gsengle

Better yet, according to the FAA he is even Instrument Rated.

I'm sorry, this has me so mad. In case you didn't see the articles.... ATC tape in story. This gives pilots a black eye and endangers our freedoms. Any way to comment directly to the FAA? I don't want to be sharing the air with this idiot. I frequently fly out of FRG and have flown along that beach at 500 ft... http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/asshole_pilot_l.php http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&cf=all&ncl=dorQoaszZPPp6fMmWxLRFFcUzTQwM Anyone remember the case where a jogger was killed a year or so by a legit emergency landing on a beach? What are the odds of killing yourself landing a Warrior on a city beach at twilight? g

Would the issue go away when the DME was turned off?

Thanks for all the advice - very helpful. I just got a new pump installed, I'll make sure the line is checked - this seems likely given the symptoms I had leading up to failure... hmmm...

I have the perfect space for a backup AI. I think I'll go electric, but if my fear is that my main AI dies (already have backup vacuum pump) should I be considering a second vacuum based AI since they are far cheaper? That way, I have AI and vacuum redundancy - and the only higher risk is that the vacuum plumbing goes bad and I lose both AI's even with redundant vacuum pumps?

Looks like the pump seized / shaft sheared. New one is already on.

Interesting. Thats the same thing I saw for one flight. But on the next flight it was unambiguous, no vacuum at all from the engine pump (as seen in the AI and the suction guage), and perfect operation off the backup. I'm puzzled. Can't explain the initial symptoms. Now it just looks like pump failure. Ideas? g

I was half kidding about ownership being expensive, this is indeed relatively minor This is nothing compared for instance to the overhaul to come... I'm glad its the vacuum pump rather than the AI, I'm guessing that would have been more $$$. Good advice on filters, etc, that is definitely being done. It is very nice to be in an aircraft with such good backup systems as well.. Any thoughts on backup electrical AI's? I have a spot for one... All that said, still have the 2 squawks from my other post (skywatch self identification and radio noise...) g

I was half kidding about ownership being expensive, this is indeed relatively minor This is nothing compared for instance to the overhaul to come... I'm glad its the vacuum pump rather than the AI, I'm guessing that would have been more $$$. Good advice on filters, etc, that is definitely being done. It is very nice to be in an aircraft with such good backup systems as well.. Any thoughts on backup electrical AI's? I have a spot for one... All that said, still have the 2 squawks from my other post (skywatch self identification and radio noise...) g

Rapco RA242CW-10 appears to be my answer. Aircraft ownership remains expensive

Latest news, vacuum pump died, so I guess I have my answer!

My engine driven pump up and died. What would folks recommend as a replacement these days - m20r, Continental IO-550G5, anyone have an opinion? thanks! Greg

I have a couple of issues with my new (to me) Ovation that maybe someone here have experienced and could provide guidance. 1) My skywatch system, interfaced into my 530, seems to think that my own aircraft is traffic to be alerted. I get the TRAFFIC TRAFFIC alert, only to realize the traffic is me, in my location and altitude. I just discovered the test mode - does this cause the device to detect my own transponder and suppress this alert - was going to add this to my checklist and see if it helped? Or is this a fault in the equipment? 2) My 530 com gets lots of ignition noise, to the point of rendering some atc transmissions unreadable, and is just generally annoying. The old com under it has much less noise. What can be done to help the 530? 3) The really big issue. Yesterday afternoon on a long flight, VFR above a cloud deck I noticed that the King 150 autopilot wasn't tracking very well and had me right of course. Then I noticed that the AI was starting to slouch off to one side. So what was happening in nav mode was that the airplane was following the AI off to one side a bit, but then would decide to bank back the other way to stay on course, and these two would balance out and I'd end up level a bit to the side of course. So, it was obvious what was happening, there was an AI problem. Checked vacuum and pressure was fine. But I turned on the electric standby vacuum pump anyway to see if that helped. This bumped the vacuum pressure a very tiny bit, just enough to make clear the standby was working. But without standby the vacuum pressure was normal. So I figured the problem was with the AI not vacuum. But then surprise surprise, a few mins of both pumps running re-erected the AI. So I'd turn off the standby, and 5 mins later, same problem. And again, vacuum gauge showing no issue. Did this 2-3 times, and the standby helped each time. So I left the standby running for a half hour. Turns out weather at my destination was clear again, so I turned off the standby one last time, and this time the AI was fine. Even stayed level when taxiing back with low-ish pressure from the engine driven pump. What's going on? What's scary is how difficult this would have been to detect IMC. Thinking about backup AI in the one open spot on my panel, recommendations? thanks in advance for any thoughts or insights!!! Greg

Hi all - I'm one of those crazy pilots that can sit in the pilot's seat for a very long time non-stop. I think the longest I've been in the air at one stretch was around 7 hours, in a different aircraft. I also have a couple of flights coming up which will be in the 1000+ nautical mile range, and I have a '96 Ovation, which means 89 gallons "usable". I'd love to make these non-stop, or at least have the option. I know winds at various altitudes will be a major factor, but lets assume calm winds so I can better understand the relationship between power/altitude/speed and fuel flow. Is the best option going fairly high, throttling back, and if possible going LoP? What would you do? What do you think is the max range (reserves and winds aside) you could reasonably get out of the Ovation, RoP and LoP? (I did search the forums for similar discussions, and probably missed some, but I didn't find one) thanks! Greg

Hi Alisha! Any pictures of your aircraft here? Hope to see you and it on the field again soon

@Mitch - I'm sure I'll enjoy having it in my hangar, but I suspect I'll like it even more when I have it out of the hangar

I remember in '94, having just gotten my ticket, dreaming about the (then) new Ovation. I read the Plane and Pilot article but for some reason never thought that someday that would be me. Years later, a few years of Piper Arrow later, an instrument ticket and many flight hours later (a few too many at 137kts) I find I have a '96 Ovation in the hangar! Very excited, and have read quite a lot of your posts here in making my decision. Just checking in to thank you all in advance for your community and help in the months and years to come. Excited to be here! Based at 7B2, Northampton, MA yours, Greg