I received my Supertracks Kit fro Flyboys a couple weeks ago and finally got them installed last week. So far, I am very pleased with the product installation but have not made any trips with it yet...... The wife and I have been traveling some and loading and unloading the baggage compartment is a pain, well generally, anytime I have to dig for a tool, canopy cover, or something in the baggage compartment is a pain so I jumped on this mod as soon as it came out! I have not seen a Tipper/Slider mod so I do not know how it compares but I believe it would accomplish the same thing. My installation was not a speedy one mainly because I have the Classic Aero Tonneau Cover. Full installation took about 10-12 hours but I seem to be slower than most folks with airplane work. I think it's cause i like it and want to stretch it out!
The installation is not complicated and the toughest part is crawling in the tunnel and installing the screws that hold down the slider track extension. My Dynon ADAHRS mounted just below two of the screw placements complicated matters a little but was not too bad. Unfortunately, the tracks will have to be removed for the Tonneau Cover to be removed but it shouldn't be a big problem.
I did have to drill two holes thru the Tonnaeu cover on each side for mounting the tracks on top. For the rear bracket, I built a small bracket with a nutplate out of aluminum angle and riveted it it in so the brace can be attached with a #8 screw. The brace was bent slightly to allow for this.
The tracks were very easy to line up and I didn't use any of the supplied shims because of the thickness of the Tonnaeu Cover. I used a bolt to mount the track in the middle point (trigger guard) just because I didn't want another hole in top of the track. I havent trimmed my turtle deck skin back yet but will probably do that soon. I cant see any reason not to and it will give me another 2" of access but I'm just a little hesitant cutting on my airplane like that!
On the down side, it exposes an ugly hold down block that I wasn't concerned with before so I'll have to do some touch up painting. I have not decided if I will paint the rail extension yet as my original rail is painted.
Also, I had just installed (welded) a latching retaining pin from McMasters and Carr on my original vans canopy truck so I could crack the canopy at two spots while in taxi or warming up. This had to be removed for the Super Track system to work. I really enjoyed this for the short time I had it and I am busy trying to figure out a new way to get this done.
All in all, I think we will really enjoy this mod and it seems to be surprisingly strong! It can be used as a handle for balancing on entry within reason but we certainly will not be jerking on it and imposing a lot of side loads on it! I'm
not sure that little back brace does much as the tracks are very strong.
Supertracks Install
Linear Mode
