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Plastic Cover/Bracket for Airpath Whiskey Compass


Jeff_S

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Hello all,

I had to abort a repositioning flight today due to finding my center-post mounted Airpath whiskey compass dangling from one screw. When I touched it to see what was going on, the bracket gave way entirely and the compass was in my hand.  Chalk up another victory for the preflight "heading indicator to compass" check!  I could tell that at some point in the past, this bracket had already broken and been repaired with some sort of glue, which finally gave way.  I was able to salvage the pieces and am trying some stronger epoxy to see if I can get a temporary fix in place, but I have found on Chief Aircraft what I think is the replacement plastic bracket that should be the permanent fix.  My question is, how do you get the bracket off and back on? There is a single screw in the back of the unit that looks like it would be holding on the bracket, but when I loosened that to test it, the plastic didn't seem to come loose at all.  Has anybody done this?  The bracket is $40, vs. $250 for a whole new compass/bracket combo.

All help appreciated. Thanks!

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Thanks Anthony. I have two questions that I haven’t been able to answer yet. The first is exactly which model of Airpath I’ve got. The model number info is all worn off  the manufacturers decal. I think it’s the 2400 but if anyone can confirm that I would appreciate it.

The second question is how to remove the plastic casing. I can’t find any instructions for doing that on the web or at the Airpath site. Perhaps one you loosened the set screw at the back, the casing screws off the compass unit. So again, if anyone can help there that would be awesome.

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There are the wires that go to the lightbulb.  So those have to be loose also.  But the whole unit slides out of the plastic case.   Then back into the new case.   Try loosening the screw but leave a few thread engaged and then push with the screw.    Since you are buying Get the rebuild kit with seal and more oil.    In other news I found a Vertical Card Compass on ebay for a a buck 50.  They really are the way to go.

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13 hours ago, Yetti said:

There are the wires that go to the lightbulb.  So those have to be loose also.  But the whole unit slides out of the plastic case.   Then back into the new case.   Try loosening the screw but leave a few thread engaged and then push with the screw.    Since you are buying Get the rebuild kit with seal and more oil.    In other news I found a Vertical Card Compass on ebay for a a buck 50.  They really are the way to go.

I have replaced the housing a couple of times. The compass slid out easily.  I have since placed a foam block between the bottom of the compass and the glare shield to dampen the vibration that I’m sure is what cracks the mount

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Get rid of your Airpath and get a SIRS compass. It has 4 magnets instead of two, very well dampened and requires very little correction when you swing it rather it dials in real easy thanks to 4 magnets. In addition, it uses a silicon fluid of higher viscosity so it won't bounce around and instead of a rubber diaphragm that you are always replacing it uses a brass bellows that does not leak....ever. Airbus uses them, as does many military aircraft. Once you have one you'll see how good it is.

https://www.sirs.co.uk/aircraft/light_aircraft

I like vertical card units but the problem is with aircraft that have tubular steel structure is sometimes, particularly if the ground runs through the tube steel, it will become magnetized. I have seen people degauss using a DC arc welder but it is not for the novice. If you have a magnetized structure, the vertical cards become a real bear to swing and get set right. Most of the time, people just give up.

 

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