takair

Truly old school, but I kind of enjoy it while I contemplate a future upgrade…plane or panel.

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In the Mooney I’m still flying vacuum gyro with Brittain AFCS, but I have RC Allen digital back up AI and even turn coordinator. I like dissimilar sources of attitude…it is how part 25 aircraft generally achieve their required design assurance levels. My RC Allen is older…but my old gyro is more precise than this one. I’m about to install an RC Allen mini in a friends 182 as an Aspen backup, I am optimistic that it will be quite good…. The Sandia was not behaving. I’ve felt quite comfortable behind Garmin products in friends planes in IFR…but they all had backup systems as well.

We have an AV-30 in a C140 I share. It has occasionally shown some sluggish behaviour, wallowing and precession….not coming level after extended maneuvers. I thin uAvionix would tell us to check the vibration levels….they are high according to the instrument…but we’ve replace engine and instrument shocks…only so much we can do. .It is a nice unit, the company seems solid, generally responsive, and innovative, but not sure I’m ready for it to be my only ADI. (140 was certified IFR with just a TC…so this theoretically replaces that…but no backup….we don’t fly it IFR). I guess I would consider your flying….VFR or IFR and what backups you have.

Mine is a 64.

As I recall…it is a sand which..bolted or riveted…. Don’t recall sealant or glue. Remember, anything you put in there is subject to high temp and thus you will smell it for a while…

I had to replace the seal years ago because it always leaked. I don’t have pictures, pre-digital. Has held up well since then.

I added altitude hold to mine a few years ago and love it. I think I have some parts for a second system available for sale if you are willing to scrounge the remaining oddball parts and do the install. Brittain was still providing STC papers as of a year or so ago.

Kevin is THE man for these things. He worked at Brittain and will get this working for you.

@Kevin Westbrook

Wow…that went fast!

So….the FAA got back to me. Here is what they had to say: “All 3 flights on 3/1 show ADS-B is working fine and reports are available. Don't use ATC to check your ADS-B; use the report system. All looks fine now.” It is interesting that they say not to use ATC….but recall that it was ATC who told me in no uncertain terms that “your ADS-B does not work”.

Hard to make out what kind that is. Any better pictures? He is sure the regulator went?

You are right….I was using 2500rpm….which puts it at about 82% at 5000. My POH shows 75% at 2700rpm at 10000…. I just don’t like the way it sounds at 2700 in cruise….

Last break in I did, I climbed until I was at 75-80% wide open… which put me about 5500. Think I was a little over 75%. Then I did wide oval runs while keeping the airport in the glide circle of Foreflight. Needed to be smooth air since I was near redline. In my bird I could not get anywhere near 75% power below gear speed, but OPs appears much higher. Ref. The tower, I told them in advance what I was doing and they had no problem with it. I think speedbrakes out might be nice, but I think the gear doors would take a serious beating.

Thanks. I guess I can dig into the menu to be sure none of the software settings changed. It sounds like I was completely invisible to them via ADS-B. Once I would ident they would track me via mode C from the GTX-327. Interestingly, in each case I had no problem with flight following…but they had dropped me prior to arrival vs doing a hand-off. Wonder if that is just coincidence.

As a quick follow up…the FAA performance report for todays flight showed no failures. This makes me think even more that there is something going on with the way the towers are using ADS-B.

Anybody else have recent issues with ADS-B UAT, primarily in class C and D airspace? In the past two weeks I’ve had 3 reports from class D towers that my ADS-B was not reporting. In each case they had me ident and made a point of it. Here is the odd part. No issues in the class B I had flown through or approach control. FlightAware seems to have no issues either. The entire flights are captured almost to the ground. I recognize these networks are different, but…. Next odd part. I requested multiple FAA performance reports for the first two flights. They came back as not finding the flights…….BUT, when I enquirer with the FAA “report a problem” email, they told me they were having problems with the reporting system……BUT it should not have affected the feed to the tower. I had a similar thing happen last year. I chased it for a while, but the report at the time showed good in “rule airspace”, the FAA ADS-B problem folks said that means I’m good. Anybody run into similar situation? I’m almost convinced “it’s not me, it’s them”. That said, I installed this system relatively early and it’s a NavWorx system installed under AMOC. I have a strange suspicion that some towers are just coming on line with ADS-B capability and either aren’t seeing UAT or some issue with NavWorx comparability.

From PlanePower ICAW: Inspection Checks 50 Hours TIS & each 50 hours thereafter. (1) Perform a check of the alternator assembly. Inspect the alternator mounting bracket and electical connectors for condition and security. Inspect alternator belts for condition, proper alignment, and tension. 100 Hours TIS & each 100 hours thereafter. (or each annual/event, the first to occur) (1) Remove belt and turn alternator rotor by hand to check for grinding noises or rough running. Replace alternator if detected. 1000 Hours TIS. (or each 5 years, the first to occur) (1) Remove field brush assembly per drawing 17-9999-1 and inspect brushes for wear. Replace brushes if brushes extend less than .250 from edge of brush holder case.

Sorry. Did not mean to imply to add a dog house. Just find the leaks and make them go away. Looking at the cowl is a good way to determine where the baffle is sealing and where it is not.

Take a look at the cowl itself and see how well the baffles are sealing. You will see rub marks where there is good contact and you will see some signs of air movement where it leaks. You seal material looks like it is rather stiff and I see some signs of leaking. The fuel injected, guppy mouth, dog house Mooneys can easily run in the high 200s to mid 300s. 400 seems very high for these models…even with the standard baffles.

Could be a number of things. Engine mounts may have sagged and now something is touching. I had an odd buzz many years ago at mag check RPM….it turned out that the former on one of my cheek cowls had cracked and would buzz at certain power settings. That took a long time to figure out, but a simple repair cured that. Worth pulling the cowl to see what may have moved…

Regarding the CEO selling his own bird….is there a back story? Hopefully didn’t buy a Piper to replace it…. Does this hint at the health of the company?

I’m thinking vacuum pumps and gyros will come back into style. That’s why I’m holding out.