G 1000 AHRS failure

[Clarence]

Are there any owners or maintainers who have had ARHS failure on a G 1000 aircraft, Mooney or other wise?  Two clients with Acclaims have had failures while on approach in IMC conditions! 

One got red X's on the display the other got a black screen.  Both survived the experience and are looking for a better back up than the three death balls on the right side.  Apparently there is no dual AHRS install for the Mooney as there is in some other airframes.

 

Ideas or suggestion?

 

Clarence

 

[kgbpost]

Quote: Clarence

Two clients with Acclaims have had failures while on approach in IMC conditions! 

One got red X's on the display the other got a black screen. 

 

 

Holy Cow! Thats not cool at all. I'd be a very P.O.d Garmin Customer, no way that should happen. That's crazy...that should be a one occurence every 100,000 flight hours type of thing.

[Piloto]

I had a similar experience but at FL190 over Greenland in January. The problem appears to be related to excessive cooling due to the G1000 fan. Unlike traditional panel mounted avionics on the G1000 the avionics rack is in the tail cone with no heating provided but a cooling fan that runs continuosly. On another flight at -35F I opted to pull the FAN CB out to keep warm the G1000. No failures or incidents found. I think that a thermostatic controlled fan will solve some of these problems.

Jose

[richardheitzman]

Clarence AHRS failures are very very rare. I would suggest that you contact Garmin and seek thier technical support. In the many years I worked at Mooney with the G1000 system I only saw a couple, and what I remember most was they failed due to mechanical issues (not seated in the rack correctly or the wiring harness not connected or loose).

I hate to say this, but I would suggest that you contact the owners and recommend they not fly the aircraft in IMC until the Garmin rep has had a chance to take a look at the aircraft.

The Mooney AHRS is not "just a AHRS" but a very advanced, redundant and highly reliable solid state device that has meet all the requirements to be utilized in Aviation under IMC conditions. I have flown with test pilots in the Acclaim and the Ovation and put the aircraft in very unusual attitudes, speeds and +_ G's that would make most people sick, and NEVER seen one fail after identifying the MECHANICAL failure.

Good luck and let us know what you find out. BTW, calling the back up instruments "death balls" is a little dramatic right?

[Clarence]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the advice.  Both Acclaims had the ARHS gyros replaced under warranty from Garmin. 

From what I have seen as a service centre for Mooney, Diamond and Cirrus I think "death balls" is accurate in many cases.  Many pilots of G 1000 and Avidyne  glass panel airplanes become button pushers and knob twirlers and seem to loose some of their basic flying skills. Partial panel in IMC on three instrments on the far side of the panel without regular practice and immense skill and concentration may for some prove fatal.  For many pilots it is power up, rotate, gear up, engage the auto pilot and twirl away.