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Thread: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

  1. #1

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    Default Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    There is most likely a tri pacer in my future (150 or 160) and I’m planning the mods so that I can make it “mine”, safer and more capable. I don’t want to end up spending 4x the purchase price on mods and end up with 14 STCs and a Franken-plane but I think a few well chosen mods would be nice. I will treat the panel as a separate project but between VGs, fancy wing tips, extended fuel, gap seals, etc. is there one or two that really deliver in terms of value?

    if you could only do one mod, what would it be?

    thx

  2. #2
    Administrator Steve Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    I think I would concentrate on finding a good airplane. It might have some mods already. Get comfortable with what you have before you start modifying. I work on a lot of modified airplanes that the owner never takes advantage of. A lot of owners have great plans but for what ever reason they never quite use the airplane the way they had initially intended.

  3. #3
    Subsonic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    I think Steve just put his finger on it. I have spent a ton of money getting my plane rebuilt stock over the last 2.5 years and have more to go. Find a good airplane first and learn to fly it. A stock Tri-Pacer is a very capable airplane. Learning to use the full range of its capabilities takes a little time. I think about mods too, but every time I get in it I learn something new and that suggests there is more to be gained in piloting than modifying. My 2C.

  4. #4
    ysifly2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    For me, first mods are safety or maintenance based:

    Shoulder harnesses
    Steve’s Aircraft gascolators
    Sutton exhaust (eliminate recurring AD)


    Bryan


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    andya's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    Quote Originally Posted by Subsonic View Post
    I think Steve just put his finger on it. I have spent a ton of money getting my plane rebuilt stock over the last 2.5 years and have more to go. Find a good airplane first and learn to fly it. A stock Tri-Pacer is a very capable airplane. Learning to use the full range of its capabilities takes a little time. I think about mods too, but every time I get in it I learn something new and that suggests there is more to be gained in piloting than modifying. My 2C.
    I have to agree with this line of thinking.
    "Progress is our most important problem"

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    After 5 Tripacers over the last 15 years(financial up & downs on top of personal situations) I think I've probably had most of those at one time or another. Gap seals definitely helped, (More lift & more speed), and they were cheap so good bang for the buck. VG's helped get slower with more control authority at lower speeds, again pretty reasonable bang for the buck and both of those didn't have the plane down for more than a couple days to accomplish. Extended fuel(in the form of an Aux tank), I liked, others don't, but for me flying from Utah into the central ID back country & having the fuel to get back out without having to detour too much for gas was worth a lot, it also let me go from Ogden to Eugene OR with one fuel stop instead of two(I actually cando that on standard tanks IF there were a fuel stop in the right place dead center, but there isn't). Wing tips, I've had 3 Piper originals, one Sullivan set, one Stewart set & one Plane Booster set. I think they worked ok, but hated the Plane Boosters(aesthetically & visibility wise) the Sullivans replaced them, flew about the same but with much better visility, I like the Stewarts, it is still a Bow of sorts, but has more wing surface, and the bang for the buck seemed to be the best other than just sticking to the Piper originals. All of those tips got me off shorter & at a lower speed, other than the PlaneBooster/Sullivans they were all on different planes so I can't definitively say one is better than another. I do very much like the oil cooler relocation to behind #4 & closing up the chin mount hole as well as oil filter installation. Between that & building/installing an airdam in the sugar scoop(like so many, mine were all either missing or majorly deformed & all but useless) of the Tri as well as the close up around the carb air intake I can now run it pretty much full in even at 90+ OAT, and the oil doesn't go above 220 other than in a high angle extended climb, even then it's manageable. NOW, with all that said, Tri-Pacer #1(to me) has been for way too long been in the metamorphosis stage of becoming a Pacer, part of why it's been in that way for so long is due to Project Feature Creep, what started out as just conventional gear conversion became O-360, and Full recover, and dual Seaplane Doors, and Skylight, she came to me with Atlee/Dodge tanks, and, tips and, and... So maybe don't get to wrapped up in mods, and definitely don't fall victim to project creep(trust me on that, it is REALLY easy to do)
    Last edited by doc; 08-12-2019 at 08:02 PM.

  7. #7
    andya's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    " Gap seals definitely helped, (More lift & more speed), and they were cheap so good bang for the buck."
    Who had the gap seals, were they STC'd?
    "Progress is our most important problem"

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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    Quote Originally Posted by andya View Post
    " Gap seals definitely helped, (More lift & more speed), and they were cheap so good bang for the buck."
    Who had the gap seals, were they STC'd?
    Not STC's, they were bent out of 2024T3 as I remember, and I'm not entirely sure how the paperwork was done, it has been several years and that plane is long gone. Pretty sure the paper may have also been done for my "project" conversion PA22/20, but I'll have to look

    Doc

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    Quote Originally Posted by doc View Post
    Not STC's, they were bent out of 2024T3 as I remember, and I'm not entirely sure how the paperwork was done, it has been several years and that plane is long gone. Pretty sure the paper may have also been done for my "project" conversion PA22/20, but I'll have to look

    Doc
    I made gap seals for the tail of my Pacer. Below is the best picture I have with me on my laptop. Frank Sperando (?) uses them on his Pacer "Miss Pearl" and allowed me to copy them. I used his 337 to get my 337 signed off.
    When I purchased my Pacer it had simple Fabrik gap seals. A piece of fabric was glued to the top of the horizontal stabilizer and then routed through the gap and glued to the bottom of the elevator (I hope that explains it). On the rudder it was left to right.

    As far as mods, first define the mission for your airplane and then find out if you really use it that way. I know quite a few pilots who invest a lot of money in the panels to have an IFR capable airplane, but never fly IFR (or don't even have an IFR ticket). Then some invest money in short field capabilities and never fly in and out of strips shorter than 1,500 feet. There is always time to spend your money later when you know what you really need.

    Juergen
    Pacer N3342Z
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
    Administrator Steve Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: Single best modification for the Pacer / Tri-Pacer?

    I believe this is $100 for experimental. Easily removable. http://store.cubcrafters.com/Foam-Ga...18_p_1298.html

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