If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
... I have an old Pointer with no panel switches. I believe that this new remote requriement is to be sure you have an easy way to activitate the ELT should it not go off when it should. I was surprised how easy it was to set one off just by holding correctly and swinging it at arms length. No force required. The ELT is a mass, and you are accelerating it by "swinging it at arms length". That is a force, by definition. Perhaps you meant "no impact/jolt required"? Jeff Shirton (PP-ASEL) |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
I recall the impact trigger spec for an ELT is 10 gs of acceleration
(for ? milliseconds?). It should take a very violent arm shake to hit 10 gs. I understand it is common to bounce the ELT onto an inflated A/C tire to get the ~10g pulse. Anyone know the rest of the numbers? |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
I'd hold my ground for the new unit(s). Whatever installation labor your
greasy charges will be more than offset by being able to use D flashlight cells every 5 years. Another thing: The Ameri-King ELT claims to have "voice capability" in their ad. What the heck would one use that for? I asked the sales rep at Spruce about this, and she really didn't have an answer. I suppose we could visualize a crash where the panel radios have been rendered inoperative, the ELT is still intact, you are somehow still ambulatory enough to remove your microphone (the Ameri-King doesn't come with a mike, that I can see), crawl to the back of the plane and plug it into the Ameri-King unit, so that you could yell for help? (It can't receive -- only transmit.) Seems far-fetched to me. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
Jay Honeck wrote:
: Seems far-fetched to me. Yeah, but it's a trivial mod to add to an already-existing transmitter. It just bypasses the chirp generator and uses the mic as the modulation source. It's a mod that costs nothing but the price of a mic jack and adds marketing value. -Cory -- ************************************************** *********************** * Cory Papenfuss * * Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student * * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * ************************************************** *********************** |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
Jay Honeck wrote:
I'd hold my ground for the new unit(s). Whatever installation labor your greasy charges will be more than offset by being able to use D flashlight cells every 5 years. Another thing: The Ameri-King ELT claims to have "voice capability" in their ad. What the heck would one use that for? I asked the sales rep at Spruce about this, and she really didn't have an answer. I suppose we could visualize a crash where the panel radios have been rendered inoperative, the ELT is still intact, you are somehow still ambulatory enough to remove your microphone (the Ameri-King doesn't come with a mike, that I can see), crawl to the back of the plane and plug it into the Ameri-King unit, so that you could yell for help? (It can't receive -- only transmit.) Seems far-fetched to me. If you need to leave the plane for some reason, it's a lot easier to carry your ELT with you than the panel mounted radio. Personally, I'd rather just carry an HT, however. -jav |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
Jay Honeck wrote: Another thing: The Ameri-King ELT claims to have "voice capability" in their ad. What the heck would one use that for? To transmit in the blind to passing aircraft. Many in Northern Canada keep a listening watch on 121.5. if you think about various situations you can imagine it would be vary handy, even though it would be a one sided converstion. John |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection - ELT stories
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... ... Another thing: The Ameri-King ELT claims to have "voice capability" in their ad. What the heck would one use that for? I asked the sales rep at Spruce about this, and she really didn't have an answer. I suppose we could visualize a crash where the panel radios have been rendered inoperative, the ELT is still intact, you are somehow still ambulatory enough to remove your microphone (the Ameri-King doesn't come with a mike, that I can see), crawl to the back of the plane and plug it into the Ameri-King unit, so that you could yell for help? (It can't receive -- only transmit.) Seems far-fetched to me. -- A few years ago (thirty some), my brother and I were flying up the Alaska highway in a Cessna 120 when we came up to a range of hills right at the Canada - Alaska border that we couldn't get over due to low ceilings /bad visibility so we decided to set down on a grass strip just short of the border (I don't remember the name). Now, when I say grass strip, I mean "grass strip". No buildings, no vehicles, nothing. Just a runway and a bit of a clearing off to the side. After a while a Tri-Pacer drops in with a guy and his young son who were on the way back home, but couldn't make it over the hills either. We had a nice evening chatting in the tent pitched in the mud. And, the next day things had cleared up some so we decided to try and make it into Northway - just across the border. The Tri-Pacer got off first and we followed. Now, Northway is a few miles off the highway, so once we cleared the hills we "cut the corner" and headed directly to the airport at a few hundred AGL over nothing but swamp and trees. About 5 miles or so short of the airport, the guy in the Tri-Pacer announces that his engine has failed. He sets up an approach to a bit of a clearing, sets it down very nicely, rolls a short distance, then the mud took over and they flipped over the nose and stopped upside down. After a short wait, both occupants appeared outside the airplane and were sitting on the wing. They didn't look too bad, but it was hard to be sure. So, someone got the idea to try and get them to transmit with the ELT. So I grabbed our ELT out of the bracket behind the seat and held it out the window with a microphone as my brother made a low, slow, pass. They got the idea, got their ELT out, plugged in the mike, and were able to tell us that they were pretty much OK. We couldn't talk to them, but we answered their questions using the "wag the wings for yes" technique. Except for a brief run into Northway for gas, we were able to stay on station until they were picked up by a helicopter. So, it's not so far-fetched as you might think. With the plane on it's back, probably leaking fuel, turning on the master would not be the smartest thing to do. And, the ELT worked fine as a transmitter. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection - ELT stories
So, it's not so far-fetched as you might think. With the plane on it's back,
probably leaking fuel, turning on the master would not be the smartest thing to do. And, the ELT worked fine as a transmitter. Cool story, Geoff. I stand corrected. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
Sounds like fun Jay!
