Given the choice, I would always pick a King Air 350 over a
Piper PA 28-anything. An extra 450 gallons of fuel and a
2,000 pound payload, two big engines, two
starter-generators, a multi-bus auto load shedding
electrical system and air conditioning.

In the Piper, Cessna or Beech single, you can get the effect
of the extra 7 gallons of furl by reducing power and leaning
the engine. But since loss of electrical power can leave
you within 30 seconds of loss of control, I'd like to have
as much as I can have.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"soxinbox" wrote in message
...
|I guess it's a pilot decision, which would make you feel
safer, a second
| battery or 7 more gallons of gas?
| I'll go with the gas.
|
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| news:gEqkg.38278$ZW3.10257@dukeread04...
| A set of relays and diodes would allow the installation
of a
| second battery and a great deal of redundancy at fairly
low
| cost and weight. The standard alternator would charge
both
| batteries, only the second battery would be connected to
the
| essential bus of lights and avionics. A battery failure
| kills the alternator on most aircraft and thus kills the
| entire system. Having two isolated batteries give
| redundancy as long as the bus is able to shed load.
|
| Beech uses self-exciting alternators [and a generator
will
| produce power w/o a battery (but it isn't well
filtered)].
| On a Beech you can turn the battery OFF and still
operate.
| But in most Cessna and Piper aircraft the battery must
be ON
| for the alternator to function. A second battery and
| modified bus can give redundancy. Load shedding can be
| automatic or manual. You need to have diodes to control
| current flow.
|
|
| --
| James H. Macklin
| ATP,CFI,A&P
|
| "soxinbox" wrote in message
| ...
| | Point taken, but the original poster sounded like he
owned
| his own plane. He
| | could probably spend the same amount of money on
getting a
| new alternator
| | every year for ten years and still come out ahead. Or
he
| could get a new
| | alternator and fix other problems that are more likely
to
| cause a problem. I
| | will take a well maintained single of a bucket of
bolts
| twin any day.
| |
| | "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
| wrote in message
| | ...
| | Aluckyguess wrote:
| | Why would you need an extra one. Wouldn't you just
land
| at the nearest
| | airport if you where IMC.
| |
| |
| | Aren't you the optomist.
| |
| | I've lost the alternator on a single engine solid
IFR
| flight over the
| | mountains one night and it ain't much fun. I got
down
| OK before the
| | battery went dead but it was definitely nerve
wracking.
| That's why I like
| | twins. It's not the extra engine so much as the
extra
| alternator and
| | vacuum pump. I've only had a very few engine
failures
| over the years but
| | I've had several alternators and vacuum pumps go TU.
| |
| | When you fly crap as a freight dog you learn to
| appreciate redundancy.
| |
| |
| |
| | --
| | Mortimer Schnerd, RN
| |
| | VE
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|