Went to go install and discovered it doesn't fit the taillight hole without modification. Photos attached. Do you guys think I should attempt to open up the hole? Or best to go with another solution?

Thanks,

[8342]

You may want to look at the Illustrated Parts Catalog.
What is shown in it for a tail light mount is not what you posted pictures of.
I know mine is different from yours.

Rick

[V529]

I'll head out to the hangar this am. Your rudder tail light mount doesn't look right. I'll know for sure in a little bit......

[V529]

You have the wrong fitting riveted inside your rudder. The proper one has a much larger internal opening.

[6643]

"How did they do that?" Note the cracks in the skin where they tried to stretch the metal.

It is acceptable to enlarge the hole; there are other planes using different tail lights where you have to. That said, the photo Victor posted is what yours should look like.

It looks like there's an insert held in with pop rivets. What would happen if you removed it?

[8359]

Thanks for the help guys. Especially for that photo Victor, that is what I expected to have. Long term I think I'll need to plan to modify the rudder to the "right" style.

Last night I chucked up a burr and carefully opened up the hole. It's a tight fit, but I like that it's snug. Last step is getting the right mounting screws, the 4-40 machine screws provided in the kit won't work.

[6277]

Here's a link to a tail light housing that might help. It's also reasonably priced. If you can't make the link work. Just go to ebay and search for Cessna 140. The housing is about three or four pages down.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/P-N-0433121-Ce ... Swbglc5f~T

[5836]

Hi Guys/Gals,

I received my Tail Beacon from uAvionix and was all set to install. I discovered they did not include the Installation Kit (UAV-1003202-001) with the beacon. I contacted their GA Service Department and they apologized and will be sending the missing kit immediately - no charge.

Reading through the Installation Guide, I see the ICAO Number (24 digits) issued for the aircraft's registration is required for Wi-Fi configuration. I am not at the airport to check, is this number on my FAA Registration? Otherwise, is there a general number for Part 91 Ops?

Clear Skies,
Mike

[8359]

Great find Ray! Thank you! I bought it

[8359]

Hi Guys/Gals,

I received my Tail Beacon from uAvionix and was all set to install. I discovered they did not include the Installation Kit (UAV-1003202-001) with the beacon. I contacted their GA Service Department and they apologized and will be sending the missing kit immediately - no charge.

Reading through the Installation Guide, I see the ICAO Number (24 digits) issued for the aircraft's registration is required for Wi-Fi configuration. I am not at the airport to check, is this number on my FAA Registration? Otherwise, is there a general number for Part 91 Ops?

Clear Skies,
Mike

Hi Mike,

If you look up your registration on the FAA website it will show you the base-8 and base-16 ICAO numbers. When you type your tail number into the Skybeacon App it will automatically populate the ICAO field with the base-16 number. Just verify that it matches the FAA website and you are good to go.

I performed a validation flight yesterday and passed all the tests.