My overhauled gyros have outlasted the new by a factor of two so far. I bought the gyros new when I
upgraded from the old AN gyros. Both failed within 3 years, and I had them overhauled by a local
gyro shop. The overhauls have lasted over 6 years and are still going. Gyro bearings have a shelf
life once installed in a gyro. If the gyro sits more than about a month without being spun up, the
bearings develop flat spots. The shop that did my overhauls is local to me and put new bearings in
while I waited. I'd go with that type of overhaul before I'd go with new since you know the
bearings are fresh.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

"Mike Noel" wrote in message ...
Since the subject of new vs. overhaul comes up periodically, here is my
experience with the overhaul of a DG (1976 Mitchell aka Edo Air with
autopilot interface.) I sent it off to Bernard Ducasse in Pennsylvania
based on instrument shop recommendations found using Google Groups. Bernard
charged $400 for the rebuild and the two way, 2 day air shipping added $60
to the total. So far, after about 5 flying hours, the DG is working
flawlessly.

A DG may be easier but I have never had an overhauled attitude
indicator work properly. I have never even heard of anyone who had one
work properly. I've found that I can buy them new for only about 10%
more than the price of the overhaul so I go for that (vac driven, not
autopilot or flight cues). The guys with the fancy autopilot attitude
indicators with flight cues probably just have to live with sending
the thing back several times.

BTW: If you are interested in how the last attitude indicator overhaul
went, check out my web page....

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G29D52E99

Notice the difference between the outside ground (which is below the
plane) and the attitude indicator (which shows the plane in a inverted
dive).

-Robert

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759