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:USlUf.44595$oL.41488@attbi_s71... So, our '74 Pathfinder (Cherokee 235) is back in for annual -- its fifth one with us -- and I spent the day working with my mechanic on my 8th "owner-assisted" annual inspection. A few previously known squawks have been addressed: 1. The ELT. It barely passed last year, and this year it didn't activate when subjected to sudden deceleration. (It's the original Piper part, so I think it has given its all...) I've ordered a new Ameri-King model from Spruce, at a very attractive price ($175) -- but I've found (much to my dismay) that a remote switch must be installed in the panel for ANY new ELT installed. The old one did not require this, and I'm a bit mystified as to why the new ones require ripping the panel apart to install yet another idiot light/switch, but oh, well. Apparently the new 406 mhz ELTs aren't going to be required until 2010 (?) now, so I've opted not to spend the $$$ on one right now. The folks at Spruce said that deadline is "soft" anyway. 2. Fiberglass vertical stabilizer fairings. These two parts have been getting obviously worse since we bought the plane in '02. My A&P let me slide on it last year, but he said this year they must go. I bought the big part from Jay Masino last summer (thanks, Jay!), but had to order the smaller forward fairing from Lopresti. (They were the only ones with that part in stock -- and their price was cheapest, too!) Best of all -- the ONLY person we know who can fit into the tail cone to buck the rivets for the new fairing is Mary -- so you can look forward to more pictures and interesting stories to come... :-) 3. Prop RPM a Smidge Low. This has been a real gradual thing, and could be the tach. Nonetheless, we've given the prop governor adjustment screw a turn to the good. And, of course, a couple of UNknown minor squawks have reared their ugly heads: 1. Seat Adjustor Handle Springs. The little lever that allows you to recline the seat is supposed to have two springs in it that make sure the handle springs back. Both of my springs were broken -- something I had never noticed, because the pilot-side seat never gets moved. (This was the very first thing I touched in the annual, as I was removing the seats.) At first I thought "who cares?" but my A&P pointed out that without that spring return, the handle could be in the wrong position at take-off, and allow the seat to recline -- a very bad thing, indeed, while climbing out. We called Piper and -- incredibly -- the springs are just $2.50 apiece! Of course, it took an hour of labor to dismantle the seat to get TO those springs, but still -- that's pretty cheap for airplane parts. 2. Control Cables Loose. I asked how to check the tautness of the cables, and my A&P whipped out his brand new (and newly calibrated) cable tension tool. Lo and behold, all of the cables in the tailcone were loose. So, I've now learned how to tension control surface cables. Both the rudder and stabilator cables were 25% down from spec. Otherwise, everything has gone swimmingly. Compressions were perfect (five are 80/80, one is 79/80), timing is on the mark, our Iridium fine-wire spark plugs still look like new, our tires and brakes are nearly new, the prop looks good for another year, the mags and wiring harness are still a-okay, and everything in the panel works. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, but this is looking like a good one. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
2006 Annual -- My 8th "Owner-Assisted" Inspection
For ours one good shake did the trick... No need to thow it against
anything... nrp wrote: I recall the impact trigger spec for an ELT is 10 gs of acceleration (for ? milliseconds?). It should take a very violent arm shake to hit 10 gs. I understand it is common to bounce the ELT onto an inflated A/C tire to get the ~10g pulse. Anyone know the rest of the numbers? |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Toasted my engine | Kobra | Instrument Flight Rules | 59 | September 27th 05 12:16 AM |
Toasted my engine | Kobra | Owning | 59 | September 27th 05 12:16 AM |
Toasted my engine | Kobra | Piloting | 61 | September 27th 05 12:16 AM |
Annual Report Final. "Long" | NW_PILOT | Owning | 20 | October 28th 04 07:20 PM |
Annual Report Final. "Long" | NW_PILOT | Piloting | 22 | October 28th 04 07:20 PM |