--CLIP--


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 safety 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
--
With all due respect to Klaus, his evaluation of the Turn Coordinator is
a minority opinion
A Turn Coordinator is a rate gyro identical to a turn and bank, but is
internally mounted 30 degrees off horizontal so it senses roll and yaw.
It shows a fixed horizon with a moving airplane and is referred to as an
"Outside-in perspective" representation as opposed to the "Inside-out
perspective" of the artificial horizon's fixed wings and moving horizon.
I was trained in instrument flying using only needle-ball until the last
three hours before my checkride, and I find the Turn coordinator
superior.
You might consider the Dynon EFIS-D6 at $1600, which should mount
directly in the existing hole and provide all the functionality of the
standard"six-pack" of instruments. I have been using Dynons since their
initial introduction and have found them reliable.

Victor Roberts




Victor is right, the Dynon D60 would be the next next step up:

http://www.dynonavionics.com/docs/D6_intro.html

And from there, for a little more money still, is a whole range of
EFIS/GPS displays from a wide selection of companies including Dynon,
TruTrack, Grand Rapids. Advanced Avionics, MLG, TL, etc. Then for a lot
of money there is the certified and nearly certified route of Garmin,
Aspin, Chelton etc...

Aircraftspruce has most and is a good place to start looking:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/av/efis.html