Has anybody flown with one of these?
Paul Lamar
I Paul, glad to see you researching alternatives. I think you are
re-catching the flying bug.
I want to remind you about some of the extra work if you decide to
change out that circular hole for use as a T&B rather than the microair
tranciever that used to be here. First there is the issue of making the
hole larger, which is not to bad if you have a cutter, but a real pain
otherwise. then the old screw holes are bound to give you trouble, not
to mention possible interference with other items behind the panel.
More significantly, you would have to end up completely re-wiring the
comm radio. If your replacement radio does not have a built-in
intercom, then you would have to buy an intercom and mount and re-wire
that as well.
Thinking back, I now recall that mike was pretty sold on day VFR flying
only, which is why he did not install the T&B or lights. I agree with
you that a T&B is really an essential item and lights REALLY expand the
usefulness of the aircraft, even if you don't plan on a lot of night flying.
That being said, the Comm radio is essential before first flight, while
T&B can be added at any time. Think how much easier it would be to just
plug in a radio and intercom rather than re-wire the whole thing. And
don't even think about using a hand-held. It is too cumbersome to
change frequencies to use in a fast aircraft like an RV, not to mention
poor reception and transmission qualities.
Anyway, just my two cents.
--
David Leonard
Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net
You have some good points. I tested that loose Turn & Bank that came
with Mike's RV4 and it did not work, I don't know why but it could be 28 volts.
I had only a 12 volt supply to test it with. I opened it up and it looks
OK. The motor brushes were in good shape. Klaus came over and looked
at the panel and he saw what he calls a turn coordinator. It was mounted
in the opening to the right of where the round radio was. He claims this is not
the same as a turn and bank AKA needle and ball. He claims it is near worthless.
He looked at the spare turn and bank AKA needle and ball and said that was the
one to use. He told me German pilots are trained to fly IFR on needle, ball and
airspeed. There is not a lot of panel space to work with. I'll know more after I
get to work with what is there. Your points on the portable radio are well
taken.
I sure wish it had an attitude indicator or artificial horizon as I feel that
is a good saftey device. You never know when you might run into limited
visibility. I have had that happen a lot in Alaska.
The new solid state artificial horizons look promising. Especially if they
take in compass, airspeed and rate of climb data. The sensors for airspeed
and rate of climb are super cheap at around $10 each. I am almost tempted
to build my own as solid state rate gyros are used in toy helicopters children
can learn to fly.
I could do a desertion on the difference between a rate gyro and
an attitude gyro but that is a story for another message.
Paul Lamar
--
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